How do you organize your classical records ?

[Keith_W]

Keith, assuming you bought a disk "for a reason" and that piece was the one you filed the disk under, how to you account for other pieces on the disk? How to you label them so you can find the "secondary" or "B side" works?

I don't. I simply file the disc under the composer who wrote the piece that I wanted.

I am in the process of cataloguing my CD's electronically and ripping them to FLAC at the same time. It's a pretty long process, I have been at it for a year and i'm only halfway through! Once I am done, I no longer have to ask myself ... "hmm, I think I have that piece somewhere but I can't remember where" ...

 

[Mike]

Leonard Bernstein. Thanks, Keith.

 

[FrantzM]

I don't. I simply file the disc under the composer who wrote the piece that I wanted.

I am in the process of cataloguing my CD's electronically and ripping them to FLAC at the same time. It's a pretty long process, I have been at it for a year and i'm only halfway through! Once I am done, I no longer have to ask myself ... "hmm, I think I have that piece somewhere but I can't remember where" ...

+1 Same here

I started ripping my CCD to HDD around 2009. Around 2010 most of my CDs were ripped. Now ALL my CDs are ripped to HDD backed in multiple locations. The hardest things with that is to find and enter the metadata. It takes some times...Once that is done, you will never understand how you could live without a music server: You want to listen to Bach, conducted by Rene Jacobs on a given Label but only the sonatas and anything recorded before 1985? Done! JRMC takes care of it all. The hardest thing are the metadata, the rest.. You listen to what you want when you want at the click of a button... Cataloging is done automatically based on your criteria. Mine is by composer for Classical.. If I need to go by Label, easy I just add it in the search criteria.

 

[Bachtoven]

Mine are by composer, and within that grouping I arranged by solo, chamber, concerto, or symphonic. That's for single composer discs; if it's a recital, then it's by instrument or ensemble in a separate section.

 

[LL21]

Mine are by composer, and within that grouping I arranged by solo, chamber, concerto, or symphonic. That's for single composer discs; if it's a recital, then it's by instrument or ensemble in a separate section.

Same here!

 

[tima]

The great reshuffle begins.

Ever since I moved to a new house and room in 2013 my previously moderately organized record collection continues skewing toward the random. Aiming to correct that and looking for suggestions I found this thread, five years old.

Previously I organized by composer and that was it. I tend to think in terms of composer, work and conductor and that's the hierarchy I'm leaning toward. But I'm open to suggestions and new ideas. I may organize composers chronologically.

For my non-classical (~15%) I figure by artist is good enough.

So what do you do? What do you suggest?

 

[Hear Here]

I choose the "logical" method that record stores (remember them?), Gramophone and Penguin guides and others use - by Composer, then type (concertos, symphonies, etc).

With recitals or albums with more than 2 composers I have a Collections section divided into instrumental (further subdivided by instrument), orchestral, choral and opera - again as with stores and guides. Works a treat and I reflect this system in my ripped music, so I browse this by Folder.

The only real problem is where one album contains just 2 pieces by different composers (eg Mendelssohn and Bruch violin concertos) where I store the hard album by the first composer alphabetically but spilit the ripped album with the 2 pieces moved to the appropriate folder. Never have problems finding what I want.

I can't imagine finding an album if stored by label (many recordings have been released on more than one label) or by some other methods described here unless you maintain a database to help you find a particular piece!

 

[tima]

I choose the "logical" method that record stores (remember them?), Gramophone and Penguin guides and others use - by Composer, then type (concertos, symphonies, etc).

Yes, composer then type makes sense.

What I am mulling over is

Compose, Type, Work, Conductor

Sibelius
type Symphonie
-Symphonie 1
--- Davis
--- Karajan
--- Maazel
-Symphonie 2
--- Davis
--- Karajan
--- Maazel
type Tone Poem
-TP 1
--- Kamu
--- Karajan
--- Ormandy
-TP 2
--- Kamu
--- Karajan
--- Ormandy

OR

Composer, Type, Conductor, Work

Sibelius
type Symphonie
-Davis
---- Symphonie 1
---- Symphonie 2
---- Symphonie 3
- Karajan
---- Symphonie 1
---- Symphonie 2
---- Symphonie 3
type Tone Poem
- Kamu
---- TP 1
---- TP 2
- Karajan
---- TP 1
---- TP 3
- Ormandy
---- TP 1
---- TP 2

If type is a solo or concerto, trio, quartet, etc. then substitute performer or group for conductor.

 

[kodomo]

For symphonic work, I catalog under composer.

For solo or concerto work I catalog under soloist.

I also have different sections based on instruments for solo/concerto works. Violin solo/concerto, Cello solo/concerto, Piano solo/concerto...

 

[wiggen]

By Composer or by conductor ? I can't decide...leaning by conductor. Thoughts ?

I am arranging them alphabetically by composer, and in addition, I have arranged some of the most known composers separately, e. g. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn and Mozart, as there are so many recordings of their works, of Brahms' violin Concert I have eighteen recordings, Neveu and Menuhin (1949) being a couple of my favourites

By Composer or by conductor ? I can't decide...leaning by conductor. Thoughts ?

 

[LL21]

By composer first, then within composer, I start with the fewest instruments and work towards the bigger compositions within that composer (solo/sonata, trios, quartets, quintets, concerto, symphony, choral). Once done, it helps me find something almost immediately.

 

[Robh3606]

Alphabetically by band/person

Rob

 

[montesquieu]

Mine (about 4000 records) are broadly organised:

- Period (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 'Modern'/20c)
- Within period - Composer (roughly in date order within period)
- Within composer - Genre (solo instrumental, chamber, vocal, choral, symphonic + concerto)

Mono records are maybe 15-20% of the collection and organised separately the same way. I don't listen to that much romantic or 20th century music so those are in another room along with whatever rock and pop I own and also duplicate copies (mainly of favourites, held for safety reasons) plus a lot of box sets acquired for completist reasons but probably not listened to as much as they should be.

My jazz listening has increased so a lot of my jazz is in the main living room. I have about 2000 CDs but never been disciplined enough to do the same with them, they are a bit haphazard but roughly grouped in a sort of mish-mash of period and genre (Lieder, Renaissance, baroque, piano music).

The rationale is essentially that when I want to listen to music it's generally a category that comes into my head (renaissance lute/instrumental, some Lieder, a Bach cantata) so my hands are drawn to a general area ... the records themselves then jump out at me, demanding to be listened to.

 

[LL21]

FWIW, I have several categories, and within each the artists (composer/artist/band) is alphabetical and then for non-classical, i tend to rank by my favorites first (Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby is first under Bill Evans for example). The only exception is that Soundtracks are alphabetized by the name of the film not composer (Dark Knight comes before Harry Potter which precedes Star Trek):
- Jazz
- Blues
- Classical
- Hip Hop/Rap/House
- Rock/Indie, etc
- International/Alternative 'stuff' (Gypsy Kings, Cubano, LA String Quartet, Middle Eastern, Piazzola Tango, etc)
- Film Soundtracks and Live Shows

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hi LL21,

By "live shows" do you mean recordings of live musicals in a theater, or do you mean recordings of live concerts, or do you mean both of these?

 

[LL21]

Hey Ron,

No, I mean Soundtracks are also filed with live musical productions (West Side Story, 42nd Street recorded live on Broadway with Nathan Lane, or one of the George Gershwin musicals on Broadway or the album for a Cirque du Soleil show).

If Bruce Springsteen does a live concert, that is filed under Springsteen, Bruce in the rock section...and if I really liked it then it is upfront, and if not, then towards the back of the Springsteen section.

 

[Ron Resnick]

That all makes sense. Thank you.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Another reason Classical makes my head hurt...
I am good with my Blues, Rock and Jazz filed by Name / Band. If its an album with "lots o famous people" it gets filed under the lead musician that originally released it.

 

[rando]

Another reason Classical makes my head hurt...
I am good with my Blues, Rock and Jazz filed by Name / Band. If its an album with "lots o famous people" it gets filed under the lead musician that originally released it.

Software's backend is where all the fine detail and highly developed routines happens. Allowing use of fairly simple folder naming structures. Most albums fill in all the blanks correctly during ripping.

Physical media totaling into the thousands is more a matter of consistency than specificity. If you put stuff back before it walks off. People are sometimes amazed when you can pluck something out by memory alone.

 

[tima]

Another reason Classical makes my head hurt...
I am good with my Blues, Rock and Jazz filed by Name / Band. If its an album with "lots o famous people" it gets filed under the lead musician that originally released it.

If you search the Web for "how to organize classical music" you get no definitive answer. Instead you get a long list of forum threads.