I'm as partial to Bach as a few others on this list, to the extent of
being interested in several versions of a few works -- such as of the
Brandenburgs, the Cello Suites, the Violin Sonatas and Partitas, the
Gamba Sonatas, the keyboard Partitas, the Goldberg Variations, the WTC,
etc.  In numbers, however, I come nowhere close to most reports I've
read under this heading.

Nor do I aspire to that: I don't really hanker for duplications.  Perhaps
more to the point -- maybe like Donald Clarke, and certainly like Borges
with his beloved books -- it sometimes saddens me to consider I lack the
time to listen to much of what I've already got on my shelves.

My particular musical hunger is best fed by exploring the new and
especially through complete collections of certain composers' works,
not by duplicating particular pieces.  I strive to hear and have at hand
every work by a few musical loves, such as Martinu, Frank Martin, Rozsa,
Walton, Stravinsky, Bartok, Beethoven, Haydn and one or two others I've
been enjoying for decades.  Also on this list are John Coltrane and
Thelonious Monk, for me two of the greatest USAmerican composers (though
the collecting takes a different form with jazz).  I find Art Blakey
nearly as compelling, followed by maybe four or five others from the
golden age of post-bop and hard bop jazz (ca.  1952-65).

I wish that Antonio Soler had composed more sonatas, and I know that some
day I'll fork out for the Scott Ross complete edition of Scarlatti's.

Bert Bailey

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