Hi All

I'm not intending to start a thread on spring cleaning, but I am having a Serious Clear Out. I've come across some old Augener editions of piano sonatas, by Beethoven, Haydn and the like. They're the ones that have a lot of black and white curlicues on the front and I think they pre-date the AB's Craxton/Tovey editions. (Ancient people like me will know what they look like)

I wouldn't use them to play the piece seriously, but I wondered whether to keep them just in case I wanted to "see how that one goes" kind of thing. (Then I'd go and buy a new edition to work from seriously.)

I'm feeling indecisive this afternoon, so I wondered what other people did with fairly ancient copies. Do you chuck them or stash them away at the back of a cupboard "in case"?

I have few duplicates but if I don't have an Urtext copy of something I particularly want to work on then typically my 'old' copy becomes a touch obsolete. So I started leaving my extra copies in strategic places: in school, in case of emergencies i.e. to chill out after a particularly frustrating lesson, or at my relatives' so that I don't have to lug volumes here and there when I visit.

Since I have memorised scarcely any pieces in my time, they serve their purpose to remind me more of the notes than fingering and articulation, so lack of the former and idiosyncrasies of the latter have little or no consequence.

My 'top' copies are always at hand where I am studying them.

I have a very old Augener's edition of the Chopin Waltzes and really like it

Perhaps you could sell them to a second-hand music book shop?

Good to hear these 'old' copies are still getting used in some form or another.

I have a fondness for 'ancient' copies, as, despite their over-edited format and pre-urtext style of presentation, they are usually printed on really satisfying paper, often easier to read from as it is an off-white. And page turns are often well-thought out too. Plus, each has its own history, and I often wonder what these copies must have been used for in their former lives. Rehearsals and practising, concert recitals, study purposes, music college auditions....tantalising to ponder the possibilities

I have a generous collection of older copies of well-known piano music, and like clavicembalo, I keep them in strategic places, so I can practise away from home without having to remember to take a copy with me. I also keep some at home, for comparing present editions with, enabling me to explore how scholarly insights and editing approaches have progressed over the years.

These 'senior' copies keep popping up in charity shops near me, and students delight in bringing me tip-offs of the latest batch that's just arrived in a local shop ...(goes off to plunder a local charity shop's shelves...)

denmark

Yes, the paper! That's what I like about them too, and it's why I like the modern Henle and Peter's books I *hate* reading black on bleached white.

I must admit that at first, I found "Urtext" books terrifying, but I now understand what all the fuss is about

Keep them, unless they are exact duplicates. (Actually you might want to keep them even then - in case one copy starts to fall to pieces, or gets overburdened with marks and comments. You could easily figure out my repertoire by finding the tattiest scores on my music shelves ).

It is always useful to compare different editions before deciding exactly how to play something, and even so-called "Urtexts" often have unmarked editorial changes.

I have 4 editions of the Well Tempered Clavier and 5 editions of the Beethoven sonatas! For Beethoven have even kept my old Associated Board edition, despite its unwarranted meddling with Beethoven's phrasing and a large number of extremely silly suggestions for fingering ... because Mr. Tovey's comments are still helpful - however preachy and smug they may seem to modern eyes.

Thanks all for your thoughts. I had a feeling that you'd all give me good reasons for keeping the music - and I suppose in my heart of hearts I thought it would be better to keep it.

I'll just have to go and find something else to throw out.