Where to buy 20th century/modern scores...

without costing an arm and leg that is! It's ridiculous, companies like UE and Boosey charging so much for their scores...sometimes I feel like the classical industry really doesn't want us listening to contemporary stuff, and UE and Boosey know we have no choice but to sacrifice a paycheck for a score to them...anyone know of websites, stores, anywhere modern scores are a bit cheaper, be it used or new?

I wouldnt mind finding out as well. You know, I really want like an Adams score, or Corigliano, but I don't think I can bare to pay $60!! When I can get a whole bunch from Dover with $60!!

I'm not sure you can find them cheaper. Composers who are still alive, have exclusive contracts with publishing companies. So Adams can ONLY publish his music via... whatever company he is. And this exclusivity is what raised the prices.

Companies helping composers my donkey! :(

I'm not sure you can find them cheaper. Composers who are still alive, have exclusive contracts with publishing companies. So Adams can ONLY publish his music via... whatever company he is. And this exclusivity is what raised the prices.

Companies helping composers my donkey! :(

I guess I kinda knew that. :whistling: I should have thought it through.

actually what pisses me off most are the prices for dead composers...stravinsky, berg, schoenberg, prokofiev, varese, etc. no reason they should be so high

yes score prices are ridiculous these days. Beethoven's sonatas are an exception to high prices though i would say.

You can try specialised websites and organisations like the BMIC (bmic.co.uk, I think, and criticalnotice.com serves the same purpose), and you can get scores pretty cheaply there (you can try your country's music information center, or the country of the composer you're interested in). Of course, this doesn't account for *all* the contemporary composers in the world, but there's a lot of music there.

About modern (i.e. more early 20th century music), generally, whenever the copyright of the composer has not expired (i.e. the composer/last author of the pieces hasn't been dead for at least 50 years - 75 in europe and a few other countries), they tend to be quite expensive, whereas scores of composers who are public domain (such as Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy, Scriabin etc) tend to be quite cheap (and published by many more publishing houses, as nikolas pointed out).

Expensive prices on contemporary scores suck. They should be much cheaper than the other scores, so that more people could be exposed to modern and contemporary music.

You may want to check sheetmusicplus.com , it was quite a few modern/contemporary scores and usually at better prices than normal retail stores (although some scores are bound to be high - Birtwistle's "Silbury Air" is at 154 dollars :O )

sheetmusicplus.com

Berg - Lulu Vocal Score

$222.95

ahhh!

Y'know ... there's these top secret facilities at some Universities, and even a few MAJOR cities (I think New York and Tokyo are the only ones so far) ... they're called LIBRARIES.

Go to a library.

Universities with music departments are ideal (they'll have anything and everything)...but ANY public library may have or be able to get you what you're looking for. You may have to pay a couple bucks for interlibrary loans....

:whistling:

Libraries rock, that's true :)

the only significant public library nearby is Boston...but maybe the university a town over would let me check out their library

actually what pisses me off most are the prices for dead composers...stravinsky, berg, schoenberg, prokofiev, varese, etc. no reason they should be so high

get a job

You know what is also hard to find...Contemporary recordings...and i mean good ones. I have found it so hard to even find The Rite of Spring...at BORDERS! BORDERS IS A HUGE BOOK/CD STORE HERE.

Looks like Amazon is the only place to go...oh wait, they don't take paypal *in a snarky sarcastic tone*.

I wish it was so much more easier.

You know what is also hard to find...Contemporary recordings...and i mean good ones. I have found it so hard to even find The Rite of Spring...at BORDERS! BORDERS IS A HUGE BOOK/CD STORE HERE.

Looks like Amazon is the only place to go...oh wait, they don't take paypal *in a snarky sarcastic tone*.

I wish it was so much more easier.

Umm....

I easily obtained a copy of La Sacre being played by the CSO, conducted by Ozawa. Pretty popular and great recording, though it's quite different than how it's normally done (most of the movements are much faster). It's a CD for god sakes, they aren't hard to get. Stop moaning and taking "extreme myspace pictures", write more and actually take some initiative. Wah wah wah, Borders doesn't have CDs. There are these things called LIBRARIES and the INTERNET, use them junior.

Speaking of Borders. They have a huge gently caress CD selection, especially of classical music. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. I doubt yours is any different.

Umm....

Speaking of Borders. They have a huge gently caress CD selection, especially of classical music. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. I doubt yours is any different.

Besides the internet Borders is where I get all of my recording AND scores!!! I LOVE BORDERS!!! :wub:

I am fortunate to be at a university with an extensive music library. However, I do find that I want some scores of my own because I am not going to be here forever to be able to pop in and grab a score I want.

I generally use musicroom.com and it is still not student friendly at all. Trying to get scores in mininuture is your best bet but still you have the problem of the fact its then so small you can't read it :(.

actually what pisses me off most are the prices for dead composers...stravinsky, berg, schoenberg, prokofiev, varese, etc. no reason they should be so high

yeah!

anyone should be able to buy a "dead composer" for a reasonable price!

have you tried a morgue?

;)

The storage costs are the real problem there.

and to be quite honest, it's not so much the "music" that stinks....

I wonder if one could purchase some John Williams scores. Are they for sale anywhere?

^I've heard of a couple of people having them, but I haven't had much luck when I've looked on the internet. Granted, I didn't do much besides a quick Google search. :P

sheetmusicplus I believe has *some* John Williams

Sheet Music Hound is quite good with obscure stuff if it's available at all. They don't have everything, though.

Sheet Music Hound - Your On-Line Sheet Music Store

I suspect some prices are high because of limited print runs. Berg's Lulu (Orchestral score) will set you back c