R3OK

Since I hardly ever do this, and have never even used iTunes (for buying or playing music), I was just wondering if people more familiar with the process (and with a range of e-retailers) might explain how it tends to work ...

I presume that most retailers sell:
(a) single tracks
(b) full "CDs" in download format [and presumably this includes 2CD, 3CD etc. sets regarded as one "unit"?]
(c) "works" [like symphonies, sonatas etc., where this might comprise several tracks]?

Is that accurate for the most part? And if so, I'm wondering how they deal with very large works like operas - because the "work" would more often than not be identical to the full 2CD or 3CD set, presumably. So does this just fall into category (b) or do they sell something else in category (c) - e.g. single acts grouped as a grouping of tracks??

Also, what do they sell in the case of something like The Well-Tempered Clavier? Do they sell prelude-and-fugue pairings as "works", or is it the entirety of Book One or Book Two that gets regarded as the "work" (in which case again, it's presumably equivalent to category (b) and there is no separate category (c)??).

Very grateful for any info/thoughts!

This is interesting:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/2012/12/21/john-lanchester/lets-call-it-failure

I'm not quite sure where it ends up. It seems to turn from a trenchant critique into a claim that austerity is more imagined than real, and then to just sort of wind itself up, as if he'd run out of space/time. Still interesting though.

I'm afraid that Ted Ryder's daughter has been in touch with some sad news: Ted passed away just over a week ago.

I'm sure a few people had noticed that Ted (David) hadn't posted much for a while. I was in touch with him in March and he'd been into hospital two or three times and was a bit fed up and feeling very tired, but I was pleased to hear from his daughter that he'd been able to carry on as normal at home and was pottering in the garden when he died very suddenly. Certainly not the worst way to go.

I've asked Ted's daughter to pass on our sympathies to his wife and family, and she's asked me to thank everyone on the forum for all the banter and musical chat which meant so much to him.

Goodbye Ted.

Do we have one?

Excellent news in the Chamber-Scale Composition category ...

http://www.rpsmusicawards.com/2012/shortlists/shortlist1.html

... has died aged 63 in a car crash. (What is it with road accidents this week? )

http://www.rhinegold.co.uk/magazines/classical_music/news/classical_music_news_story.asp?id=1299

I didn't know him but had admired his programme notes and composer profiles in BBC programmes (e.g. on Honegger at last summer's Proms). Sad news - RIP.

Just come across this in the course of a discussion on Facebook:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3112170.stm

I never knew my sleeping position was so unusual (adopted by only 7% of the population, apparently). But the personality features it supposedly signals are almost diametrically opposite to mine, I'd say!

How do the descriptions fit for others?

This is interesting - a 2001 article by the now Irish President-Elect:

http://journalofmusic.com/article/525