Is there a secret place on the internet like alibris.com for books where one can go find relatively obscure classical recordings?

November 14, 2004 3:41 PM

Jacob ter Veldhuis' String Quartets, as far as I can tell, have been recorded only once. That label doesn't seem to have any current contact information. I'd like to get my hands on this, and tried a bunch of the local options here in San Francisco, including Amoeba. Is there a secret place on the internet like alibris.com for books where one can go find relatively obscure Dutch string quartets?
posted by judith to media & arts (9 comments total)

You could maybe email Kyle Gann; he seems to know about such things.
posted by kenko at 3:49 PM on November 14, 2004

Oh, there are people on GEMM selling it.
posted by kenko at 3:51 PM on November 14, 2004

Excellent, thanks. Somehow I didn't know about GEMM!
posted by judith at 3:53 PM on November 14, 2004

(GEMM is totally awesome. Best way to find copies of obscure/out-of-print music, period.)
posted by neckro23 at 5:50 PM on November 14, 2004

Oh yes, and it looks like all those sellers have only one star. Do note that that's the "performance rating" -- it functions sort of like eBay feedback. In other words, none of those sellers looks all that reliable, but you may get lucky.

Also, the green shield (by the ALLSTARS listing) means that GEMM handles the payment, so you have their guarantee that you'll get the product or money back. Note that this also denotes a 15% GEMM surcharge, though.
posted by neckro23 at 5:53 PM on November 14, 2004

Note that this also denotes a 15% GEMM surcharge, though.

On the other hand, Jim who is one of the two main guys who runs GEMM lives down the street from me, so that 15% will at least be going to keep our local economy on life support. Don't forget that "string quartet" is Streichquartette in the language of the country the album was printed in, as near as I can tell, which gives you a few more options none of which seem any more reliable than what you could get via GEMM.
posted by jessamyn at 6:17 PM on November 14, 2004

I think that the "Emergo" label is/was based in the Netherlands, which would make the word for "string quartet" strijkkwartet. But that didn't help me find more links than have already been uncovered.

If you don't mind paying top dollar, Gary Thal Music in New York is one of the preferred suppliers of, er, special-interest imports to US university music libraries. Their phone number is
212-473-1514.
posted by Sidhedevil at 8:36 PM on November 14, 2004

Looks like it's available from a marketplace seller (I think) at amazon.de.
posted by misteraitch at 11:19 PM on November 14, 2004

Better yet, it's listed in the Berkshire Record Outlet's catalog for $8.99.
posted by misteraitch at 11:48 PM on November 14, 2004