Why Use the Collection
Today there is so much sheet music available on-line it is reasonable to wonder why we need or should use our library collection. Here are some answers.
- The BCRS recorder library is now almost certainly the largest in BC and probably one of the largest in North America. Hence the range of composers, styles, eras and numbers of parts offers a great selection of music for all levels of players, with exclusive use to members of our society.
- The website has spread-sheets of the music catalogue, categorized in a number of ways, allowing convenient sorting and browsing.
- Many of the pieces are from publishers long extinct and hence no longer available from other publishers or on-line.
- The music is mostly in very reputable editions that have been carefully edited with regard to comfortable ranges for the parts, and good general complementarity of the lines. Even the much-maligned old Schott versions, many of which did not have bass lines (presumably basses were rarer then?) can be shifted down so that soprano becomes tenor, alto becomes F-bass, and tenor becomes C-bass.
- The library collection has almost no ecological footprint. In an age when society is trying to “green” itself, it seems irresponsible to print out large amounts of music requiring much paper and much printer’s ink, when there are alternatives available that do not require such excesses. Obviously, sometimes print runs are necessary, but in most cases they are not required.
Have a look at what we've got To borrow, contact the Librarian, putting BCRS loans in the Subject line.