Popper string quartet in c minor op. 74

[BrandonD]

Hello. I have been looking for this piece for such a long time. But I am coming to IMSLP to see if any of you have any such information on it or if you have it to please upload?

[jossuk]

Worldcat shows it to be at the Univ. of California Library at Berkeley. You might try contacting the librarian there. I can see no evidence that it is currently published.

[BrandonD]

Thank you so much. Do you think it would be possible for Berkeley to mail that copy? I have had libraries mail me copies before but I am not sure if this one may be any different. This is such a great piece and i am trying my best to get my hands on it.

[BrandonD]

Oh, I contacted Friedrich Hofmeister (Publisher) last night (I found that they publish the quartet from the back of a concerto score) and they said it would cost $95 for an archive copy. So if any music collectors reading this with some extra money on hand, would be so generous?

[jossuk]

I would still contact the library. $95 is pretty steep for a piece that is PD (published 1905, I believe).

[BrandonD]

Hofmeister said that it is permanently out of print. Does this sway your opinion or is $95 still a large sum? I am not familiar with having to work with rare pieces of music so any advice/help would be helpful.

[jossuk]

"Permanently out of print" means only that the publisher is no longer keeping it in their sales catalogue. Occasionally, as is apparently the case with Hofmeister, such POP items may be made available via "print on demand" or archival services. If Hofmeister is asking $95 (not including postage, I presume) to reprint the quartet, it's only because they have the original plates of this public domain item. If you have the patience to contact any of the libraries at this link... http://www.worldcat.org/title/streichqu ... ht=edition ......

...you may be able to work about a less expensive solution with a cooperative librarian. Alternately, if there happens to be a long-standing
string quartet ensemble in your geographical area, it's just possible that their library might include the Popper.

Otherwise, if the quartet is worth it to you, Hofmeister's price could certainly be worse.

The best of luck with this quest. And, by all means, make an extra copy of whichever public domain version you eventually acquire!

[BrandonD]

Thank you so much for your help, I would have never found this! And yes, my goal is to make this a forever standing piece by putting it here on IMSLP whenever I get my hands on it!! Expect it to be on here sometime this year!

[Eric]

The British Library (also has a copy and also) charges for scans, I gather- don't know what the Free Library of Philadelphia's policy is on these things, if UC Berkeley doesn't pan out...

[Generoso]

And here it is!!

http://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet,_O ... er,_David)