The Bach Box

Last October -- here, in fact --   I was musing about how much I had saved by holding out for the stripped Honda Civic, and what I should do with that money:

Now I'm trying to think of something interesting to do with the money I saved. (Something more interesting than buying fuel oil for the winter, anyway....)

(For those just joining a story in progress: Simply declining the dealer-installed CAR RADIO and putting an after-market radio into the car myself had saved me about $675.)

Well, this spring I figured it out:  the obvious way to spend the money I saved on a car radio would be to spend it on MUSIC.

Now, clearly, the Age of the Compact Disc is ending.  And - if you look around - it's possible to download about any music one can think of.  And while I don't much object to the idea of  downloading something that is otherwise NOT FOR SALE AT ANY PRICE,  I'm old-school enough to feel uncomfortable about stealing music.

In March, Warner Brothers re-issued the 1999 Teldec "Bach 2000" set.  When it first came out in 1999, it listed for  $1120 (say, $1500 in today's money - and I think Tower Records would sell it to you for something like $800?); either way, it was too expensive for a guy with three small children. But this year - updated and re-issued as "The Complete Bach Edition" - it now lists for a much more reasonable $400.

$268 had it delivered to my door.  153 CDs of JS Bach,  a full week's worth of music.
Very roughly, it's about one-fourth of the original price back at the turn of the century.

Various friends and family think it's insane; and yet nobody would bat an eye if I simply gone ahead and had spent that very same money on a stupid car radio....