It's 9 o'clock. Do you know where your Beethoven is?

There's something in many music lovers that urges us to answer a question like that by collecting everything together — to make sure we aren't missing anything of the composers we adore. And for such people, the Brilliant Classics label has already assembled briskly selling "complete works" boxes for such greats as Bach and Mozart.

Now it is Beethoven's turn, with a handsome Brilliant Classics boxed set of all of Ludwig van Beethoven's works on 85 CDs that should have a mighty appeal to collectors. Sure, you might have the nine symphonies, major piano works, violin concerto and other standards already — but what about the Irish, Scottish and Welsh songs, the "Leonore" (the original version of his only opera, "Fidelio"), the Canons, Epigrams and Jokes? There are lots of nice discoveries here, in a set that has its ups and downs (considerably more of the former than the latter).

In the "ups" category: the string quartets, those revered Beethoven works, performed by the always-excellent Guarneri Quartet; the terrific Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (led by Kurt Masur) for the symphonies; Henryk Szeryng and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (with Bernard Haitink) in the Violin Concerto; and welcome appearances and collaborations.

On the "downs" side: Pianist Friedrich Gulda does not make my heart beat faster in the choice piano sonatas and concertos (even with the Vienna Philharmonic backing him up in the latter). How anyone could make these fiery, colorful works sound matter-of-fact is a source of amazement (compare them with, say, Seattle's Craig Sheppard and his pulse-pounding traversals of the sonatas). And some of those valuable historic recordings, like the Grumiaux/Haskil violin sonatas, are wonderful artistic statements but old enough that the remastered sound takes some getting used to.

But there's one final huge plus: You can buy the entire set on Amazon.com for around $126 (it's listed at $139.98). It's an incredible buy, one that will keep Beethoven fans happily engaged for a long time.

Local CDs

The American String Project. With the mini-festival coming up May 14 at the Nordstrom Recital Hall in Benaroya Hall, the American String Project has released programming from last year on the MSR Classics label. Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" Quartet and Bartok's String Quartet No. 1, both in string-orchestra arrangements by American String Project founder Barry Lieberman, are performed with the energy and clarity that provide ample evidence to support the Project's motto, "a virtuoso in every chair" (www.msrcd.com).

The Esoterics. The venturesome Esoterics, Seattle's new-and-unusual music specialist chorus, has released several CDs of works from their themed concerts. One of the most interesting of these, "Mandala" (subtitled "Meditations on the Wholeness of Being"), is an accomplished disc of virtuoso repertoire by Northwest master Diane Thome (her remarkable and extremely difficult 2004 piece called "All This"), Stephen Paulus and several others (including an evocative work by founding director Eric Banks). This and other discs are on the Terpsichore Records label; find details at the Esoterics' Web site, www.theesoterics.org.

Saint Mark's Cathedral Choir. Always a bastion of excellence here, this choir has a CD on the Gothic label called "How Brightly Shines the Morning Star," with Melvin Butler conducting works of Epiphany. Choral music of several eras and styles (including Seattle's own Peter Hallock) is interspersed with organ solos on the cathedral's mighty Flentrop, always a pleasure to hear. The CD is listed in The Gothic Catalog, which you can find online, www.gothic-catalog.com.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Gerard Schwarz's tenure with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra has brought forth several well-received CDs, and one of the best of them is this mighty two-disc "Gustav Mahler" set on the Artek Recordings label, featuring Symphonies Nos. 1 and 9 in strong, big-scale recordings with a broad interpretive span (www.artekrecordings.com).

International CDs

Two outstanding recent discs by artists who regularly visit Seattle (though never often enough):

Hilary Hahn, "Schoenberg and Sibelius Violin Concertos" (with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Deutsche Grammophon, $16.98). Hahn, a violinist who always follows her own way, has rather daringly paired two very difficult, and very different, concertos for her instrument on this disc, and — surprise! — it's the Schoenberg that actually arrests the ear. Not that the Sibelius, with its many virtuoso passages and lovely melodies, ever gets short shrift, but it is astounding what a strong case Hahn makes for the thorny, seldom-played Schoenberg Concerto. Heifetz may have returned this score to the composer with the complaint that it was unplayable ("until violinists grow a sixth finger"), but Hahn is fully up to the challenge.

Murray Perahia, "Bach: Partitas Nos. 2, 3 & 4" (Sony Classics, $16.97). Perahia has released his first studio recording in three years, and it's an all-Bach gem to follow his other Bachs in the pantheon of great CDs (Perahia's "Goldberg Variations" is a particular landmark). The new disc, with Bach's keyboard Partitas Nos. 2, 3 and 4, shows this great aristocrat of the keyboard in probing, thoughtful performances in which there is an interpretive surprise lurking around nearly every corner. This one keeps sneaking into my CD player for another go-round, and I suspect it will do so far into the future.