If you`re a collector of 20th century classical music, then chances are that you have at least a few LPs on the Wergo record label. This pioneering German classical label was launched in the early 1960s and immediately secured a reputation for releasing daring innovative music. The label is still in existence today, re-releasing earlier vinyl albums on compact disc and unveiling a whole new generation of avant garde performers, composers and conductors. Through a long relationship with the world famous Donaueschingen Music Festival, Wergo also now releases modern jazz recordings on its `Wergo J` label, and has similar subsidiaries for electro-acoustic music, digital computer generated recordings, world music, children`s recordings and meditative new age pieces. Serious record collectors, however, generally confine themselves to the label`s ground breaking LP releases of the 1960s and 70s.

A typical Wergo highlight from the early years is the stunning recording of Karlheinz Stockhausen`s `Momente` for soprano, 4 choir groups and 13 instrumentalists including the great Alfons Kontarsky on a particularly punishing Hammond organ. The no-frills red and white plain text cover nevertheless contains a 4 page booklet complete with Stockhausen`s customary recording charts and eccentric sleeve notes. This is not a particularly scarce record but it is a cornerstone of any serious avant garde or modern classical collection. Expect to pay about $30 for a mint copy, with early copies coming in a gatefold cover. Rarer still is the Wergo recording of Stockhausen`s later `StudioKompositien` - expect to pay up to $75 for a mint copy in its attractive red and black picture sleeve.

Other luminaries of the avant garde to record for Wergo include Gyorgy Ligeti, Luigi Nono and the increasingly collectible madcap Argentinian composer Mauricio Kagel. Ligeti`s celebrated `Requiem` (Wergo 60045) generally retails for about $20, Nono`s disturbing `Ricorda cosa ti Hanno Fatto in Auschwitz` (Wergo 60038) for $30 and Kagel`s bonkers `Heterophonie` (Wergo 60043) for $40 and rising. For connoisseurs of the avant garde, any modern classical recording issued on Wergo in the 60s, 70s and early 80s is likely to be of some interest.