Yes, definitely organize by birth year of the composer. That way you can get a visual feel of the progression of centuries of music, and understand which composers wrote during the same period, and which ones influenced those who were born later. Here is the way classical.net broadly divides things:
In each composer section, I subdivide by opus numbers, chronologically. When that is not feasible, I keep all the symphonies of that composer together, all his string quartets together, and so on.
If you have a violin record with four composers on it, what do you do then? You can either put it in with your favorite composer on the LP, or you can have a section of records at the end or beginning of your shelving devoted to particular instruments. Piano, clarinet, guitar, what have you.
Operas you can have in a separate section or not.
Filing alphabetically is the lazy man's way, essentially pointless except for convenience. Is there really any sense in having Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner next to each other, when what they primarily have in common is the letter B?
Filing by label is valid if you collect by label and when music is not your main concern. But why have to go to dozens of different sections to find all your Beethoven?
Enjoy your new collection!
Medieval - 11th though 14th
Centuries
Early Renaissance - 15th
Century
High Renaissance - 16th
Century
Early Baroque - Late 16th and
17th Centuries
High Baroque - Late 17th and
Early 18th Centuries
Classical/Romantic - Late 18th
Century
Romantic - Early 19th Century
Romantic/Modern - Late 19th
Century
Modern - 20th Century
In each composer section, I subdivide by opus numbers, chronologically. When that is not feasible, I keep all the symphonies of that composer together, all his string quartets together, and so on.
If you have a violin record with four composers on it, what do you do then? You can either put it in with your favorite composer on the LP, or you can have a section of records at the end or beginning of your shelving devoted to particular instruments. Piano, clarinet, guitar, what have you.
Operas you can have in a separate section or not.
Filing alphabetically is the lazy man's way, essentially pointless except for convenience. Is there really any sense in having Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner next to each other, when what they primarily have in common is the letter B?
Filing by label is valid if you collect by label and when music is not your main concern. But why have to go to dozens of different sections to find all your Beethoven?
Enjoy your new collection!