Varèse Sarabande
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Varèse Sarabande is an American
record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...
, owned by
Concord Music Group Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings ( Fearless Records, Concord ...
and distributed by
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
, which specializes in
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
s and
original cast recordings A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sh ...
. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...
s, as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract. The label's name was derived from combining French-born
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...
Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coine ...
's last name with the musical term
sarabande The sarabande (from es, zarabanda) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance c ...
, a slow Spanish dance. As of February 2018, Varèse operates as a division of
Concord Music Group Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings ( Fearless Records, Concord ...
's
Craft Recordings Craft Recordings is a record label owned by Concord. Like UMe, Legacy Recordings and Rhino Entertainment, Craft is specialized in reissues of Concord's back catalog. The imprint was founded in 2017, along with an online store by the same name ...
label.


History

Varèse Sarabande's roots trace back to 1972, with the introduction of a predecessor imprint called Varèse International. The first LP release was "Lumiere" by Dub Taylor. Varèse International Records was originally conceived as an avant garde classical label. In the years that followed, under the management of the founder–owners, Dub Taylor and Chris Kuchler, the label expanded its catalogue to include jazz, classical and other genres of recordings. In 1977, Tom Null's Sarabande Records merged with Varèse International to form Varèse Sarabande Records. The early LP issues of the label were reissues of classical recordings from the American
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...
, Remington and
JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...
labels. The first film soundtrack LP album was released in 1978 though the advice of fledging Hollywood writer/director/actor Bruce Kimmel, who was offered an ownership but politely turned it down at that time and would return to head the label's Broadway division in the early 1990s. The labels' sudden success was mostly due to the soundtracks they released more so than their classical releases and eventually the label leaned heavily towards soundtrack releases many of which became best sellers for the label that included
John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...
's ''
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...
'',
Goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
's '' Dawn of the Dead'',
Fred Myrow Fredric Myrow (July 16, 1939 – January 14, 1999) was an American composer. He composed the soundtracks for '' Soylent Green'', ''Scarecrow'', and '' Phantasm''. He was composer in residence of the Los Angeles Theatre Center in the mid-1980s, and ...
's '' Phantasm'', five albums of the music from the classic TV series, ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
'', which were huge sellers and their still popular reissue of the music from the late
George Romero George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
's classic horror film, ''
Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...
''. They still produced classical releases under the supervision of Null and even created an offshoot label named Andante, which didn't last long and was a variation of their classical releases on Varese just under that brand. The late Scot W. Holton was also a producer during the label's early years until his passing. Initially, the new label was located at 6404 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, later moving to 13006 Saticoy Street, North Hollywood, CA 91605, then 11846 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 130 Studio City, CA, 91604 and finally to Beverly Hills, CA once the label was acquired by
Concord Music Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings ( Fearless Records, Concord ...
in 2018. The label would become one of the largest producers of soundtrack releases on LP during the late 1970s and through the 1980s up until the Compact Disc format would appear in 1983. The label would eventually produce a handful of soundtrack releases on CD during the format's early stages as well as a dozen classical reissues from the LP counterparts. Starting from 1990 until now, the label would produce up to 50 new soundtrack releases per year and would create a vast library soundtrack releases which was far more than any other record label would produce in a yearly period. In the early 1990s, the classical division was virtually eliminated for a new division devoted to Broadway Shows as well as Cabaret and Show Tune albums by popular and respected Broadway artists, which would also dominate the genre throughout the 1990s. In 2003, Varèse celebrated the label's 25th anniversary by releasing two 4-CD compilation sets dedicated the releases produced by the label up to that point. Additionally two more 4-CD sets were released in 2008 celebrate its 30th anniversary and 2013 to celebrate its 35th anniversary. Finally, in 2018 the label produced a modest 2-CD set to celebrate its 40th anniversary milestone for the label and would be the last for longtime producer and executive Robert Townson, who had run the label from 1989 until early 2019 whose final release was fittingly,
Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franch ...
's ''
Raggedy Man ''Raggedy Man'' is a 1981 American drama film based on William D. Wittliff and Sara Clark's 1979 novel, and directed by Jack Fisk. It follows a divorced mother and telephone switchboard operator living with her two sons in a small town during Wo ...
'' reissue for the Varese Club. Presently, Varèse continues to release new music and re-issues of its vast catalog of owned and licensed material. A commercial website dedicated to Varèse Sarabande releases can be found at VareseSarabande.com. The Varèse CD Club is their signature line dedicated to unreleased and/or expanded versions of classic soundtracks. All CD Club titles are limited edition and are usually available for purchase via the Varèse site as well as their current and older releases through them as well as other soundtrack retailers.


Colosseum Schallplatten

This German record label (based in
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
) was Varèse Sarabande's European equivalent which marketed most Varèse Sarabande titles overseas and had done so since the inception of the 47000 CD series. The initial Varèse CDs sold in Europe were either imported from Varèse or pressed by Colosseum using JVC disc technology. Varèse pressed CDs featured a solid black design, while the Colosseum pressings had the same designs printed in outline red. Thus each label could print titles independently, and many Varèse titles that went out of print in the US were sometimes available from Colosseum. After 1989, Colosseum made several CD pressings that were exclusive to Europe and, because of their connection to Varèse, were given a VSD catalogue number. Presently, Colosseum had expanded their output with their own series of releases apart from the Varèse line, with CVS replacing VSD on specific European pressings of new Varèse titles. Some VSD listings were occasionally visible on certain reissues and exclusive digital downloads. The label was also the exclusive distributor of Varèse Club titles in Europe and occasionally had titles available long after they sold out in the United States. The label has ceased operations as of late 2015.


Soundtrack Listeners Communications (SLCS)

From 1990 through 1997, Varèse Sarabande licensed their releases vintage and current to Soundtrack Listeners Communications (SLCS for short) in Japan through this label run by Yashiro Wada. The label specialized in releasing soundtracks that have never been on CD before as well as reissuing out-of-print titles that were on CD as well LP that has been in demand by collectors. They had a special limited edition Club called SLCS Club which was somewhat similar to Varese's US club that issued soundtracks from other labels such as RCA/Victor and many others as limited editions but were not numbered like Varese's were at the time. Yet, only up to 1000 copies were produced which included John Williams's "Space Camp", Henry Mancini's "Return of The Pink Panther" and "Two For The Road" and Dave Grusin's "Three Days of The Condor." Many came with an OBI Strip, a paper that wrapped around the side of the CD case containing information on the release in Japanese with the title and date of release as well as the price in Japanese Yen currency. These strips are very popular amongst soundtrack collectors and particular, their older releases. Most titles contained a fold out booklet or a regular sized booklet with liner notes in Japanese pertaining to the title and the composer. Their versions of Varese's releases utilized the US poster artwork as well much improved artwork in a lot of cases to distinguish themselves from their US counterparts. However, the music was identical to that of the original US releases and were never expanded in any way unless Varese themselves expanded the title. They also released soundtracks from Varese's LP catalogue that were exclusive for the Japanese market which included Joseph LoDuca's "Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2", John Harrison's "Creepshow" and David Mansfield's " Year of the Dragon". They also produced a compilation set dedicated to Oscar Winner Jerry Goldsmith called "Jerry's Recall" amongst these special releases not available in the US. These releases were made available through imports here in the US for double the price of a regular US priced disc averaging from thirty to forty dollars per disc for a single disc release. Much more for multi-disc sets. The label ceased operations in 1997.


Volcano Records

After Soundtrack Listeners Communications (SLCS) ceased their operations, Varese made a new Japanese distribution deal with Volcano Records for a short period of time starting in 1998. The label was more broad in that they did not just specialize in just soundtrack releases like SLCS did when they were in operation. They however still followed a similar protocol to SLCS in releasing Varese's US releases often with superior artwork and at times, better sound quality. They also exclusively released titles such as a nearly complete "Lionheart" soundtrack by Oscar Winner Jerry Goldsmith, that had been released by the label in two separate CD volume releases in 1987 and a condensed single release in 1994, which was incomplete. The label would eventually case operations around 2001.


See also

* List of Varèse Sarabande albums


References


External links

*
Varèse Vintage Website

Colosseum Schallplatten
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varese Sarabande American companies established in 1972 American record labels Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Record labels established in 1972 Reissue record labels Soundtrack record labels