Hyperion Records
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Hyperion Records is an independent British classical
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 produ ...
.


History

Hyperion is an independent British classical label that was established in 1980 with the goal of showcasing recordings of music in all genres and from all time periods, from the twelfth century to the twenty-first. The company was named after Hyperion, one of the
Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Ga ...
of
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted". Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by composers such as
Robin Milford Robin Humphrey Milford (22 January 1903 – 29 December 1959) was an English composer and music teacher. Biography Milford was born in Oxford, son of Sir Humphrey Milford, publisher with Oxford University Press. He attended Rugby School ...
,
Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed pro ...
and
Michael Berkeley Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton, (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer, broadcaster on music and member of the House of Lords. Early life Berkeley is the eldest of the three sons of Elizabeth Freda (née Bernstein ...
. The success of the venture was sealed with a critically acclaimed and popular disc of music by
Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...
, ''
A Feather on the Breath of God ''A Feather on the Breath of God'' is an album of sacred vocal music written in the 12th century by the German abbess Hildegard of Bingen, and recorded by British vocal ensemble Gothic Voices with English soprano Emma Kirkby. It was released by t ...
'' (1985), directed by the medievalist
Christopher Page Christopher Page (born 1952) is a British expert on medieval music, instruments and performance practice, together with the social and musical history of the guitar in England from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth. He has written numer ...
and his group
Gothic Voices Gothic Voices is a United Kingdom-based vocal ensemble specialising in repertoire from the 11th to the 15th century but also performing contemporary music, particularly pieces with medieval associations. The group was originally formed in 1980 ...
. The current director of Hyperion Records is Simon Perry, son of Ted Perry.


Recognition

Hyperion became renowned for recording lesser-known works, particularly reviving Romantic piano concertos which had fallen from the repertory, works by Scottish Romantic composers, and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
music of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
to the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
. They are especially well known for their series of recordings of the complete music for solo piano by Franz Liszt recorded by
Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''Vanity Fair'' and was one o ...
and for their complete edition of the lieder of
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
prepared under the supervision of the
accompanist Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of ...
Graham Johnson OBE, and many of Handel's
oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
s and Henry Purcell's choral works under the direction of Robert King. More recently,
Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...
CBE recorded Rachmaninov's complete piano concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody using the composer's original score on the Hyperion label. It is also notable for the breadth of the repertoire recorded, including music from the 12th to the 21st centuries. The label is also renowned for complete recordings of lieder by
Carl Loewe Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (; 30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs ("Balladen") were well enough known for s ...
, Robert Schumann,
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
, Richard Strauss, and Franz Liszt. More recently, Hyperion launched Romantic
violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
and Romantic cello concerto series. Award-winning Canadian pianist
Angela Hewitt Angela Hewitt, (born July 26, 1958) is a Canadian classical pianist. She is best known for her Bach interpretations. Career Hewitt was born in Ottawa, Ontario, daughter of the Yorkshire-born Godfrey Hewitt (thus she also has British nationality ...
OBE recorded a complete cycle of
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
's keyboard works for the label (including the
Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of in ...
twice over), while
Christopher Herrick Christopher Herrick is an English concert organist best known for his interpretation of J.S. Bach’s organ music and for his many recordings on the finest pipe organs from around the world. Early life Born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Her ...
recorded his complete organ works. Recordings released by Hyperion have won many awards, among them several
Gramophone Awards The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...
, including Record of the Year in 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2010. Ted Perry was voted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame in April 2012.


Sawkins lawsuit

In 2004 the company became embroiled in a legal dispute with Lionel Sawkins, a music editor whose editions of works by
Michel-Richard de Lalande Michel Richard Delalande e Lalande'' (; 15 December 1657 – 18 June 1726) was a French Baroque composer and organist who was in the service of King Louis XIV. He was one of the most important composers of grands motets. He also wrote orch ...
had been used in Hyperion's recording of the composer's music. Dr. Sawkins sued the company for royalties accruing from his musical copyright in these editions. Hyperion maintained that the editions were not original compositions, and therefore were not subject to copyright and further that Dr. Sawkins did receive payment in the form of a hire fee from the performers for their rental. The case came to court in May 2004 and the judgment went largely in favour of Dr. Sawkins. Hyperion chose to make an appeal in March 2005, in which the court upheld the original judgment. While the damages sought by Dr. Sawkins were thought to be small, the legal costs of the case were estimated to result in a liability to the company of hundreds of thousands of pounds Sterling, making the future of Hyperion Records uncertain at the time. By 2006, Hyperion had received financial support from musicians, consumers, and composers to enable its survival. As a precedent-setting case, the judgment was criticised by many musicologists: Peter Phillips, the director of the
Tallis Scholars The Tallis Scholars is a British professional early music vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers. They specialise in performing ''a cappella'' sacred vocal music. History The group was formed ...
and a music editor himself, said: "All the music I perform has to be edited, or we couldn't read it. But copyright should be there ... to reward creativity, not scholarship or diligence. How much an editor did or did not write should never be asked and judged upon during a million-pound lawsuit involving a small and innovative recording company.".


See also

*
Lists of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, ...
*
List of independent UK record labels This is a list of notable independent record labels based in the United Kingdom. * __NOTOC__ 0-9 * 3 Beat Records * 4AD A * Acid Jazz Records * Alcopop! Records * All Saints Records * Ambush Reality * Andmoresound * Angular Recor ...


References


External links


Hyperion Records' official web site


25 September 1990 * Legal Judgments ** Original case which concluded in May 2004: ** Appeal which concluded in March 2005: {{Authority control Classical music record labels British independent record labels Copyright case law Record labels established in 1980 IFPI members 1980 establishments in the United Kingdom