Chandos Records is a British independent
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
recording company based in
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''.
Colchester occupies the ...
. It was founded in 1979 by
Brian Couzens.
Since March 2024, it has been owned by
Klaus Heymann
Klaus Heymann (born 22 October 1936) is a German entrepreneur and the founder and head of the Naxos Records, Naxos record label.
Early life
Heymann was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and studied Romance languages and English at the Universities of G ...
.
Background
Chandos Records arose from a band music publisher Chandos Music, founded in 1963, and Chandos Productions, a record production company which produced LPs for Classics for Pleasure, and, especially,
RCA
RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
's work in the UK.
Its first record was Bloch's Sacred Service (ABR1001). Important early recordings were made with Mariss Jansons, Nigel Kennedy and the King's Singers – before they moved to bigger contracts with EMI.
[Anderson C. "Thirty years of Chandos. Ralph and Brian Couzens talk about the history of their company:". '' Classic Record Collector'', Winter 2008, 39–42.]
In 2005, Chandos Records was the first classical label to offer mp3s on its website. They now run The Classical Shop with over 45 labels on offer, including Naxos, LSO Live, Coro, Avie, Onyx, Alpha and many rarer European labels, which are not available in physical format in the UK.
The name "Chandos" refers to
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos (1674–1744), at whose
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
-style house,
Cannons
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...
, the composer
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
was engaged as a composer-in-residence for a year (1717–1718). In addition to the eleven ''
Chandos Anthems'', Handel also wrote other works, including ''
Acis and Galatea
Acis and Galatea (, ) are characters from Greek mythology later associated together in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The episode tells of the love between the mortal Acis and the Nereid (sea-nymph) Galatea; when the jealous Cyclops Polyphemus kil ...
'', at Cannons. The company originally had its office in Chandos House, Chandos Place, London SW1, the street name derived from the Duke.
Repertoire
The Chandos catalogue contains a range of classical music – for example, much orchestral,
choral and
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
by such lesser-known British composers as
Herbert Howells,
Gerald Finzi
Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and ...
,
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...
and
Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music ...
, conducted by eminent conductors including
Richard Hickox
Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.
Early life and education
Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending ...
,
Gianandrea Noseda
Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964) is an Italian conductor. He is currently the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.; general music director (''Generalmusikdirektor)'' of Zurich Opera; principal guest condu ...
,
Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor.
Early life
Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...
and
Vernon Handley
Vernon George "Tod" Handley (11 November 1930 – 10 September 2008) was a British conductor (music), conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers.
Early life and education
He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mothe ...
. They also specialise in
early music
Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...
, on their label Chaconne, with performances by artists such as the
Purcell Quartet,
Collegium Musicum 90 and Sophie Yates. Chandos is also known for its Movies series, preserving previously lost film scores. In 1990 they launched the Opera in English label, in association with the Peter Moores Foundation,
which has resulted in over 80 recordings.
Series include:
* Complete symphonies of Alwyn, Vaughan Williams, Mahler, Arnold, Shostakovich, Bax
* Tone poems of Liszt
* Film Music series includes: Arnold, Shostakovich, Vaughan Willams, Bax, Korngold, Coates, Addinsell, Addison
Awards
Recordings released by Chandos have won many awards including "Gramophone Record of the Year" for
Vaughan Williams's ''
A London Symphony'' with the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
, and "Gramophone Choral Recording of the Year" for
Hummel Masses. Chandos recordings have received five
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
: "Best Opera Recording" in 1997 for
Britten's ''
Peter Grimes'' and in 2008 for
Engelbert Humperdinck's ''
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15).
Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...
'', "Best Engineered Classical Album" in 2008 for
Gretchaninov's "Passion Week" and in 2013 for "Life and Breath" by the
Kansas City Chorale, and "Best Choral Performance" for "Life and Breath."
[Stott M. Colchester]
Grammy win for classical music record label Chandos
''Ipswich Star
The ''Ipswich Star'' (formerly ''Evening Star'') is a daily evening local newspaper based in Ipswich, UK published by Archant. The newspaper started publication on 17 February 1885 and is published Monday to Friday.
History
The newspaper was kn ...
'', 18 February 2013.
Artists
Soloists and conductors who have recorded for the label include Sir
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...
, Rebecca Evans,
Jennifer Larmore,
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme.
Early years and education
Julia ...
, Sir
Thomas Allen,
Alan Opie,
Tasmin Little, Bruce Ford, Barry Banks,
Christine Brewer, Lesley Garrett,
Horacio Gutiérrez,
Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor.
Early life
Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...
,
Simon Keenlyside,
Hideko Udagawa,
Alexandre Naoumenko and
Safri Duo
Safri Duo is a Danish electronic percussion duo composed of Uffe Savery (born 5 April 1966) and Morten Friis (born 21 August 1968). Initially classically oriented, they later made a track mixing both tribal sound and modern electronica. Releas ...
.
They have recording partnerships with, among others, the
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and pianists
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and
Louis Lortie. The late conductor
Richard Hickox
Richard Sidney Hickox (5 March 1948 – 23 November 2008) was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.
Early life and education
Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family. After attending ...
was many times a Gramophone winner with Chandos recordings.
References
External links
Chandos web siteat ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''
{{Authority control
British record labels
Classical music record labels
IFPI members
Companies based in Colchester
Record labels established in 1979
British companies established in 1979