Biddulph Recordings is a record label based in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England specialising in the restoration of historical performances, particularly by string musicians. It was founded in 1989 by violin dealer Peter Biddulph and Eric Wen, a

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

and historian of string performances. In 2003, Sarah Woodward joined and has since overseen the historical vocal label Romophone. Biddulph Recordings’ honours include the

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

1999 ICRC award for "Historical Recording of the Year".

Historic reissues

The early Biddulph titles included the first digital reissues of recordings by

Fritz Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...

Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti (, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and move ...

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won th ...

, and

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

. By the mid-1990s, Biddulph Recordings had also released complete editions of

Bronisław Huberman Bronisław Huberman (19 December 1882 – 16 June 1947) was a Polish violinist. He was known for his individualistic interpretations and was praised for his tone color, expressiveness, and flexibility. The '' Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivariu ...

Mischa Elman Mischa (Mikhail Saulovich) Elman (; January 20, 1891April 5, 1967) was a Russian-American violinist famed for his passionate style, beautiful tone, and impeccable artistry and musicality. Early life Moses or Moishe Elman was born to a Jewish fa ...

Jan Kubelík Jan Kubelík (5 July 18805 December 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer. Biography He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after di ...

Henri Temianka Henri Temianka (19 November 19067 November 1992) was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, author and music educator. Early years Henri Temianka was born in Greenock, Scotland, to parents who were Polish emigrants. He studied violin with Carel Blit ...

Toscha Seidel Toscha Seidel (November 17, 1899 – November 15, 1962) was a Russian violinist Biography Seidel was born in Odessa on November 17, 1899, to a Jewish family. A student of Leopold Auer in St. Petersburg, Seidel became known for a lush, romantic to ...

, Ossy Renardy,

Lionel Tertis Lionel Tertis, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English viola, violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame, and a noted teacher. Career Tertis was born ...

William Primrose William Primrose (23 August 19041 May 1982) was a Scottish violist and teacher. He performed with the London String Quartet from 1930 to 1935. He then joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra where he formed the Primrose Quartet. He performed in v ...

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Ruggiero Ricci Ruggiero Ricci (24 July 1918 – 5 August 2012) was an American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini. Biography He was born in San Bruno, California, the son of Italian immigrants who first named him Woodr ...

. The Biddulph label soon include historical piano recordings, with the first digital reissues of recordings by

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot ( , ; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his po ...

Harold Bauer Harold Victor Bauer (28 April 1873 – 12 March 1951) was an English-born pianist of Jewish heritage who began his musical career as a violinist. Biography Harold Bauer was born in Kingston upon Thames; his father was a German violinis ...

, and

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who moved to the United States in 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and ...

, followed by

Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 189 ...

Moriz Rosenthal Moriz Rosenthal (17 December 18623 September 1946) was a Polish pianist and composer. He was an outstanding pupil of Franz Liszt and a friend and colleague of some of the greatest musicians of his age, including Johannes Brahms, Johann Straus ...

, Raoul Koczalski,

Wilhelm Backhaus Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (26 March 1884 – 5 July 1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much adm ...

, and

Shura Cherkassky Shura Cherkassky (; 7 October 1909 – 27 December 1995) was a Russian-American concert pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone. For much of h ...

. Biddulph later branched into historical orchestral and chamber music, reissuing the work of

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

Serge Koussevitzky Serge Koussevitzky (born Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky;Koussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his sig ...

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...

Max Fiedler August Max Fiedler (21 December 1859, Zittau – 1 December 1939, Stockholm) was a German conductor and composer, He was noted as an interpreter of Brahms. He first studied the piano with his father, who conducted the accompanying orches ...

, and

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

, as well as the

Budapest String Quartet The Budapest String Quartet was a string quartet in existence from 1917 to 1967. It originally consisted of three Hungarians and a Dutchman; at the end, the quartet consisted of four Russians. A number of recordings were made for His Master's ...

, the Busch Quartet, the Capet Quartet, and the Primrose Quartet.

Original recordings

Biddulph Recordings has also produced a number of important original recordings. The first of these was the recital recording debut of violinist

Maxim Vengerov Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (; born 20 August 1974) is a Soviet-born Israeli violinist, violist, and conductor. Classic FM has called him "one of the greatest violinists in the world". Vengerov was born in Novosibirsk, the only child of Al ...

, then an unknown 14-year-old prodigy. This was followed by Ruggiero Ricci’s accounts of the

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

Concertos featuring 16 and 14 different cadenzas respectively (both concerto albums were tracked to enable the listener to choose which cadenza to program into each performance). Other new recordings on the Biddulph label include the

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

interpretations of pianist

Edward Aldwell Edward Aldwell (January 30, 1938 – May 28, 2006) was an American pianist, music theorist and pedagogue. He was particularly renowned for his Bach interpretations, and he recorded several albums, most notably the complete Well-Tempered Clavier ...

, and the violin performances of Oscar Shumsky, Aaron Rosand, and

Arnold Steinhardt Arnold Steinhardt (born April 1, 1937 in Los Angeles, California) is an American violinist, best known as the first violinist of the Guarneri String Quartet. Steinhardt made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 14 ...

References

{{Authority control British record labels Classical music record labels Record labels established in 1989