''The Stereo Record Guide'' is a series of nine classical

discographies Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

published by the Long Playing Record Library in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

from 1960 to 1974. When volume 1 was published in late 1960, the majority of classical records issued were

monaural Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce so ...

. The authors were supportive of the new stereophonic recordings. Their first sentence stated “Let us begin by stating, unequivocally that good stereo on quite modest equipment is infinitely superior, domestically, to any other form of sound reproduction”. The arrangement of the discographies is alphabetical by composer, except that volume 9 covers anthologies (orchestral music, instrumental music, vocal music, and humour on records) and is organised by artist. Recordings receive brief critical reviews which consider the music, performance standards, and recorded sound. Manufacturers catalogue numbers are included. Records are rated with a star system from *** to *. Four reviewers compiled these books: Edward Greenfield, Ivan March,

Denis Stevens Denis William Stevens CBE (2 March 1922 – 1 April 2004) was a British musicologist specialising in early music, conductor, professor of music and radio producer. Early years He was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and attended the Royal ...

, and Robert Layton. Layton joined the reviewers with volume 5-6 (1968), and Stevens left the project after those volumes were published (he died in 2004). Two volumes titled '' A Guide to Bargain Classics'' (1962-1964) were also compiled by these authors and published by the Long Playing Record Library.

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

published three volumes of guides to bargain records (1966, 1970 and 1972).

took over publication of these discographies in 1975, starting with the '' Penguin Stereo Record Guide''. Four decades after the first publication; Greenfield, March, and Layton continued to review thousands of recordings.

References

*Goff, Martyn "The Stereo Record Guide, Vol 3" ''The Musical Times'', August 1963, page 561–562. *Goff, Martyn "The Stereo Record Guide.4" ''The Musical Times'', May 1966, pages 410–411. *Paterson, Robert "The Stereo Record Guide, Volume 2" ''The Musical Times'', January 1962, page 30. *"The Stereo Record Guide Vol. II" ''Music Educators Journal'', September 1962, page 132. *Wilson, Carolyn "The Stereo Record Guide vol. 5" ''The Musical Times'', August 1968, pages 730–731. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stereo Record Guide, The British books Classical music discographies Music books Encyclopedias of music