Vox Records is a budget classical

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

. The name is Latin for "voice." Some Vox releases such as

Peter Frankl Peter Frankl (born 2 October 1935) is a Hungarian-born British pianist. He mainly performs music from the Classical period (particularly Mozart), the Romantic period and the early Modern period. His recordings include the complete solo piano m ...

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Piano Works and

György Sándor György Sándor (; 21 September 1912 – 9 December 2005) was a Hungarian pianist and writer. Early years Sándor was born in Budapest. He studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest under Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, and debuted as ...

's Complete

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

Sonatas were reissued in premium vinyl boxsets by the audiophile German FSM Records Hamburg. The Brendel Complete

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 ...

Sonatas were remastered from the original tapes for SACD and for HD downloads.

History

Vox was founded in 1945 in New York by George Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a Hungarian Jewish immigrant. Starting out with 78-rpm discs, it specialized in licensed pressings of European classical recordings. It was one of the last major recording companies to adopt stereo recording, about 1957. The company's output featured the "Vox Box", compilations of music by specific composers, such as piano music of Chopin,

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

, and

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

; the complete symphonies and orchestral music of

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...

; rarely heard orchestral music by Tchaikovsky,

Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

, and

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

; the complete orchestral music of the French composer

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

; and one of the most complete collections of the music of the early American composer

Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer, pianist, and virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States. Life and career Gottschalk ...

. Vox maintained several subsidiary labels including Turnabout and Candide. Both labels generally focused on contemporary music. In recent years, select Vox recordings were rereleased on the Excelsior label. Although Vox specializes in imported recordings, it has also recorded the

Utah Symphony Orchestra The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...

under

Maurice Abravanel Maurice Abravanel (January 6, 1903 – September 22, 1993) was an American classical music conductor. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony for over 30 years. Life Abravanel was born in Salonika, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Emp ...

, the

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest professional symphony o ...

under

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

and

Walter Susskind Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague and travelled to London in March 1939 when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. He worked for substa ...

, the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...

under

Stanisław Skrowaczewski Stanislaw Pawel Stefan Jan Sebastian Skrowaczewski (; October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Biography Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów, Second Polish Republic (now Lviv, Ukraine). His pa ...

, and the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...

under

Thomas Schippers Thomas Schippers (9 March 1930 – 16 December 1977) was an American conductor. He was highly regarded for his work in opera. Biography Of Dutch ancestry and son of the owner of a large appliance store, Schippers was born in Portage, Michig ...

, Walter Susskind and

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...

. In the early 1970s, Vox and its subsidiaries issued a number of compatible

quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic, also called quadrasonic or by the neologism quadio ortmanteau, formed by analogy with "stereo" sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are po ...

stereophonic Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

recordings using the Sansui QS quadraphonic matrix system; some of the ambience can still be heard when the CD versions are played with an amplifier with

Dolby Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (Dolby Labs or simply Dolby) is a British-American technology corporation specializing in audio noise reduction, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and high-dynamic-range television (HDR) imaging. Dolby li ...

decoding and four speakers. One of these was the first album made by the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the sam ...

and Chorus, led by Robert Shaw, a 2-LP set entitled ''Nativity''. Many of its recordings were later issued on CD and saw great success with its series of budget-price Vox Boxes. The company has continued a program of new releases, too, by such orchestras as the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

. In 1978, the label was acquired by Moss Music Group and later managed for years by Mark Jenkins of Countdown Media. In 2018, the Vox label group was acquired by the Naxos Music Group.

Notable releases

In the course of its existence, Vox displayed a willingness to explore unusual literature and a penchant for covering broad swaths of repertory in comprehensive releases. Among its numerous noteworthy issues were the following: *During the 1950s, Vox released the first nominally complete cycle of

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

's piano sonatas on records, performed by the Austrian pianist

Friedrich Wührer Friedrich Wührer (29 June 1900 – 27 December 1975) was an Austrian- German pianist and piano pedagogue. He was a close associate and advocate of composer Franz Schmidt, whose music he edited and, in the case of the works for left hand alone, r ...

; it omitted a few fragmentary works but did include

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study of Johannes Ock ...

's rarely recorded completion of the Sonata in C Major, D. 840 (''Reliquie''). At first issued as single records with uniform jacket art, the series later appeared in two different sets of three Vox Boxes—one, with gold covers and red labels, monaural as originally recorded and the other, with white covers and purple labels, rechanneled for ersatz stereo. Vox subsequently replaced Wührer's cycle with one in true stereo recorded by Walter Klien; unlike its predecessor, the latter set has appeared in CD reissues as noted below. *Vox released one of the few complete recordings of Tchaikovsky's rarely heard third piano concerto, as reconstructed by Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856–1915), with pianist

Michael Ponti Michael Ponti (29 October 1937 – 17 October 2022) was a German-American classical pianist. He was the first to record the complete piano works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. He made more than 80 recordings, around 50 of rarely pla ...

. This performance has been included in a Vox Box (released in 1991) featuring Tchaikovsky's three piano concertos and the seldom-performed ''Concert Fantasy'', Op. 56, all performed by Ponti, with the

Prague Symphony Orchestra The Prague Symphony Orchestra ( ''FOK'') is a Czech orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra has traditionally been known by the acronym 'FOK', standing for 'Film-Opera-Koncert', reflecting the orchestra's fields of activity as envisioned by its fo ...

conducted by Richard Kapp (in the first and second concertos and the fantasy) and the Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg conducted by Louis de Froment. *Vox issued recordings of the French composer

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

directing the Luxembourg Philharmonic in his complete symphonies. * In the 1960s pianist Frank Glazer recorded the complete piano music of

for Vox. This recording was declared "the finest interpretation of the piano music of Eric Satie".

Catalogue

A partial listing of Vox recordings available on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

, cassette, CD, and all digital platforms includes the following:cduniverse.com *25 Classics Series **25 Baby Favorites **25 Bach Favorites **25 Ballet Favorites **25 Baroque Favorites **25 Beethoven Favorites **25 Best Selling Favorites of All Time **25 Candlelight Favorites **25 Children's Favorites **25 Classical Christian Favorites **25 Classical Dance Favorites **25 Classical Favorites **25 Classical Heartbreakers **25 Classical One Hit Wonders **25 Concerto Favorites **25 Guitar Favorites **25 Handel Favorites **25 Instrumental Favorites **25 Intimate Chamber Favorites **25 Light Opera Favorites **25 Marching Favorites **25 Mellow Piano Favorites **25 More Beethoven Favorites **25 More Mozart Favorites **25 Movie Favorites **25 Mozart Favorites **25 Mystical Chant Favorites **25 Opera Favorites **25 Organ Favorites **25 Piano Favorites **25 Relaxing Classics **25 Romantic Classics **25 Romantic Moods **25 Romantic Strings (25 Romantic String Favorites) **25 Sacred Choral Favorites **25 Sensual Flute Favorites **25 Sentimental Favorites **25 Spanish Guitar Favorites **25 Strauss Favorites **25 Symphony Favorites **25 Tchaikovsky Favorites **25 Thunderous Classics **25 Tranquil Classics **25 Ultimate Classics **25 Violin Favorites **25 Vivaldi Favorites **25 Wedding Favorites *75 Greatest Classics, Volume 1 *75 Greatest Classics, Volume 2 *75 Greatest Classics, Volume 3 *75 Greatest Classics, Volume 4 *Early Romantic Piano Concertos - Clementi, Hummel, et al. *

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel (born 5 January 1931) is a Czech-born Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is noted for his performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. Biography Brendel was born in Wizemberk, Czechoslovakia ...

Plays Mozart with Walter Klien *Ionisation - Music of Varèse, Penderecki and Ligeti *Milhaud: 6 Little Symphonies, etc. / Milhaud, Luxembourg RSO *Beethoven: Variations & Vignettes for Piano / Alfred Brendel *Americana - Siegmeister, Ines, Copland, Gould, Sousa *Debussy: Solo Piano Music Vol 1 /

*Debussy: Solo Piano Music Vol 2 / Peter Frankl *Romantic Piano Concerto Vol 1 /

*Manuel Barrueco - 300 Years of Guitar Masterpieces *Gottschalk Festival / Eugene List, Igor Buketoff *Saint-Saëns: Complete String Concertos *Mozart: The Complete Masonic Music / Maag, Equiluz, Rapf *Alfred Brendel plays Schubert *L'Esprit de France - The Music of Satie *Schubert: Complete Piano Sonatas Vol 1 / Walter Klien *Schubert: Complete Piano Sonatas Vol 2 / Walter Klien *Schubert: Complete Piano Sonatas Vol 3 / Walter Klien *Mozart: Piano Sonatas Vol 1 / Walter Klien *Mozart: Piano Sonatas Vol 2 / Walter Klien *Mozart: Twelve Great Piano Concertos / Klien, Brendel, et al. *Complete Gershwin- Works for Piano & Orchestra / Siegel *Saint-Saëns: Complete Works for Piano / Dosse, Petit *Young lfredBrendel - The Vox Years *American as Apple Pie /

Erich Kunzel Erich Kunzel Jr. (March 21, 1935 – September 1, 2009) was an American orchestra conductor. Called the "Prince of Pops" by the ''Chicago Tribune'', he performed with a number of leading pops and symphony orchestras, and led the Cincinnati ...

Cincinnati Pops The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is a pops orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, founded in 1977 out of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Its members are also the members of the Cincinnati Symphony, and the Pops is managed by the sam ...

*American String Quartets 1950-1970 / Concord String Quartet *20th Century Voices in America - Rochberg, Cage, Carter, etc. *Aaron Rosand plays Ernst, Godard, Lehár, Hubay, Ysaÿe, et al. *Abbey Simon plays Chopin: Etudes and Waltzes Complete *Alfred Brendel Plays Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Vol I *Alfred Brendel Plays Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Vol II *Alfred Brendel Plays Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Vol III *American Composers Series - American Orchestral Music *American Composers Series - Homespun America *American Composers Series - Music of Samuel Barber *American Composers Series - The Incredible Flutist *Art of Ruggiero Ricci *Bach: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Vol 2 / Anthony Newman *Bach: Orchestral Suites, etc. / Kehr, Faerber, et al. Box Set *Bartók: Complete Solo Piano Music / György Sándor *Beethoven: Complete Chamber Music for Flute / JP Rampal *Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Bagatelles, etc. / Brendel *Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 4 / Alfred Brendel *Biber: Rosary Sonatas / Lautenbacher, Ewerhart, Koch *Brahms, Mendelssohn et al. / Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio *Brahms: Complete String Quartets, etc. / Tokyo String Quartet *Brendel plays Mozart and Haydn - Piano Concertos *Chavez: The Complete Symphonies / Mata, London SO *Chopin: Complete Works for Piano / Abbey Simon *Chopin: Sonatas, Ballades, Scherzos, etc. / Abbey Simon *Concord String Quartet - Haydn, Dvořák, et al. *Spotlight Series :*Spotlight on Brass :*Spotlight on Keyboard :*Spotlight on Percussion :*Spotlight on Strings :*Spotlight on Winds

History

Notable releases

Catalogue

References

See also