Hyperion Records
British classical label known for rare and complete repertoire recordings.
Hyperion Records is a British classical music record label founded in 1980. It operated as an independent label until February 2023, when it was acquired by Universal Music Group. It now functions alongside Decca and Deutsche Grammophon as one of Universal's three classical labels.
Quick Facts
- Parent
- Universal Music Group
- Founded
- 1980
- Founder
- George Edward Perry
- Genre
- Classical music
- Country
- United Kingdom
Facts from the source article.
History
Early LP releases featured rarely recorded 20th-century British music by composers including Robin Milford, Alan Bush, and Michael Berkeley. The label's fortunes improved significantly after the 1985 release of A Feather on the Breath of God, a disc of music by Hildegard of Bingen directed by medievalist Christopher Page and Gothic Voices, along with Sacred Vocal Music of Monteverdi. In 2004, Hyperion became involved in a legal dispute with music editor Lionel Sawkins, whose editions of works by Michel-Richard de Lalande had been used in a Hyperion recording. Sawkins sued for royalties, claiming musical copyright in his editions. Hyperion argued the editions were not original compositions and thus not copyrightable, and that Sawkins had received a hire fee from performers. The court ruled largely in Sawkins's favor in May 2004; an appeal in March 2005 upheld the judgment. Although the damages sought were small, legal costs were estimated at hundreds of thousands of pounds, threatening the company's future. By 2006, financial support from musicians, consumers, and composers helped Hyperion survive. Many musicologists criticized the precedent, including Peter Phillips, who stated that copyright should reward creativity, not scholarship or diligence.
Recognition
Hyperion has focused on lesser-known works, including Romantic piano concertos, Scottish Romantic composers, and English music from the Renaissance to the Baroque. The label is known for its series of Franz Liszt's complete solo piano music recorded by Leslie Howard, the complete Schubert lieder supervised by Graham Johnson, and many Handel oratorios and Henry Purcell choral works directed by Robert King. Stephen Hough recorded Rachmaninov's complete piano concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody using the original score. Hyperion's repertoire spans the 12th to 21st centuries, with complete lieder cycles by Carl Loewe, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Richard Strauss, and Franz Liszt, as well as Romantic violin and cello concerto series. Angela Hewitt recorded a complete Bach keyboard cycle, and Christopher Herrick recorded Bach's complete organ works. Hyperion recordings have won multiple Gramophone Awards, including Record of the Year in 1996, 1998, 2002, and 2010. Ted Perry was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame in April 2012.
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