Hyperion Records

Hyperion Records is an independent British classical record label, named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. [cite web|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,894319,00.html|title=Alan Blyth, Obituary for Ted Perry. "The Guardian", 13 February 2003.] Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by composers such as Robin Milford, Alan Bush and Michael Berkeley. The success of the venture was sealed with a critically acclaimed and hugely popular disc of music by Hildegard of Bingen directed by the medievalist Christopher Page and his group Gothic Voices.

Hyperion became renowned for recording lesser-known works, particularly reviving romantic piano concertos which have fallen from the repertory, works by Scottish romantic composers and English music of the Renaissance to the Baroque. They are especially well-known for their series of recordings of the complete music for solo piano by Franz Liszt recorded by Leslie Howard. They are also famed for their complete edition of the Lieder of Franz Schubert, [cite web|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1601893,00.html|title=Andrew Clements, "Schubert: The Complete Songs, 60 soloists/Johnson" (CD review). "The Guardian", 28 October 2005.] prepared under the supervision of the accompanist Graham Johnson, and many of Handel's oratorios and Henry Purcell's choral works under the direction of Robert King. More recently, Stephen Hough recorded Rachmaninov's complete Piano Concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody using the composer's original score, also on the Hyperion label. It is also notable for the breadth of the repertoire recorded, including music from the twelfth to the 21st centuries.

Recordings released by Hyperion have won many awards, among them several Gramophone Awards, including Record of the Year in 1996, 1998 and 2002.

In 2004 the company became embroiled in a legal dispute with Lionel Sawkins, a music editor whose editions of works by Michel-Richard de Lalande had been used in Hyperion's recording of the composer's music. Dr. Sawkins sued the company for royalties accruing from his musical copyright in these editions. Hyperion maintained that the editions were not original compositions, and therefore were not subject to copyright and further that Dr. Sawkins did receive payment in the form of a hire fee from the performers for their rental. The case came to court in May 2004 and the judgement went largely in favour of Dr. Sawkins. Hyperion chose to make an appeal in March 2005, in which the court upheld the original judgement. While the damages sought by Dr. Sawkins were thought to be small, the legal costs of the case were estimated to result in a liability to the company of hundreds of thousands of pounds Sterling, making the future of Hyperion Records uncertain at the time. [cite web|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1673320,00.html|title=Ed Vulliamy, "£1 m legal bill rocks a musical institution". "The Guardian", 23 December 2005.] By 2006, Hyperion had received financial support from musicians, consumers, and composers to enable its survival. [cite web|url=http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article1928157.ece|title=Michael Church, " Why cutting-edge classical music is the preserve of the minors". "The Independent", 26 October 2006.]

The current director of Hyperion Records is Simon Perry, son of Ted Perry.

References

ee also

* List of record labels
* List of independent UK record labels

External links

* [http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk Hyperion Records' official web site]
* [http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2004/1530.html Sawkins v Hyperion Records: May 2004 judgement]
* [http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2005/565.html Hyperion Records v Sawkins: March 2005 appeal]