Vox Records
Encyclopedia
VOX Records is a budget classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

. The name is Latin for "voice."

History

Vox was founded in 1945, starting out with 78-rpm discs, specializing in licensed pressings of classical recordings made in Europe. It was one of the last major recording companies to adopt stereo recording, about 1960. The company's output featured the "Vox Box", compilations of music by specific composers, such as piano music of Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Ravel; the complete symphonies and orchestral music of Rachmaninoff; rarely-heard orchestral music by Tchaikovsky, Massenet, and Rimsky-Korsakov; the complete orchestral music of the eccentric French composer Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...

; and one of the most complete collections of the music of the early American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Louis Moreau Gottschalk was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works...

.

Vox had subsidiary labels including Turnabout and Candide. In recent years, some Vox recordings have been released on the Excelsior label.

Although Vox has specialized in imported recordings, it also recorded the Utah Symphony Orchestra
Utah Symphony Orchestra
-History:The first attempt to create a symphony group in the Utah area occurred in 1892, before Utah was a state. The Salt Lake Symphony was created and presented just one concert before disbanding. In 1902 the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra was formed, and it remained in existence until 1911...

 under Maurice Abravanel
Maurice Abravanel
Maurice Abravanel was aSwiss-American Jewish conductor of classical music. He is remembered as the conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years.-Life:...

, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the SLSO is the second-oldest symphony orchestra in the United States as it is preceded by the New York Philharmonic.-History:The St...

 under Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...

 and the Minnesota Orchestra
Minnesota Orchestra
The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Emil Oberhoffer founded the orchestra as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, and it gave its first performance on November 5 of that year. In 1968 the orchestra changed to its name to the Minnesota Orchestra...

 under Stanisław Skrowaczewski.

In the early 1970s, Vox and its subsidiaries issued a number of compatible quadraphonic
Quadraphonic
Quadraphonic sound – the most widely used early term for what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of the listening space, reproducing signals that are independent of one another...

/stereophonic recordings; some of the ambience can still be heard when the CD versions are played with an amplifier with Dolby decoding and four speakers. One of these was the first album made by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Robert Spano has been its music director since 2001...

 and Chorus, led by Robert Shaw
Robert Shaw (conductor)
Robert Shaw was an American conductor most famous for his work with his namesake Chorale, with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Shaw received 14 Grammy awards, four ASCAP awards for service to contemporary music, the first Guggenheim Fellowship...

, a 2-LP set entitled Nativity.

Many of its recordings were later issued on CD. The company has continued a program of new releases, too, by such orchestras as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players....

.

Notable releases

In the course of its existence, Vox has 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's piano sonatas on records, performed by the Austrian pianist Friedrich Wührer
    Friedrich Wührer
    Friedrich Wührer 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, revised for performance with two hands; he was also a champion of the Second Viennese...

    ; it omitted a few fragmentary works but did include Ernst Krenek
    Ernst Krenek
    Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...

    's rarely-recorded completion of the Sonata in C Major, D. 840
    Piano Sonata in C major, D. 840 (Schubert)
    Franz Schubert's Piano Sonata No. 15 in C major, D. 840, nicknamed Reliquie upon its first publication in 1861 in the mistaken belief that it had been Schubert's last work, was written in April 1825, whilst the composer was also working on the A minor sonata, D. 845 in tandem...

     (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
    Walter Klien
    Walter Klien was an Austrian pianist.-Career:Klien was born in Graz. His mother was the artist Erika Giovanna Klien . She emigrated to the United States in 1929, and their only further contact was by correspondence.Klien studied piano with Josef Dichler at the Music Academy in Vienna and with...

    ; 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
    Michael Ponti is a concert and recording pianist.-Life and career:Ponti was born in Germany, but has lived in the United States for most of his life...

    . 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
    Prague Symphony Orchestra
    The Prague Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1934 by Rudolf Pekárek. In the 1930s the orchestra performed the scores for many Czech films, and also appeared regularly on Czech radio. An early promoter of the orchestra was Dr...

     conducted by Richard Kapp
    Richard Kapp
    Richard Kapp was an American conductor.Richard Kapp was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was a child piano prodigy. However, he studied German political history at Johns Hopkins University. He received his BA in 1957...

     (in the first and second concertos and the fantasy) and the Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg
    Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra
    The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra , abbreviated to OPL, is the national orchestra of Luxembourg, and is based in Luxembourg City. The orchestra formerly performed at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Conservatoire de Luxembourg...

     conducted by Louis de Froment
    Louis de Froment
    Louis de Froment was a French conductor.De Froment was born into a French noble family, and started his musical studies at the city conservatory. He later attended the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique of Paris and was a pupil of Louis Fourestier, Eugène Bigot and André Cluytens...

    .

  • Vox issued recordings of the French composer Darius Milhaud
    Darius Milhaud
    Darius Milhaud was a French composer 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 compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...

     directing the Luxembourg Philharmonic in his complete symphonies.

Catalogue

A partial listing of Vox recordings available in 2007 on CD included:
  • 25 Classics Series
    • 25 Bach Favorites
    • 25 Beethoven Favorites
    • 25 Concerto Favorites
    • 25 Classical Favorites
    • 25 Classical One Hit Wonders
    • 25 Mozart Favorites
    • 25 Romantic Classics
    • 25 Romantic Moods
    • 25 Sentimental Favorites
    • 25 Symphony Favorites
    • 25 Tchaikovsky Favorites
    • 25 Thunderous Classics
  • Early Romantic Piano Concerti - Clementi, Hummel, et al.
  • Alfred Brendel 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 / Peter Frankl
  • Romantic Piano Concerto Vol 1 / Michael Ponti
  • 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 2 / Walter Klien
  • Mozart: Piano Sonatas Vol I / Walter Klien
  • Schubert: Complete Piano Sonatas Vol 3 / Walter Klien
  • Mozart: Piano Sonatas Vol 2 / Walter Klien
  • Schubert: Complete Piano Sonatas Vol 1 / 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 [Alfred] Brendel - The Vox Years
  • American as Apple Pie / Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops
  • American String Quartets 1950-1970 / Concord String Quartet
    Concord String Quartet
    The Concord String Quartet was an American string quartet established in 1971. The members of the quartet were Mark Sokol and Andrew Jennings, violins; John Kochánowski, viola; Norman Fischer, cello. They gave their last regular concert on May 15, 1987...

  • 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 III
  • Alfred Brendel plays Beethoven Sonatas Vol II
  • 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, Dvorák, et al.

External links

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