Roderick Dunnett writes:
BRIAN COUZENS, who died on 17 April, aged 82, after a short
illness, was deservedly one of the legends of the classical-music
recording business. In scarcely a decade, starting in 1979, Couzens
began his British-based independent recording company Chandos
Records; within a decade it was rivalling, and, in many respects,
especially sound quality, excelling the international recording
giants.
While Couzens recorded many of the staples of the musical and
orchestral literature, he was renowned from the outset for his
courage in embracing a less familiar repertoire. He brought a
wealth of little-known music, including rare gems of choral works
(his first recording was of Ernest Bloch's Sacred Service)
and striking film music to the attention of performers and
collectors.
One of his many inventive ideas was to join with the
philanthropist, opera lover, and art collector Sir Peter Moores, to
produce an award-winning series of opera in English.
Couzens built up a superlative team of loyal performers, both
singers and instrumentalists, with which to commit this material to
disc. Three of his most significant, enduring associates were
Richard Hickox, who made 280 recordings for the label, Sir Charles
Mackerras, and the Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi.
Couzens' interest in music began in his school days, and he
spent long hours watching the work of recording engineers. A
trombonist in dance bands, on completing National Service he became
an arranger of dance music, notably for the BBC. His talents were
spotted by the film composer Ron Goodwin, with whom he worked for
ten years, and he soon became a gifted film music arranger and
orchestrator celebrated for Where Eagles Dare and
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, among
others.
He worked for a period for RCA, and occasionally EMI. Here the
foundations of his recording passion were laid. Yet none then would
have foreseen the entrepreneurial skill and acute musical judgment
that enabled him to build Chandos into one of the most enterprising
companies in the classical-music world.
Starting with a fine roster of neglected British composers, such
as Moeran, Bax, Bliss, Alwyn, Leighton, and Rubbra, Couzens moved
on by stages to establish daring new series such as the Polish
composers Lutoslawski and Szymanowski. He was aided by his
technically gifted son Ralph - responsible for much of Chandos's
superb engineering, and who, in 2004, took over the running of the
company.
One of the masterpieces Couzens unveiled was The Book with
Seven Seals by the Austrian composer Franz Schmidt, which was
conducted for Chandos by Järvi's younger son Kristjan. Further
triumphs were the recordings of rare Baroque music, overseen by the
conductor Matthias Bamert. Recently, under Edward Gardner, they
have made Mendelssohn their own.
Although the digital CD has triumphed, Brian and Ralph Couzens
openly expressed their fondness for the analogue method used in
making LPs. None the less, thousands of recordings and many
Gramophone Awards later, Brian Couzens's marvellous legacy now
rests on the digital CD. He is a serious loss, but it is heartening
that his son should continue Chandos's unique, magnificent
tradition.
Brian received an honorary doctorate from the University of East
Anglia in 2008 and a Gramophone special achievement award
in 2010.
"My philosophy," he said, "has always been to produce beautiful
recordings that people wanted to hear." In that, he could not have
been more successful.