Gramophone Company

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This article is about the British company. For U.S. company established in 1893, see Berliner Gramophone.
Gramophone Company
FoundedApril 1898; 123 years ago (1898-04)
Defunct31 March 1931; 90 years ago (1931-03-31)
SuccessorElectric and Musical Industries (EMI)
HeadquartersUnited Kingdom

The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded on behalf of Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the His Master's Voice (HMV) label, and the European affiliate of the American Victor Talking Machine Company. Although the company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1931 to form Electric and Musical Industries Limited (EMI), its name "The Gramophone Company Limited" continued in the UK into the 1970s.

History[]

Early Gramophone label with original "Recording Angel" trademark

First recordings[]

The Gramophone Company was founded in April 1898 by and in London, England.[1] Owen was acting as agent for Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone record, whilst Williams provided the finances. Most of the company's early discs were made in Hanover, Germany at a plant operated by members of Berliner's family, though it had operations around the world.[2]

In 1898, Fred Gaisberg moved from the U.S. to London to set up the first disc recording studio in Europe; it was situated in Maiden Lane. Among early artists he recorded was , an Australian soprano whose single "Coming through the Rye" was one of the first ever issued. In December 1900, Owen gained the manufacturing rights for the , and the Gramophone Company was for a few years renamed the Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd. This was an attempt to diversify the business model, in response to a series of lawsuits by Edison Bell.[3]

Lawsuit impact[]

In 1900, the U.S. parent of Gramophone lost a patent infringement suit brought on by Columbia Records and Zonophone, and was no longer permitted to produce records in the U.S. Its hardware manufacturer, Eldridge R. Johnson, of the Consolidated Talking Machine Company, left with a large factory and thousands of Gramophones with no records to play on them, filed suit that year to be permitted to make records himself, and won, in spite of the negative verdict against Berliner. This victory by Johnson, which may have been used in naming his reorganized record company the Victor Talking Machine Company the following year, may have been due in part to a patent-pooling handshake agreement with Columbia.[citation needed] The agreement allowed Columbia to produce disc records themselves, which they began doing in 1901; Columbia had previously been manufacturing cylinder records.

Contrary to the belief by some (especially in England), the Victor Talking Machine Company was never a branch or subsidiary of the Gramophone Company, as Johnson's factory, which had been making talking machines for Berliner, was his own enterprise with many patents that he owned, and were valuable in the agreement with Columbia.

Thus, Victor and Columbia began making disc records in the United States, with the UK Gramophone Company and others continuing to do so outside of the US. This left Edison the only major company manufacturing cylinders; Columbia continued to market cylinders in diminishing numbers until 1912. Emile Berliner established Berliner Gramophone in Montreal, where he became Victor's Canadian distributor and held the rights in Canada to the "His Master's Voice" trademark. Edison would eventually join the flat record market with his diamond discs and their players.

Hidden discs[]

A public relations effort of 1907 involved Alfred Clark, a New York representative of the company. Clark persuaded the Paris Opera to seal and lock 24 records in two iron and lead containers in a basement storage room. These were to be opened in 100 years. In 1912, 24 more records were added in two additional containers, along with a wind-up gramophone and a supply of needles to ensure the records could be played when unsealed.

In 1989, it was discovered that one of the 1912 containers had been opened and emptied and the gramophone stolen. The three remaining containers were moved to the French National Library. When opened in December 2007, some of the records were broken, but copies of the missing and broken records were located in the French National Library. EMI digitized the collection and released it on three compact discs in February 2009 as Les Urnes de l'Opera.

Early Gramophone label with HMV trademark

Logo change[]

In February 1909, the company introduced new labels featuring the famous trademark known as "His Master's Voice", generally referred to as HMV, to distinguish them from earlier labels which featured an outline of the Recording Angel trademark. The latter had been designed by , an executive of the Gramophone Company pressing plant in Hanover, Germany. While the general public came to refer to the records and company as "His Master's Voice" or "HMV" because of the prominence of the phrase on the record labels, The Gramophone Company was never officially known as the HMV or His Master's Voice Company. The painting "His Master's Voice" was made in the 1890s with the dog Nipper listening to an Edison cylinder phonograph. In 1899, Owen bought the painting from Francis Barraud, the artist, and asked him to paint out the Edison machine and substitute a Gramophone, which he did. In 1900, Emile Berliner acquired the US rights to the painting and it became the trademark of the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901. UK rights to the logo were reserved by Gramophone. Nipper the dog lived from 1884 to 1895 and is honoured in England with a celebrated grave marker.

Formation of EMI[]

In March 1931, Gramophone merged with the English Columbia Graphophone Company to form Electric and Musical Industries Ltd (EMI). The "Gramophone Company, Ltd." name, however, continued to be used for many decades, especially for copyright notices on records. Gramophone Company of India was formed in 1946. The Gramophone Company Ltd legal entity was renamed EMI Records Ltd. in 1973.

Acoustic Recordings[]

From the 1890s to mid-1925, recordings were made without any electrical equipment, relying instead upon the energy inherent in the sound waves generated by the performers, to activate the recording apparatus.[1]

Matrix number Catalog number Year recorded Year reviewed Composer Work Artist(s) Notes
05672; Cc 344-1 D 576 1921 Bach Prelude & Fugue No. 3 in C-Sharp Major, BWV 848 Scharrer, Irene [2] [3]
3-0826 cc1935 III; 3-0827 cc1936 II; 3-0828 cc1937 II D 683,4 1922-10-05 1923 Bach Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, BWV 1048, G major Goossens, Eugène; Royal Albert Hall Orchestra [4]
2-07920 A15560; 2-07918 A15561; 2-01922 A15562 DB 587; DB 588 1915 Bach Concerto for two violins, BWV 1043, D minor Zimbalist, Efrem (violin), Kreisler, Fritz, 1875-1962 (violin), String Quartet (orchestra) [5]
Cc 1299-1. Cc 2909-1. Cc 2910-4. Cc 2911-4. Cc 2912-4. Cc 2913-3. Cc 2914-4 D 947-950 1923-06-18 Beethoven Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18, No. 1 Catterall Quartet https://sounds.bl.uk/Classical-music/Beethoven/026M-1CL0072526XX-0100V0
Cc 3119; Cc 3120; Cc 4545; Cc 4546; Cc 4547; Cc4548 D 997-999 1924-05-06 Beethoven Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 18, No. 1 Catterall Quartet https://sounds.bl.uk/Classical-music/Beethoven/026M-1CL0029893XX-0100V0
Cc4550, Cc4614 through Cc4617, and Cc4690 through Cc4692 HMV D 953 through D 956 1924-06 Beethoven Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2 ("Rasumovsky") Virtuoso String Quartet:

Marjorie Hayward, violin I Edwin Virgo, violin II Raymond Jeremy, viola Cedric Sharpe. cello

[6]
HO2732af 1917-07 Beethoven Trio, piano, strings, op.1. no.2 (presto) Hambourg, Mark, 1879-1960 (piano), Hayward, Marjorie, 1885-1953 (violin), Warwick-Evans, C (cello) [7]
3-07975 cc3392 I; 3-07976 cc3398 II; 3-07977 cc3399 II; 3-07978 cc3400 III; 3-07979 cc3401 II; 3-07980 cc3406 II; 3-07981 cc3407 II; 3-07982 cc3408 III; 3-07983 cc3413 II; 3-07984 cc3414 II D 767; D768; D769; D770; D771 1923-09 Beethoven Violin Concerto op 61, D major Menges, Isolde (violin), Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (orchestra); Ronald, Sir Landon [8]
05694 cc1182 I; 05695 cc1183 I; 05696 cc1184 III; 05697 cc1185 IV; 05698 cc1186 II; 05699 cc1187 I; 05700 cc1188 II; 05701 cc1189 IV; 05702 cc1190 III; 05703 cc1191 II D 625; D 626; D 627; D 628; D 629 1922-04 Beethoven Piano Concerto 5, op 73, E flat major Lamond, Frederic (piano), Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (orchestra); Goossens, Eugène [9]
3-0798 cc1812 IV; 3-0799 cc1813 III; 3-0800 cc1814 IV; 3-0801 cc1815 I; 3-0802 cc1948 II; 3-0803 cc1949 I; 3-0804 cc2017 I; 3-0805 cc1950 II D 665; D 666; D 667; D 668 1922-09-12 Beethoven Symphony no. 5, op 67, C minor Royal Albert Hall Orchestra; Ronald, Sir Landon [10]
4-0511 cc3655 III; 4-0512 cc3696 IV; 4-0513 cc3704 I; 4-0514 cc3705 II; 4-0515 cc3706 III; 4-0516 cc3707 III; 4-0517 cc3708; 4-0518 cc3735; 4-0519 cc3736 I; 4-0520 cc3737; 4-0521 cc3738 III; 4-0522 cc3813 II; 4-0528 cc3814 II; 4-0524 cc3815 III; 4-0525 cc3816 II; 4-0526 cc3817 IV D 842; D 843; D 844; D 845; D 846; D 847; D 848; D 849 1923-10 Beethoven Symphony no. 9, op 125, D minor Symphony Orchestra; Coates, Albert [11]
HO 2231 af 05629 1916-10 Chopin Nocturne in C minor Op 48 No 1 abridged Scharrer, Irene [12]
Bb 536-1; E 255 1921-10 Chopin Prelude in F sharp minor Op 28 No 8 Scharrer, Irene [13]
4-2781 HO_2862_ab E 78 1914-06 Mozart Zauberflöte: O Isis Radford, Robert [14]
HO 4536-2 af [p D 543 1920-09 Scarlatti Sonata in G majorL387 (Kk14) Scharrer, Irene [15]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ *Death of Gramophone Pioneer: Mr. Trevor Williams Iver Heath; Uxbridge & W. Drayton Gazette December 13, 1946
  2. ^ Rye, Howard (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 80. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
  3. ^ Read, Oliver; Welch, Walter L. (1976). From Tinfoil to Stereo (2 ed.). Indianapolis, Indiana: Howard W. Sams & Co. p. 143. ISBN 0-672-21206-4.
  • Death of Gramophone Pioneer: Uxbridge & W. Drayton Gazette December 13, 1946
  • John R. Bennett: A catalogue of vocal recordings from the English catalogues of the Gramophone Company 1898–1899, the Gramophone Company Limited 1899 - 1900, the Gramophone & Typewriter Company Limited 1901–1907 and the Gramophone Company Limited 1907 – 1925. England,Oakwood Press, 1956. Available at archive.org.(reprint: Westport, Conn.,USA, Greenwood Press, 1978. ISBN 0-313-20237-0)
  • Alan Kelly: His master's voice – La voce del padrone|the Italian catalogue; a complete numerical catalogue of Italian gramophone recordings made from 1898 to 1929 in Italy and elsewhere by the Gramophone Company Ltd.. New York; NY [et al.], Greenwood Press, 1988. ISBN 0-313-26498-8
  • Alan Kelly: His master's voice, the French catalogue; a complete numerical catalogue of French gramophone recordings made from 1898 to 1929 in France and elsewhere by the Gramophone Company Ltd. New York; NY [et al.], Greenwood Press, 1990. ISBN 0-313-27333-2
  • Alan Kelly: His master's voice, the German catalogue; a complete numerical catalogue of German gramophone recordings made from 1898 to 1929 in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere by The Gramophone Company Ltd. New York; NY [et al.], Greenwood Press, 1994. ISBN 0-313-29220-5
  • Alan Kelly; Jacques Klöters: His master's voice, the Dutch catalogue; a complete numerical catalogue of Dutch and Belgian gramophone recordings made from 1900 to 1929 in Holland, Belgium, and elsewhere by the Gramophone Company Ltd. Westport, Conn. [et al.], Greenwood Press, 1997. ISBN 0-313-29883-1
  • The voice, the magazine of the Gramophone Co., Ltd., Hayes, Middlesex, 1.1917 - 35.1954

External links[]

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