Decca
The name "Decca" has its origins in a portable gramophone called the Decca Dulcephone, patented in 1914 by the manufacturers of the instrument, Barnett Samuel and Sons. Invented by Wilfred S. Samuel, the name is the result of the fusion of the word ‘Mecca’ with the initial D of ‘Dulcephone’. The company then renamed itself the ‘Decca Gramophone Company’, and at the same time became known as ‘The Supreme Record Company’. It was bought in 1929 by the former stockbroker Edward Lewis.
In 1939 Decca was the only record label in the United Kingdom, aside from EMI. Within a few years it had become the second biggest label in the world. During the 1930s and 1940s, Decca counted within its catalogue a plethora of legendary signatures: including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Jane Froman, the Boswell Sisters, Billie Holiday, the Andrews Sisters, Ted Lewis, Judy Garland, the Mills Brothers, Billy Cotton, Guy Lombardo, Chick Webb, Louis Jordan, Bob Crosby, the Ink Spots, Dorsey Brothers, Connee Boswell and Jack Hylton, Victor Young, Earl Hines, Claude Hopkins and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
In 1966 Edward Lewis created Deram, the first British label devoted entirely to pop and rock music. Deram released the albums Songwriter and Night Flight by Justin Hayward, and in 1969 launched a progressive rock section of the label, entitled Nova, which lasted less than a year. Consequently, the 1970s were disastrous years for the Deram label as a whole. Meanwhile, Decca became increasingly famous for its classical repertoire. On the death of Edward Lewis in January 1980, the company Polygram took on what remained of Decca. Deram reappeared briefly during the early 1980s with albums by the groups Bananarama, the Mo-debts and Splodgenessabounds.
In 1997 Seagram bought MCA, Universal Studios and Polygram Deutsche Grammophon. Decca Records has now become a trademark of Universal Group; comprising Decca Classics (employing a blue and red logo), Deutsche Grammophon, Philips and Verve Music Group, Concord Records, Blue Thumb, and UCJ Round Records.
Today, Decca Records continues to support our chosen artists and unearth new talent, be it in pop, rock, folk or Americana (especially in its Broadway repertoire), releasing albums by Robert Plant, Imelda Peut, William Orbit, Kirsty Almeida, Melody Gardot, Eric Whitacre and Nikki Yanofsky. It also promotes the classical music of a new generation of great artists; including Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nelson Freire, Cecilia Bartoli, Renee Fleming, Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann, Janine Jansen and Albrecht Mayer. Decca continues to release music from older classical musicians such as Wilhelm Backhaus, Benjamin Britten, Clifford Curzon, Radu Lupu, Kathleen Ferrier, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, Julius Katchen, Georg Solti, Alicia de Larrocha and Luciano Pavarotti.
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Mozart: Serenade No.13 K.525 & No.9 K.320 & K.239
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boult conducts Tchaikovsky
Symphonic Music - Released by Decca on Mar. 6, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hänsel und Gretel
Staatskapelle Dresden, Sir Colin Davis
Children - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Sinfonie Nr.8
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Händel: Music For The Royal Fireworks - Water Music
Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Karl Münchinger
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gräfin Mariza - Die Csárdásfürstin - Die Zirkusprinzessin
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Violin Concertos No. 3 K.216 & No. 2 K.211
Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Berliner Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Sinfonie Nr.40 K.550 & Nr.41 K.551 "Jupiter"
Berliner Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by Decca on Mar. 19, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach Motetten BWV 225 - 230
Maarten van der Heyden, Margaret Urquhart, Ageet Zweistra, Jan Kleinbussink, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Ton Koopman
Classical - Released by Decca on Dec. 31, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Irving. The Decca Recordings
The New Symphony Orchestra of London, London Symphony Orchestra, Robert Irving
Symphonic Music - Released by Decca on Sep. 14, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Couperin : Les Nations - Pieces de Violes
Chamber Music - Released by Decca on Sep. 13, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Entführung aus dem Serail - Highlights
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Circular Argument – Suite For Brass Quintet
Classical - Released by Decca on May 16, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Highlights)
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Branderburgische Konzerte Nr. 4-6
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Meditation - Musik zum Entspannen und Träumen
Classical - Released by Decca on Mar. 19, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Requiem In D Minor K.626
Classical - Released by Decca on Jan. 1, 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo