Hyperion’s Entire Catalog Will Be Available To Stream In May 2024
The respected classical music imprint’s music has been making the transition to digital platforms since the fall of 2023.
The Hyperion label’s catalog will be available to stream in its entirety from May 10.
Following its acquisition by the Universal Music Group (UMG) in 2023, The label’s catalog has been uploaded to digital platforms since 2023 in a series of Chapters. The first 200 albums were released to streaming services on September 15, 2023, with subsequent collections following every fortnight. The final chapter, Chapter 18 (subtitled Early Music #2) will be available from May 10.
‘Early Music #2’ reminds enthusiasts that Hyperion has few rivals for the scale and imagination of its projects across the baroque, renaissance and medieval periods, right back to the earliest documented music.
These 119 new-to-streaming albums present scores of inspired historical invention from creative forces such as The Parley of Instruments, Dame Emma Kirkby, Red Byrd, Psalmody, The Purcell Quartet and the City Waites. For real musical enthusiasts, this chapter present a cornucopia of “lost music reborn,” to quote BBC Music of one of these albums.
As a few examples, fans will be able to find: the earliest music for trumpet (‘Sound the Trumpet’ / The Parley of Instruments); the pioneering works of 14th-century poet-composer Machaut (The Orlando Consort); the largest assembly of cornetts and sackbuts amassed since the 17th century (His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts); the incidental music which graced Shakespeare’s troupe ‘The King’s Men’ at the Globe, written by Robert Johnson and his contemporaries (‘Hark! hark! the lark’). Also, music by Léonin, who together with Pérotin dominated the 12th-century musical world from his base at Notre Dame in Paris (‘Magister Leoninus’ / Red Byrd); Passiontide music from Georgian England (‘Vital Spark of Heav’nly Flame’ / Psalmody & The Parley of Instruments).
Hyperion – which was founded by Ted Perry in South London in 1980 – now has an unparalleled reputation for exploring wide-ranging repertoire, spanning 900 years of Western art music from the 12th Century to today, across sacred and secular, choral and solo vocal to orchestral, chamber and instrumental, much of it unique to Hyperion.
Hyperion’s high editorial standards are being maintained in the streaming world, with its recognizable cover artwork, detailed and well-researched digital booklets, usually in English, French and German, being made available within streaming platforms that carry the option. Sung texts for choral and vocal music will also be available to streaming platforms with the functionality.
In 2023, Dickon Stainer, UMG’s President of Global Classics & Jazz said: “The arrival of Hyperion on the world’s streaming platforms offers a special moment of discovery for this precious and pioneering label.”
Visit Hyperion’s official website for further information.
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