ABSTRACT
A London-based British independent record issued from 1980. The label has won more Gramophone record awards than any other independent. Edward Perry (1931-2003), the label’s founder, first worked at a small London record store in the early 1950s. In 1956,he was hired by Deutsche Grammophon to open their British office, but a year later moved to Australia to work for the Festival label. In 1961, he returned to London and then worked for the Saga label. He formed his first label, Meridian, in partnership with John Shuttleworth in the mid-1970s, but then left in 1980 to form Hyperion, partnering with his then-wife, Doreen Perry, with financial backing from William Stinger. Perry held to the idea of exploring lesser-known repertoire,but he has also presented the classic masters (e.g., the complete Schubert songs, in a set completed in 1997 on 36 CDs). One of the fine recordings using authentic instruments is Handel’s Fireworks, with the King’s Consort. A Feather on the Breath of God (A66039) by Hildegard of Bingen, was the label’s first award winner, and remains one of the most acclaimed of its output. At the time of Perry’s death in early 2003, the label had more than 1200 releases. A subsidiary budget label, Helios, also releases classical works. [Website: https://www.hyperionrecords.co.uk/.]
An American record, affiliated with Arto, released from 1920 to ca. 1922. The Indestructible Phonograph Record Co. was named on the printed label as the producer. Material was blues and dance music.
