Quintessence Records
Encyclopedia
Quintessence Records started in 1976. Quintessence was formed by Pickwick International Inc. as a budget label. Pickwick’s trademark for Quintessence was filed on December 10, 1976 with the initial Q made to look like a clef
symbol. The label was devoted to the licensed reissue of historic classical recordings. The idea was printed on the record jackets: "Critically acclaimed recordings of the basic repertoire which belong in every library of great music" and also promised these were "Carefully remastered from the original master tapes, recut on the latest Neumann lathes and pressed on virgin vinyl." R. Peter Munves was the executive responsible for the label. Munves had earlier worked for Columbia Records
and RCA Records
classical music divisions. He said to Time magazine in 1971 “You can call me the P.T. Barnum of the classics”.
Many of the Quintessence records were originally included in Reader's Digest boxed sets produced by Decca Records
for RCA Victor. The producer of many of these sets was Charles Gerhardt
and the engineer Kenneth Wilkinson
. Conductors such as John Barbirolli
and Jascha Horenstein
and pianist Earl Wild
were featured in these reissues.
Series issued included:
Quintessence also licensed and reissued recordings from CBS Records
, EMI
, Harmonia Mundi
, Melodiya
, RCA, and Supraphon
. Some of the material was original monaural
but replaced by “electronic stereo” versions.
Many of the record jackets included discographical details such as dates, locales, producers and engineers.
The records listed for $7.95 in the 1970s but can be found in the second hand market for two dollars or less.
Quintessence released both monaural and stereophonic discs in the 33-1/3 rpm LP format. LPs were issued in the PMC 7000 series (the P standing for Pickwick) beginning with PMC 7001: Dvorak Symphony No. 9 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jascha Horenstein (recorded by Decca for Reader’s Digest at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in January 1962). Multiple LP sets were issued in the #PC-3000 series, the # standing for the number of discs.
Some of these same recordings were later reissued on CD by Intersound, Inc.
Clef
A clef is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the staff, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line. This line serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or space of the staff...
symbol. The label was devoted to the licensed reissue of historic classical recordings. The idea was printed on the record jackets: "Critically acclaimed recordings of the basic repertoire which belong in every library of great music" and also promised these were "Carefully remastered from the original master tapes, recut on the latest Neumann lathes and pressed on virgin vinyl." R. Peter Munves was the executive responsible for the label. Munves had earlier worked for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
classical music divisions. He said to Time magazine in 1971 “You can call me the P.T. Barnum of the classics”.
Many of the Quintessence records were originally included in Reader's Digest boxed sets produced by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
for RCA Victor. The producer of many of these sets was Charles Gerhardt
Charles Gerhardt
Charles Gerhardt may refer to:*Charles Frédéric Gerhardt , French chemist*Charles H. Gerhardt , American general*Charles Gerhardt , American conductor...
and the engineer Kenneth Wilkinson
Kenneth Wilkinson
Kenneth Ernest Wilkinson was an audio engineer for Decca Records, known for engineering classical recordings with superb sound quality....
. Conductors such as John Barbirolli
John Barbirolli
Sir John Barbirolli, CH was an English conductor and cellist. Born in London, of Italian and French parentage, he grew up in a family of professional musicians. His father and grandfather were violinists...
and Jascha Horenstein
Jascha Horenstein
Jascha Horenstein was an American conductor.Horenstein was born in Kiev, Russian Empire , into a well-to-do Jewish family; his mother came from an Austrian rabbinical family and his father was Russian....
and pianist Earl Wild
Earl Wild
Royland Earl Wild was an American pianist widely recognized as a leading virtuoso of his generation. Harold C. Schonberg called him a "super-virtuoso in the Horowitz class". He was known as well for his transcriptions of classical music and jazz...
were featured in these reissues.
Series issued included:
- “Critics Choice” (beginning with PMC 7001)
- “Classics for Joy” (beginning possibly with PMC 7010)
- “Stereo Sound Spectaculars” (beginning with vol. 1 on PMC 7063)
Quintessence also licensed and reissued recordings from CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
, Melodiya
Melodiya
Melodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya"...
, RCA, and Supraphon
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...
. Some of the material was original monaural
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
but replaced by “electronic stereo” versions.
Many of the record jackets included discographical details such as dates, locales, producers and engineers.
The records listed for $7.95 in the 1970s but can be found in the second hand market for two dollars or less.
Quintessence released both monaural and stereophonic discs in the 33-1/3 rpm LP format. LPs were issued in the PMC 7000 series (the P standing for Pickwick) beginning with PMC 7001: Dvorak Symphony No. 9 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jascha Horenstein (recorded by Decca for Reader’s Digest at Walthamstow Assembly Hall in January 1962). Multiple LP sets were issued in the #PC-3000 series, the # standing for the number of discs.
Some of these same recordings were later reissued on CD by Intersound, Inc.