A COMPACT HISTORY OF DOYEN

The world-famous euphonium virtuosi Robert and Nicholas Childs established Doyen Recordings in 1988 with the ambition of offering the music lover quality recordings of the world's finest brass performers.

Such has been their success in recording the very best of brass music, whether in the traditional brass band format, as brass ensembles, dedicated solo albums with the world's finest brass exponents or in new ventures dedicated to individual composers, that the critics have paid keen tribute to Doyen's fundamental philosophy of putting the music and quality first.

The world renowned playing of bands such as Black Dyke, Brighouse & Rastrick, Fairey, Fodens, Grimethorpe and many others are testament to the commitment of players, conductors and engineers to establish recordings that attest to the quality of British brass band playing - music-making that is the envy of the world.

Of course, the company makes no pretence of only recording serious music, rather, the emphasis is on music that clearly demonstrates the highest quality, no matter if it is light, jazzy, traditional brass band music or classical transcriptions.

The reputation of the company has spread, and its commitment to quality has become well-known, with the assistance of some of the truly great symphonic brass virtuosi who have recorded for Doyen: musicians of calibre such as Håkan Hardenberger, Ian Bousfield, Maurice Murphy, Adolph Herseth, Roger Webster, James Morrison, Jacques Mauger, James Gourlay, David Childs and Don Lusher.

A further development has been the introduction of a Wind Band Series. The military band or concert band has a much longer tradition in Britain than may at first be realised: the first military band was formed in 1762.

Now, with more adventurous arrangements and the welcome attention of composers writing increasingly for the medium, it comes as no surprise that wind band playing is much more widely appreciated than ever before.

The company has recorded major championships in Britain and Europe, and CDs of European Championships, including items from glittering gala concerts, are treasured by banding aficionados. For some years Doyen has been producing recordings in collaboration with the BBC, many of them on location, and this has led the company to invest heavily in a state-of-the-art Mobile Recording Unit.

The catalogue continues to expand rapidly, and the success of the company's thematic approach to programme planning continues to provide adventurous recordings for all tastes. To earlier premiére recordings of works by Michael Ball, Derek Bourgeois, John Golland, Elgar Howarth, Philip Sparke, Philip Wilby, Richard Rodney Bennett, Edward Gregson and Guy Woolfenden, we have added world premiére recordings of music by such eminent composers as George Lloyd, Tim Souster, Nigel Clarke, Torstein Aagaard-Nilson, Peter Graham, Rodney Newton and Ray Sciberras.

Since the conception of our catalogue, Doyen has recorded over 100 world premiére recordings, which encapsulates the ethos behind Doyen Recordings - simply putting the music first.