An open letter from Peter Christ, Founder
and President of Crystal Records
When Crystal Records was started in 1966, there were almost no recordings
available of top quality woodwind and brass soloists and ensembles, and even
very few of strings. As a professional oboist and founder of the Westwood Wind
Quintet, I had been frustrated trying to find recordings of the music that I
loved. The major record labels (there were very few independent labels) had a
few of their “stars” on a smattering of instruments, but they were seemingly
not very interested in the less common solo instruments or ensembles, or in
adding to their rosters some of the fabulous players in the major orchestras
around the world. When one walked into a record store, it was almost impossible
to find a choice of flute, oboe, horn, or trumpet albums, and it was impossible
to find tuba or trombone. Much of the repertoire that I and my friends were
playing was nonexistent, as far as the major labels and the record stores were
concerned.
I had gotten the recording “itch” a
few years earlier, when Columbia Records, urged by Robert Craft, produced a
Schönberg series, on which they included the Schönberg Wind Quintet. The
Westwood Wind Quintet had performed this several times, and Craft asked my
group to do the recording. Rehearsals at Igor Stravinsky_s house added to the
excitement for me, still in my early 20s, and when the record came out, it was
thrilling to hear it on radio stations around the country. I was hooked on
recording, and wanted to do more of the wonderful ensemble pieces that were
unknown to the general music-loving public. A few letters to major record
labels proved that they were not interested in this type of music, and a few
calls to some of the players I knew in the Los Angeles area proved that there
were others who wanted to record and let the public know about the music they
were playing. Among my peer group I was fortunate to know players who would
become some of the most respected on their instruments. With more enthusiasm
than knowledge of the industry, I started Crystal Records.
The first record we released (and
they were black vinyl records in those days, not CDs) was of my own group, the
Westwood Wind Quintet. But my idea from the start was to have recordings of
many different instruments and ensembles, and to get the best players we could
from around the globe. The Los Angeles Brass Quintet and Los Angeles String
Quartet albums came quickly, and then we moved to ensembles and artists from
New York, Cleveland, Dallas, Berlin, and other major cities, in addition to Los
Angeles. Roger Bobo did his first solo album, which has become a “classic”
amongst tuba players. Tom Stevens on trumpet and Harvey Pittel on saxophone did
solo albums that many considered exemplary for their instruments. Since this
beginning, many other fine artists have joined the Crystal roster, and it is
gratifying to see the reputations of the Crystal artists expand throughout the
world.
In 1975 another milestone occurred
when Tom Stevens suggested that Crystal do an all-Hovhaness album as part of a
Ford Foundation grant. In this way I was introduced to some of the most
beautiful and unusual music I had ever encountered and met the composer,
a warm, remarkable man. When Crystal was later offered the chance to purchase
the Poseidon catalog of Hovhaness music, all conducted or supervised by the
composer, I jumped at the chance. Since then we have recorded many more
Hovhaness works and I am pleased to have had a part in reintroducing this
marvelous music and extending the popularity of this extraordinary composer.
The recording industry has changed
somewhat from those early days. There are many independent labels and the
majors have even tried their hand at instrumental music. But at Crystal we
still try to do what we have always tried to do: find world-class artists to
play repertoire that is not frequently done by others. In our small way, we
hope we are helping to enrich the music community with excellent music and
performances that would otherwise be ignored. We thank our customers for
supporting our efforts through the past 42 years.
Since
its inception in 1959, the Westwood Wind Quintet has been performing the
quintets of Anton Reicha for some of its concerts. A few years ago, Charles
David Lehrer edited the original publications of these 24 quintets and made parts
and scores that he put on the International Double Reed Society web site. I was
delighted to find these and in contact with “Chick” Lehrer, he convinced me
that the it would be a grand project for the Westwood Wind Quintet to record
all 24 of the quintets, a feat that had only been done once (many years ago)
and never by an American ensemble. In working on the Reicha quintets, I have
found Reicha to be even more profound and enjoyable than I had previously
thought. These are fantastic pieces
of music by a major composer of the period. I am pleased to say that we are
almost through with the recordings and the CDs are being released as production
on them is finished. See Reicha for more
information.
Sincerely,
Peter Christ
President, Crystal Records, Inc.