SETTING INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR FORTY YEARS

Make your search for great classical music at Chandos – designed for the classical music enthusiast.

CHANDOS

Chandos Records is one of the world's premiere classical music record companies.Founded in 1979 by the late Brian Couzens and quickly established itself as one of the world's leading classical labels. Prior to forming the label, Brian Couzens, along with his son Ralph, worked for 8 years running a mobile recording unit recording for major labels (including RCA, Polydor, CFP, etc.) with many of the world’s leading artists.

The name came from a set of works called 'Chandos Anthems' written by George Frideric Handel at the commission of James Brydges, First Duke of Chandos in 1719, hense the name. He was one of the main subscribers in the Royal Academy of Music and was seen to have been the leading patron of the arts.

The company has championed rare and neglected repertoire, filling in many gaps in the record catalogues. Initially focussing on British composers (Alwyn, Bax, Bliss, Dyson, Moeran, Rubbra, Walton etc.), it subsequently embraced a much wider field. Chandos' diverse catalogue contains over 3000 titles, from early music to contemporary, with composers from around the world. The company's aim is to present an exciting and varied selection of superbly recorded music to as many people as possible.

Chandos is universally acclaimed for the excellence of its sound quality and has always been at the forefront of technical innovation. In 1978, Chandos was one of the first to record in 16bit/44.1Khz PCM digital, as well as being the first in 1980 to edit a digital recording completely in the digital domain (Holst: Planets – RSNO, Gibson). In 1983, Chandos was the first independant label to produce and release Compact Discs into the market place – a revolution in the recorded music industry.

Today, Chandos has kept up with technology by recording in 24bit/96Khz PCM, in 'surround sound' for SACD's in DSD and now (2023) in Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio.
Chandos releases at least forty-five brand new albums each year, together with imaginative re-issues of back-catalogue material.

The company has received countless awards, including several Gramophone Awards, notably the 2001 'Record of the Year' for Richard Hickox's recording of the original version of Vaughan Williams's A London Symphony; Other highlights include the American Grammy Award for Britten's opera Peter Grimes, and in 2008, two further Grammy Awards, one for Hansel and Gretel (Opera) one for Grechaninov’s Passion Week (Engineering) and one for Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary’, Phoenix Chorale (Small Ensemble). Chandos also scooped a BBC Music Magazine Award for Jean-Efflam Bavouzet’s Debussy recording, Vol. 3. who in 2011 also won a Gramophone Award (Concerto category) for his recording of the Ravel Piano Concertos (with the BBC SO, Yan Pascal Tortelier). In 2016 Chandos won another Grammy (choral award) for Rachmaninoff "All-Night Vigil" with the Phoenix and Kansas Chorales, and in 2017 Chandos won the Gramophone Chamber Award for Bacewizc: String Quartets with the Silesian Quartet. Then the icing on the cake, in 2022 Chandos was crowned 'Label of the year' by the Gramophone Magazine, 43 years since the label was formed.

In 2024 Chandos was sold to Klaus Heymann but remains an independent run company which produces and markets its recordings from its offices in Colchester, England.

The Online Shop

This online shop offers the complete Chandos catalogue in CD/SACD format as well as a variety of download formats for over 50 world class classical labels along with complete electronic booklets and front cover images.

Designed for the classical music enthusiast this online shop is one of the world’s premium DRM-free download stores dedicated to classical music. As a classical music devotee, you have access to 1,480,000 tracks (Jan 2018) from the world’s leading independent labels, with free sampling of any track. Every classical genre is supported, from early music to contemporary, and everything in-between. Currently (Mar 2020) featuring 57 labels and adding as many as 10,000 new tracks on a monthly basis, we are committed to offering you access to collections and labels that are not widely available from either retail or other download stores.

The latest genre to join the shop is Naxos Audio Books. Over 940 books available in both M4b for AudioBook Readers & iTunes, and standard Mp3.

The shop now offers a faster, easy-to-navigate site. It presents you with a choice of 320kbps MP3s, lossless downloads in FLAC and ALAC, and now Studio Master Albums in 24bit/96Khz FLAC, both in Stereo and Surround, which you can explore through a wide-range of search fields. The homepage alerts you to the shop’s latest releases, artist spotlights, featured labels, critics’ choice albums and many special offers.

This online shop does not make use of any DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology. This allows you to transfer your downloaded audio files to your portable player, CDs and other media for personal use.

Sign up to our monthly e-newsletter to have access to news updates, industry information, complimentary tracks, and special offers.

The Staff

Ralph Couzens (Managing Director)
Håkan Lagerqvist (Director)
Anthony Anderson (Director)
Simon Astridge ( Sales & Marketing Manager)
Katherine Garvey (Digital Marketing Coordinator)
Karen Marchlik (A & R Administrator / Office Manager)
Tara Chaplin (Royalties, Inventory & Credit Control Manager)
Andy Brooks (IT Manager)
Finn Gundersen (Literary Editor)
Dean Austin (Accountant)
Dave Martin (Sales Co-ordinator)
Jonathan Cooper (Producer / Sound Engineer / Music Editor)
Alexander James (Video / Sound Engineer / Music Editor)
Christine Gilmore (Website Marketing Assistant)
Paul Quilter (Website & Technical)
Liz Baker (Website & Stats Data)