Sad news: Stewart Brown, founder of Testament Records, has died at the age of 69.

Apr 4, 2022 | News | 9 comments

9 Comments

Hugh Jones on April 4, 2022 at 8:34 pm

Very sorry to learn this. I have many Testament titles.
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canderson on April 4, 2022 at 8:40 pm

The Testament link I added seems to have caused problems, so it’s now here:

https://testament.co.uk/

Colin
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Rob Cowan on April 4, 2022 at 9:02 pm

This is terribly sad. Stewart was a true ‘record man’ (as the late Quita Chavez used to put it), generous to a fault and who made a great/important contribution to the preservation and promotion of historic recordings of ‘classical’ music on CD. I had the good fortune to meet with him many times (often over a meal) and like you Hugh – and no doubt you too Colin – have acquired, and commented on, numerous Testament titles. Highlights from the catalogue include the Hollywood String Quartet series and the Keilberth Bayreuth Ring, recorded in amazingly good stereo in the 1950s by Decca prior to Solti’s and which, to these ears, is the better of the two, performance-wise. Having not heard from Stewart for ages I often wondered about his health (he had been seriously ill before). A significant loss I’d say both as a colleague and as a friend.
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- canderson on April 4, 2022 at 9:14 pm
  
  Yes Rob, a big collection of Testaments, not least the wonderful Hollywood Quartet (one example here: http://www.colinscolumn.com/from-the-anderson-archive-no-7-hollywood-string-quartet-friends-record-schoenberg-schubert-for-capitol/), and others, including the live stereo Klemperer Beethoven 9, SBT 1177, one of the great performances of it, often mentioned, when appropriate, in my Recommended Recordings page in Philharmonia Orchestra programmes, which I scrolled out for a few years. I never met Stewart but we spoke on the phone a few times, very pleasant, and there were several emails. Col
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- Robert Matthew-Walker on April 4, 2022 at 11:40 pm
  
  You’ve said it, Rob. Lovely man, great ‘record man’ and a true friend.
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Andrew Keener on April 4, 2022 at 11:47 pm

I can add very little to these tributes, except to express my own sadness at the departure of yet another figure whose knowledge, passion, conscience and discernment have enriched the lives of all those who care about recorded legacy. A dedicated amateur in the truest, most admirable sense of the word. If his shade now exists anywhere, I trust that he and Quita Chavez are as busy as ever putting the industry’s failings and vacuities to rights over the finest vintage malt.
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Monica McCabe on April 5, 2022 at 8:50 am

I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but he was obviously a remarkable man and music-lover. Delighted to note two memories of dear Quita Chavez, however…
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Richard Landau on April 5, 2022 at 12:38 pm

What sad news!

The importance of Stewart’s contribution to the record industry is indubitable, as others have already written. His death brought back one or two personal memories.

Late in 2007 I had the good fortune to enjoy a 2-hour lunch with Stewart at a pub close to his office in Charing Cross. We came together to talk about certain problems with secondary source material for a planned release of Otto Klemperer’s 1968 RFH concert performance of The Flying Dutchman (originally broadcast ‘live’ on BBC Radio 4). The Testament set was issued in the summer of 2008, to considerable acclaim. Stewart was a charming person to be with, not only a gentleman, but a born raconteur. With the passing of years, I have forgotten much that was said over our excellent sandwiches and beer, but I can still remember a couple of things.

Over time, Stewart had become a good friend of Lotte Klemperer, the great conductor’s daughter, and protector, who agreed that Testament should be authorised to release radio recordings of many her father’s ‘live’ concerts. Stewart told me of how he had once spent a whole day showing Lotte around the sights of London – an experience she obviously appreciated. But then she gently turned to him and asked: ‘Why are you giving up so much of your time to a little old lady like me?’

Also poignant, considering the latest news: Stewart told me how near to death he had been, a year or two earlier, on account of both his kidneys having packed up. And then he was saved – through the intervention of a dear friend who had offered one of his own kidneys to save Stewart’s life. A wonderful and rare gesture that gave Stewart nearly 2 more decades in which to work in the sphere that meant so much to him.
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John Pattrick on April 5, 2022 at 3:51 pm

I can’t add more to what Richard and others have said. I first met Stewart in 1990 when I was at EMI and he was setting up Testament and trying to license EMI titles for the label. We happened to be close neighbours in Bromley so I visited him at home with his wife, Sarah, on numerous occasions and as others have mentioned, he was always charming and very generous. Much later, when I was involved with BBC Legends and then ICA, we enjoyed some friendly rivalry competing for licenses with the BBC and other broadcasters. I telephoned him just over three weeks ago and was deeply saddened about his on-going ill health. Stewart was a consummate professional and a natural ‘record’ man. He will be greatly missed by an industry who need people of his calibre and knowledge.
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