1930s

Some extracts used with permission from ‘Abbey Road’ by Brian Southall, Peter Vince and Allan Rouse.

The house at number 3 Abbey Road, St John’s Wood, was originally purchased by EMI in 1929 with a view to transforming it into the world’s first custom-built recording studio. Work began on the sixteen-roomed residence, (nine bedrooms, five reception rooms, two servant rooms, a wine cellar and 250 foot garden) and in just under two years it was complete. Three varying sized studios had been built in the garden and neighbouring garden spaces in order to accommodate the different categories of music which were being recorded at that time - a full orchestra, string quartets or choral work, and instrumental soloists and singers. Abbey Road studios became the first custom-built studio complex of its kind anywhere in the world.

On November 12 1931, Sir Edward Elgar, by then one of Britain’s most distinguished composers, conducted the historic recording of Land Of Hope and Glory, played by the London Symphony Orchestra in studio one. Elgar continued to record some of his most celebrated compositions at Abbey Road until his death in 1934.

In 1932 a 16 year-old child prodigy by the name of Yehudi Menuhin was invited by Elgar to record his own Violin Concerto, thus beginning a lifelong association with Abbey Road. As a virtuoso violinist and then latterly a prestigious conductor Sir Yehudi Menuhin recorded countless classical works for EMI almost throughout the entire 20th century until his passing in 1999.

In 1932, a triumphant Noel Coward returned from successes on Broadway, and in studio two recorded a musical play that he’d written and directed called Words and Music which included that quintessential British song Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

The world-famous pianist Artur Schnabel was virtually a resident at Abbey Road during the 1930s when he recorded all 32 Beethoven piano sonatas and five concertos. Recording these 15 volumes made of 100 records took more than a decade to complete.

Other regular visitors to Abbey Road at that time were Al Bowlly, Ray Noble, Joe Loss, Flanagan and Allen, Paul Robeson, Gertrude Lawrence, Fats Waller and Fred Astaire.