John Boyden

John Boyden (14 September 1936 – 21 September 2021) was a British classical music executive. After completing national service in Malaya, he joined the staff of the HMV store on Oxford Street. Boyden later founded his own business, Philharmonic Records, in Richmond, as well as the record label John Boyden Recordings. By 1967 he was working with Paul Hamlyn at the Music for Pleasure joint venture with EMI, where he established the Classics for Pleasure sub-label.

In April 1975 Boyden was appointed managing director of the London Symphony Orchestra. He was dismissed in October after part of the board unsuccessfully attempted to remove chief conductor André Previn. Boyden subsequently wrote for Private Eye as its music correspondent under the pseudonym Lunchtime O'Boulez. In 1976 he launched the Enigma Classics record label with Peter Whiteside, which was sold to WEA two years later. Disillusioned with the extent of post-production editing in classical music, Boyden later founded the New Queen's Hall Orchestra to promote performances aligned with his musical ideals.

Early life and career Boyden was born in Woolwich, London, on 14 September 1936. He was the son of Frank Boyden, a trumpet player in the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and his wife, Agnes (née Yates). Boyden was evacuated to Buckinghamshire at the age of four. He returned to London to attend Bloomfield Road Junior Mixed School in Woolwich, followed by grammar school. In later life, Boyden took pride in his state school education in a field dominated by those educated at private schools. He undertook his national service as a private in the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), serving in Malaya during the Emergency. While stationed there he met the singer Belle Gonzalez, and they returned to England and married in 1957.

From the age of 20, Boyden worked at the HMV music shop on Oxford Street, London. After learning how to edit master tapes, he set up John Boyden Recordings as a record label. "Lunchtime O'Booze" was a regular pseudonym that had been used in the magazine, in reference to the liquid lunch historically consumed by journalists. Boyden's moniker combined this with the surname of French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez. A series of articles in Private Eye in the early 1980s that suggested drunkenness, financial incompetence and absenteeism among LSO players and staff resulted in a libel action by lawyers for the orchestra and its chairman Anthony Camden. Private Eye settled out of court, admitting the items were false and paying damages.

In 1976 Boyden launched the Enigma Classics label with Peter Whiteside. The label started with just ten records, including a series of Beethoven piano sonata played by John Lill, but was successful and was purchased by WEA in 1978. Boyden afterwards went into musician management, founding the Manygate Management agency which represented, among others, John Ogdon. He also campaigned, unsuccessfully, for 30 years for a replacement Queen's Hall venue to feature his desired acoustic set-up of an oblong concert hall.

The album John Boyden: A Celebration, was issued as a tribute in 2024 and includes a dedication to Queen Camilla, which she accepted. It comprised two compact discs of works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert that he had produced. It includes Beethoven's "Piano Sonata No. 21" performed by John Lill and Schubert's "Die schöne Müllerin" sung by Ian Partridge. Another piece was Schubert's "Trout Quintet" performed by musicians associated with NQHO.