With a history spanning over 125 years, Bosworth is one of the oldest names in library music. This rich resource began with sheet music, wax cylinders, sound-on-film and through the analogue recording era. Heavily sampled, the catalogue boasts exceptional and unique newsreel, orchestral, classic cinema and kitsch styles.
In spite of the English name, this was a German publishing company in Leipzig, that specialized in popular music. On the other hand, there was a strong initial connection to England: the firm was founded in 1889 in Leipzig by the Englishman Arthur Edwin Bosworth (1858–1923), on the initiative of the Chappell company of London.
The reason for this venture was the weak state of intellectual property laws in those days. Chappell, the publisher of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, established the company in order to get Austrian and German copyright protection for its valuable properties, and in fact Bosworth's first publication was the vocal score of The Gondoliers. Bosworth and Chappell put up the initial capital, but Chappell took no part in the management, leaving it all to the adventurous Bosworth, whose main deficiency was a lack of German language. Fortunately, Bosworth found an energetic local partner in Carl Kratochwill, and between them they created one of Europe's major popular music companies. In fact, the business quickly expanded beyond Gilbert and Sullvan.
After securing popular successes in song, dance, and operetta by Alphons Czibulka (Songe d’amour Op.356, 1890), Erik Meyer-Helmund (Rokoko-Liebeslied 1895) and Carl Zeller (the operetta Der Vogelhändler) the firm began to expand operations beyond Germany, opening four additional branches over the next 25 years, of which the Vienna branch (1902) was the most successful. A policy of expansion through acquisition of smaller publishers brought the catalogs of Wilhelm Aletter of Berlin (1896), Eduard Ebner of Ludwigsburg (1897), and Heinrich Petersen of Leipzig. The Petersen acquisition contributed significantly to the firm's catalog of educational works. A further prize in the educational field was Sevcik's violin studies.
The move to Vienna took the form of the buyout of the bankrupt firm Vinzenz Kratochwill Ltd. The timing was fortunate as Viennese dances, operettas, and songs were reaching their peak of worldwide popularity. Among the popular composers of the time were Alphons Czibulka, Alfred Grünfeld, Karl Komzak, Carl Millöcker, Eugen von Taund and Albert Gortner. Bosworth gained the exclusive rights to works such as the operetta „Zur indischen Witwe“ by Oscar Straus and the ballets of Oskar Nedbal. Further acquisitions in Vienna, such as Julius Chmel, made Bosworth a natural choice for the last great Viennese operetta composer Franz Lehar. Local dialect songs and zither music were also in the catalog, which grew to 30,000 titles by 1914.
After Arthur Edwin Bosworth's death in 1923 his sons Laurence Owen Bosworth (1886–1952) and Arthur Ferdinand Bosworth (1893–1959) took over the company. They continued acquisitions, buying the Berlin firms Lyra andRoehr and the Viennese firm Blaha. Roehr A.G., bought in 1934, contributed many popular Berlin songs of the 20s, such as „Wenn der weiße Flieder wieder blüht“, „Man schenkt sich Rosen, wenn man verliebt ist“, and „Heut war ich bei der Frida“. For its part Blaha, bought in 1939, supplied a wealth of Viennese popular songs by Ernst Arnold, Roman Domanig-Roll and Franz Paul Fiebrich, marches by Fucik and waltzes by Komzak. The two great innovations of the 1920s were the growing influence of American songs and musicals and the role of music in movies and on the radio. Bosworth also got the British rights to Steingraeber’s publications. The late 1930s were difficult times for all German music publishers, with a ban on publishing Jewish composers' works, and restrictions on exporting to enemy countries. Then in the war both the London and Leipzig premises were destroyed by aerial bombing. After the war the Leipzig office moved to Cologne (1948) and business was resumed.In 1998, Bosworth was absorbed by Music Sales Group.
Most albums are 24bit/48kHz FLAC from sohoproductionmusic.uk. A few 16/44 vinyl rips are scattered throughout where gaps existed and replacements could be found. Some say {INCOMPLETE}, and are missing track(s), because they're missing tracks on the studio download as well. Perhaps their license ran out or something. There is more showing on said site, but I don't have access. If anyone does, or has other missing albums in lossless, please do contribute to the thread! Your contributions will be added to the main post.
BLP 101 - Various Artists - Bosworth Ensembles (1966)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/Km9AMYl8/file.html
BLP 103 - The Melody Men (and The Swing Men) - The Harold Gellar Sound [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/hyYCHKL2/file.html
BLP 104 - The Sound of Trumpets & The Jazz Architects - The Tijuana Sound & Atonal Jazz Structures (Avant Garde) [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/6k9SkBkM/file.html
BLP 105 - Bernard Ebbinghouse - The Ebbinghouse Sound & In A Swingin' Mood [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/5IATJl9P/file.html
BLP 106 - Various Artists - A Modern Sound [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/qyDb6ANh/file.html
BLP 107 - Orchester Erwin Lehn - A Musical Melange [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/Syy4jN1X/file.html
BLP 108 - The Erwin Lehn Orchestra & The Kenny Salmon Modern Jazz Group - Modern Dramatics & Jazz Dramatics [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/lOA28eiN/file.html
BLP 109 - Various Artists - Modern Rhythm [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/9g0jDyT2/file.html
BLP 110 - The Continental Theatre Orchestra & The Contemporary Music Group - Modern Industrials [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/XRMDRVmY/file.html
BLP 111 - The Continental Theatre Orchestra - Achievement & Bright Movement [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/ROZIT9Ge/file.html
BLP 112 - Various Artists - Round The World & Melody And Rhythm [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/5yH86afe/file.html
BLP 113 - Various Artists - Going Somewhere & On The March [24-48] (1969)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/luEKCqtt/file.html
BLP 114 - The Continental Theatre Orchestra - Sinister And Dramatic & Panoramic [24-48] (1970)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/hlpSRFHI/file.html
BLP 115 - Various Artists - The Guitar Sound & Swinging Sounds [24-48] (1970)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/0iMiAVRV/file.html
BLP 116 - The Stoller Sound & The Cologne Sound - Industrial Rock & Sounds Of The Metropolis (1970)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/96RXLH3o/file.html
BLP 117 - The International Orchestra - Orchestral Potpourri [24-48] (1970)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/E7DklQiZ/file.html
BLP 118 - The ''Seventy Sound'' Group & Sperie Karas - Modern Dramatics & Drums And Percussion [24-48] (1970)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/WkGO7bqf/file.html
BLP 119 - Various Artists - Jazz Potpourri & The Jolly Jokers [24-48] (1970)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/mwOZtHhF/file.html
BLP 120 - The Sydney Dale Orchestra - Hard And Fast & Mellow Moods [24-48] (1976)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/oFs6y9Mg/file.html
BLP 121 - The Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra - Miscellanea [24-48] (1971)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/6jycnTU8/file.html
BLP 122 - Syd Dale - Dramatic Melodies & Simple Melodies [24-48] (1971)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/dTqpDgX6/file.html
BLP 123 - Derrick Mason - Five Inventions For Flute & Six Perspectives For Strings [24-48] (1971)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/adWcXM5X/file.html
BLP 124 - Various Artists - Romantic Strings (And A Piano) & Dramatic Sounds [24-48] (1971)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/FjXHp5c1/file.html
BLP 125 - The Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra - The Big Band Sound & Orchestral Sounds [24-48] (1972)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/al828WiO/file.html
BLP 126 - Orchester Kurt Edelhagen - Rhythmic Moods [24-48] (unk)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/13WW7Jko/file.html
BLP 127 - Vaious Artists - In A Quiet Mood & Happy Beat [24-48] (1972)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/JPQLyKLW/file.html
BLP 130 - Sounds Electric & The Flugel Sound - Keyboard Plus & Modern Melody [24-48] (1973)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/j0fD9oyg/file.html
BLP 131 - Various Artists - Henry's Happy Sound; Links Electronic; Easy Listening; Modern Movement [24-48] (1973)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/KnaTwQv8/file.html
BLP 132 - Various Artists - Visions, Classica a la Mode & Four Period Pieces [24-48] (1973)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/HQ4tqsnS/file.html
BLP 134 - The Ebbinghouse Orchestra & The Men Of Vision - Dramatic Diversions... [24-48] (1973)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/c9kmTihT/file.html
BLP 135 - The Ebbinghouse Orchestra & The Gary Pacific Group - Movement In Rhythm & Rhythm At Random (1974)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/nvfjtMB0/file.html
BLP 136 - The Ebbinghouse Orchestra - Brassy & Rhythmic [24-48] (1974)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/y2tlHM3N/file.html
BLP 137 - Anthony Mawer - Flutes, Guitars & Keyboard [24-48] (1974)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/x5uMuZnS/file.html
BLP 138 - Waltz, Shuffle And Swing - Swing To A Melody [24-48] (1978)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/uuRqGW75/file.html
BLP 139 - The Seven Shadows - Seven Shades Of Sound [24-48] (1975)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/DTUoTbPW/file.html
BLP 140 - Various Artists - Big And Brassy & Light And Easy [24-48] (1975)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/FY3ZJAld/file.html
BLP 141 - Lew Howard And The ''All Stars'' & The Gary Pacific Group - America '76 [24-48] (1975)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/y7t0ZsSd/file.html
BLP 142 - Various Artists - Let's Go Solo; Rock Beat; Drums & Percussion [24-48] (1975)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/lBprG2EU/file.html
BLP 144 - The Ray Eden Sound, The Felix Morton Orchestra & The Brouwer Brothers - The Gentle Touch & Bright And Brassy [24-48] (1976)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/N2pae6vz/file.html
BLP 146 - Various Artists - Romantic Strings; Dramatic Sounds; Simple Melodies; Dramatic Melodies (1976)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/7onI6un3/file.html
BLP 148 - Various Artists - Soft, Sweet And Swing [24-48] (1977)(FLAC){INCOMPLETE}www74.zippyshare.com/v/DTXUTwD0/file.html
BLP 149 - Bernhard Ebbinghouse & Paolo Zavallone - The 77 Sound; Musical Cocktail No. 3 [24-48] (1977)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/L44swVYh/file.html
BLP 150 - The Benito Bernardo Group - Musical Conceptions & More Musical Conceptions [24-48] (1977)(FLAC)mega.nz/#!UF1EUKJY!j-4zb4oYVqw51JmKc07Ye4APOmnLuLop_KXuJnmFxws
BLP 152 - Anthony Mawer - Summer Style & More Summer Style [24-48] (1983)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/s33hB2Q1/file.html
BLP 153 - Anthony Mawer - Lyre Bird (1984)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/JWf36C3E/file.html
BLP 155 - Various Artists - Brainblast! (1985)(FLAC)www74.zippyshare.com/v/zg0JYoCP/file.html