John Kurlander was a unique recording engineer. Having first been inspired by a school visit in 1964 he joined Abbey Road in 1967. He recounted that none of the assistants wanted to work on the Beatles sessions by that stage, the atmosphere was particularly spiky when more than two were together, so when a newbie joined, they were rushed onto their sessions. John assisted the recording of the Abbey Road album and made his mark by inadvertently creating a bit of history: he preserved the song ‘Her Majesty’ by attaching it to the end of the master tape, which was then accidentally included in the first album cut, creating one of rock music's earliest ‘hidden tracks.’

Known for his meticulous attention to detail, John's obsessive approach to recording preparation earned him rapid advancement. By 1974, at just 23 years old, he became principal engineer for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Charles Groves for HMV. The seventies saw orchestras and pop blend together in increasingly large scale and inventive arrangements for labels like Music for Pleasure. John loved working across different genres with popular artists like Geoff Love and Manuel and his Music of the Mountains. The 1980s brought new opportunities as Abbey Road opened to third-party projects. John played a pivotal role in creating the sound of the album Hooked on Classics. This commercially successful album sold over 15 million copies and helped widen the reach of classical music at the start of the CD era. 

John recorded with EMI Classics and its American counterpart Angel Records all around the world. He developed a particular affinity with The Philadelphia Orchestra, working with conductors Eugene Ormandy, Riccardo Muti, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. Other artists he worked with many times were Klaus Tennstedt, Bernard Haitink, Simon Rattle, Itzhak Perlman, Kiri Te Kanawa, Andre Previn, Placido Domingo, Thomas Hampson and Jose Carreras. Highlights include his live stereo mix of Bluebeard’s Castle with Haitink and the Berlin Philharmonic, Vaughan William’s Symphony No 5 recorded in Abbey Road Studio 1 with Haitink and the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sawallisch’s live recording of Sinfonia Domestica by Strauss with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Suntory Hall in Japan.

In 1984 John began his work with That’s Entertainment Records recording dozens of complete cast recordings and operettas including the complete recordings with the D’Oyly Carte Opera company as well as the Gramophone Award winning My Fair Lady conducted by John Owen Edwards.  John’s albums of musicals also won Gramophone Awards for John McGlinn’s recordings of Showboat and Anything Goes.

Always moving forward with the technology and trends of the industry John began recording music for films in the nineties. His collaboration with composer Howard Shore led to his work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, earning him three Grammy Awards. After receiving a Green Card in the mid-nineties John relocated to Los Angeles, worked on many more films, particularly with the composer Marco Beltrami, and expanded into the emerging video game music industry, contributing to major titles like World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Assassin's Creed.

John was a big personality and a wonderfully generous colleague. He gave a lot of time to helping young engineers and composers get a foothold in the industry and shared his knowledge and techniques. Like the best in the business his sound had a distinctive personality; you can clearly hear the crisp clean edges of his meticulous preparation in so many recordings.

John Kurlander

Born May 25, 1951; died February 9, 2025