Lyrebird Music – Please help save this music publisher

Hello,

My name is Jon Baxendale, and I run Lyrebird Music, a small, independent publishing company I founded during the pandemic to preserve and share exceptional Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic keyboard music. Since then, Lyrebird has grown to 54 critical editions, each crafted to educate and inspire through historically informed performance—a mission rarely pursued elsewhere.

Today, I face a challenge that threatens the survival of Lyrebird Music.

Last year, I collaborated with editors on a short critical edition. Recognising their inexperience, I took responsibility for the project, resetting the music, writing the critical commentary, and crafting the preface. I allowed them to put their names on it as editors, trusting that they would proofread the work carefully and deliver a professional result. The edition was published for six months before errors in their contributions became apparent. I gave them ample time to correct these issues, but when they failed to do so, I withdrew the edition and approached another editor to prepare a revised version. This new version was released as a second edition. To avoid any suggestion of impropriety, the second edition expanded on the first and had a freshly written preface and commentary by the new editor.

Since then, the original editors have publicly defamed my company, leading to lost sales and harm to my hard-earned reputation. Now, they are suing me for allegedly stealing their intellectual property, even though the original work was entirely my own. Additionally, they are suing the editor of the second edition, a distinguished English organist and composer, who was unaware of the previous editors' names or involvement before the work was republished.

Lyrebird Music operates on a tight budget, driven by passion rather than profit. The legal fees alone could end this labour of love, denying musicians and educators access to important editions.

I urgently need your help to cover these costs. Without your support, Lyrebird Music cannot survive this legal battle.

Any contribution would mean the world to me and to the musicians who rely on these editions. If we raise more than needed, surplus funds will be donated to a charity that helps music students pursue their education.

Thank you so much for reading and for any support you can offer.

With gratitude,

Jon Baxendale