Archiv Produktion is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

record label of German origin. It originated in 1949 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of DGG, specialising in recordings of

Early Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

and

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

. It has since developed a particular focus on "

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

" and the work of artists of the Early music revival movement of the 20th and 21st centuries. The first head of Archiv Produktion, serving in the position from 1948 to 1957, was Fred Hamel, a musicologist who set out the early Archiv Produktion releases according to 12 research periods, from Gregorian Chant to Mannheim and Vienna. Hamel's successor 1958-1968

Hans Hickmann Hans Robert Hermann Hickmann (b. Roßlau, Germany, May 19, 1908; d. Blandford Forum, England, September 4, 1968) was an eminent German Musicology, musicologist. He lived in Egypt and specialized in the music and organology of Ancient Egypt, and sur ...

was a professor at the University of Hamburg who focused on Bach and Handel. The next director was

Andreas Holschneider Andreas Holschneider (6 April 1931 – 24 September 2019) was a German music historian and writer. Life Holschneider was born in 1931 in Freiburg im Breisgau as the oldest of four sons of the chemist Friedrich Wilhelm Holschneider and Olga Holsc ...

(1931–2019) from 1970-1991. In December 1991 Holschneider gave an interview to ''Gramophone'' where he defended the entry of Archiv Produktion and "authentic instrument" specialists such as John Eliot Gardiner into Romantic territory of Schumann and Berlioz. The label's next head was Peter Czornyj (b. 1956) from 1992.Martin Elste ''Meilensteine der Bach-Interpretation 1750 - 2000 In parallel, the Decca Records also acquired the rights to the recording catalogue of the French-Australian music publishers Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre in 1970 and began to issue early music recordings using the l'Oiseau-Lyre brand.

Key artists and recordings

1940s

* Archiv Produktion's first recording was of Helmut Walcha playing Bach, 1947, released in 1948. Walcha went on to make two complete series of Bach's organ output (excepting a few minor pieces), one in mono recorded in 1947-52, one in stereo in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Both sets were released by Archiv to wide acclaim and have later been reissued on cd. * Fine Krakamp making solo harpsichord recordings in 1948 of Buxtehude & Krieger.

1950s

* Ralph Kirkpatrick (harpsichord, many recordings of Bach and Handel) * Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under August Wenzinger

1960s

* Cappella Coloniensis * Berlin Hugo Distler Chor, Klaus Fischer-Dieskau * Josef Ulsamer * Münchener Bach-Chor & Münchener Bach-Orchester, Karl Richter (conductor), Karl Richter * Colin Tilney, Jörg Demus, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau * Schola Cantorum "Francesco Coradini" - Fosco Corti * Pierre Fournier (cello and viola da gamba)

1970s

* Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg, Jürgen Jürgens * Pro Cantione Antiqua (medieval/renaissance vocal music, including a long series of albums of 15th/16th century polyphony) * Charles Mackerras * Camerata Bern, Heinz Holliger

1980s

* Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel * The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock. * Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner * harpsichordist Kenneth Gilbert

1990s

* Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski - first recording for Archiv was Rameau's ''Hippolyte et Aricie'' 1994. * Orlando Consort * Pomerium (ensemble) * Piffaro, The Renaissance Band

2000s

* Gabrieli Consort & Players, Paul McCreesh * Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis (harpsichordist), Alan Curtis

2010s

* Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon, Giuliano Carmignola * Pablo Heras-Casado * Mahan Esfahani

References

External links

Official Archiv Produktion Website

{{Authority control Classical music record labels Early music record labels German record labels Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Record labels established in 1949 1949 establishments in Germany