Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German
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" al ...
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...
that was the precursor of the corporation
PolyGram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
. Headquartered in Berlin
Friedrichshain, it is now part of
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
(UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of labels in 1999. It is the oldest surviving established record company.
History
Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft was founded in 1898 by German-born United States citizen
Emile Berliner as the German branch of his
Berliner Gramophone Company. Berliner sent his nephew
Joseph Sanders from America to set up operations. Based in the city of
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
(the founder's birthplace), the company was the German affiliate of the U.S.
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...
and the British
Gramophone Company, and, from 1900, a fully owned subsidiary of the latter, but that ended after the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in 1914 when ownership reverted to Germany. Though no longer connected to the British Gramophone Company, Deutsche Grammophon continued to use the "
His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...
" trademark featuring the dog
Nipper in Germany until the late 1940s.
In 1941, Deutsche Grammophon was purchased by the
Siemens & Halske electronics company.
In 1949, Deutsche Grammophon sold the German rights of the
His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...
trademark to the
Electrola unit of
EMI. The dog and gramophone were replaced by the crown of tulips, designed by Siemens advertising consultant Hans Domizlaff.
In 1962 Siemens formed a joint venture with Netherlands-based
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
to create the DGG/PPI Record Group, which became
PolyGram Records in 1972. By this time, DGG had built a reputation for high-quality recording in the classical field as well as a notable roster of contracted singers, musicians, and conductors. Through its subsidiary label
Archiv Produktion it also stimulated interest in Western medieval and renaissance music, 15th–16th century choral polyphony,
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...
, and pioneering use of 'historical instruments' and performance practices in recordings.
DGG/
Polydor
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United State ...
's entrance into the US market in 1969 (DGG had distribution deals in the US with
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...
and
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...
beforehand) came at a time when the big US classical music labels
RCA Victor Red Seal and
Columbia Masterworks were dropping most of their unlucrative classical artists and pressing inferior quality records. The fine quality both of recording and of pressings helped DGG succeed in America and attract artists such as
Arthur Fiedler and the
Boston Pops Orchestra (who had recorded for RCA Victor since 1935) to DGG/Polydor. In 1987, Siemens sold off its interest in PolyGram, and Philips became the majority shareholder. In 1998, the
Seagram
The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the ...
company of Canada purchased Deutsche Grammophon and PolyGram on behalf of its
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
subsidiary. Since then, UMG was sold and became a division of
Vivendi until its
IPO in September 2021.
Deutsche Grammophon pioneered the introduction of the
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...
to the mass market, debuting
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" al ...
performed by
Herbert von Karajan and the
Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
History
The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
for sale in the new medium in 1983, the first recording being Richard Strauss's ''
Eine Alpensinfonie''.
Deutsche Grammophon has a huge back catalogue of notable recordings. The company is reissuing a portion of it in its ''Originals'' series;
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...
releases are noted for their
vinyl record
A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts ne ...
stylized design. It is also releasing some of American
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...
' albums from the 1940s and 1950s, such as those that
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
made for Decca in 1953, and the classic
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
album that features
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Cinema of the United States, ...
's starring in ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...
'' and
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...
's narrating ''Mr. Pickwick's Christmas''. Along with the American Decca Records classical music catalogue, Deutsche Grammophon also manages the classical music catalogue of
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...
, including
Westminster Records which, along with American Decca, were part of
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...
.
Although Deutsche Grammophon acquired the reputation of releasing mainstream classical recordings, from the 1960s onwards it released an increasing number of
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
recordings (initially under the Avant-Garde imprint), including
Bruno Maderna
Bruno Maderna (21 April 1920 – 13 November 1973) was an Italian conductor and composer.
Life
Maderna was born Bruno Grossato in Venice but later decided to take the name of his mother, Caterina Carolina Maderna.Interview with Maderna‘s th ...
,
David Bedford,
Cornelius Cardew,
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music.
Biography
Early years
Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...
and improvisations. It also released the majority of the compositions of
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...
until the composer bought the rights to the recordings and re-released them on his own label. Other German composers associated with the label included
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...
and
Hans Werner Henze.
Contemporary composers whose works were released by Deutsche Grammophon include
Hildur Guðnadóttir,
Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (russian: Софи́я Асгáтовна Губaйду́лина, link=no , tt-Cyrl, София Әсгать кызы Гобәйдуллина; born 24 October 1931) is a Soviet-Russian composer and an established ...
,
Oliver Knussen,
Mark-Anthony Turnage,
Mohammed Fairouz
Mohammed Fairouz (born November 1, 1985) is an American composer.
He is one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation and has been described by Daniel J. Wakin of ''The New York Times'' as an "important new artistic voice".
Fa ...
,
Péter Eötvös
Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher.
Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and C ...
,
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music.
Biography
Early years
Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...
,
Sven Helbig,
Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores.
Along with his elder brother, t ...
,
Bryce Dessner,
Witold Lutosławski,
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...
,
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
and
Max Richter
Max Richter (; ; born 22 March 1966) is a German-born British composer and pianist. He works within postminimalist and contemporary classical styles. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the University of Edinburg ...
.
The conductor most associated with the label is
Herbert von Karajan. Other conductors under contract included
Ferenc Fricsay,
Carlos Kleiber,
Karl Böhm,
Karl Richter,
Eugen Jochum,
Rafael Kubelík,
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
,
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music.
Born in Mo ...
,
Claudio Abbado, and
Christian Thielemann. Recent signings include
Long Yu
Yu Long (; pinyin: Yú Lóng; born July 1, 1964) is a Chinese conductor. He is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic and of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchest ...
,
Yannick Nézet-Séguin,
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera.
Early life
Dudamel was ...
,
Hera Hyesang Park
Hera Hyesang Park () is a South Korean soprano.
Career
During the 2017–2018 season, she made her opera debuts at the Bavarian State Opera and Metropolitan Opera.
In May 2020, she signed with Deutsche Grammophon.
Personal
She resides ...
, and
Myung-whun Chung.
The label's ' series features electronic adaptations of classical works.
References
External links
*
*
{{coord, 52.49785, N, 13.4619, E, dim:25km_region:DE-BE_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title
Deutsche Grammophon Records
German record labels
Labels distributed by Universal Music Group
Record labels established in 1898
1898 establishments in Germany
Companies based in Berlin