Harmonia Mundi is an independent

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 produ ...

which specializes in classical music,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of

PIAS Entertainment Group PIAS is a British recording, licensing, distribution, sales and marketing company for independent music. The company was founded in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot in Brussels, Belgium,

. Its Latin name ''harmonia mundi'' translates as "harmony of the world".

History

In the 1950s, two music entrepreneurs, Frenchman

Bernard Coutaz Bernard Coutaz (30 December 1922 – 26 February 2010) was a French musical publisher, founder of the Harmonia Mundi label. Coutaz was born into a working-class family in Saint-Auban-sur-l'Ouvèze and studied at the Salesians of Don Bosco, but wa ...

and German Rudolf Ruby, met by chance on a train journey and started a friendship based on their musical interests. They formed a business relationship and set up two classical music record labels, both named ''Harmonia Mundi ''. Coutaz's Harmonia Mundi (France) was founded in Saint-Michel-de-Provence, France, in 1958, and around the same time, Rudolf Ruby set up

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (founded 1958) is a German classical music record label. It was founded by Rudolf Ruby and based in Freiburg, Breisgau. The company was acquired by BMG Music in 1992 and is now part of Sony Music Entertainment. Ruby had Alf ...

. The two labels shared similar aims and specialised in recordings of Early and Baroque music, with an emphasis on scholarly, historically informed performance and high-quality sound and production values. They also shared the ''Harmonia Mundi '' name for commercial reasons and collaborated for many years, sharing artists, material and distribution, and competing successfully with classical labels such as

Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre (commonly referred to as L'Oiseau-Lyre) is a French music publishing company and a classical music record label that specialises in Early and Baroque music. It was founded in 1932 as a publisher of scholarly editions ...

's Decca Records and

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

Archiv Produktion Archiv Produktion is a classical music 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 of DGG, specialising in recording ...

. The association between the two labels began to loosen after Deutsche Harmonia Mundi partnered with

BASF BASF SE () is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The BASF Group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries ...

and then with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

. In 1989 Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) took over the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi's distribution. Ruby retired in 1992 and Coutaz tried unsuccessfully to buy the German record label and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi was wholly acquired by BMG. Today BMG is part of

Sony Classical Records Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired by S ...

. Coutaz's Harmonia Mundi continued as an independent label for many years. In 1986 Harmonia Mundi (France) moved to

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

, France. Harmonia Mundi (US) is a branch of Harmonia Mundi (France). There are also operations in the United Kingdom and in Spain. The label was acquired by

in September 2015.

Catalogue

Noted artists and ensembles who have recorded with Harmonia Mundi have included

Maya Youssef Maya Youssef (born 1984) is a Syrian musician and composer based in the United Kingdom who plays the qanun. She has performed on the BBC Proms and WOMAD. Personal life and education Maya Youssef was born in 1984 in Damascus, Syria, into a f ...

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

Dominique Visse Dominique Visse (born 30 August 1955) is a French countertenor and founder of the Ensemble Clément Janequin. Life and career Dominique Visse was a chorister at the Notre-Dame de Paris and studied organ and flute at the Versailles Conservatory. ...

, William Christie,

Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...

, Andreas Scholl,

Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from Re ...

, Maurice Steger, Alexander Melnikov,

Isabelle Faust Isabelle Faust (born 19 March 1972) is a German violinist who has worked internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. She received multiple awards. Life and career Faust was born in Esslingen on 12 March 1972. She received her first vio ...

Jean-Guihen Queyras Jean-Guihen Queyras is a French cellist. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 11 March 1967, and moved with his parents to Algeria when he was 5 years old; the family moved to France 3 years later. He is a professor at the Musikhochschule F ...

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 202 ...

Samuel Hasselhorn Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transit ...

Raphaël Pichon Raphaël Pichon (born in 1984 in Paris) is a French countertenor, choral and orchestral conductor. Biography Raphaël Pichon was a member of the Maîtrise des Petits chanteurs de Versailles during his childhood. He then studied violin and piano ...

Amandine Beyer Amandine may refer to: * Edibles: ** Amandine (cake), a Romanian chocolate sponge cake filled with chocolate or almond cream ** Amandine (garnish), a French culinary term for a garnish of almonds ** Amandine potato, a type of potato * Amandine ...

Freiburger Barockorchester Freiburger Barockorchester (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) is a German Baroque orchestra founded in 1987, with the mission statement: "to enliven the world of Baroque music with new sounds". History The orchestra is based in Freiburg im Breisgau. ...

les Siècles Les Siècles is a French symphony orchestra founded in 2003 by François-Xavier Roth, with ambition to put works from the 17th to 21st centuries into today's perspective. The musicians of the orchestra play each repertoire on the historical instrum ...

, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and

Collegium Vocale Collegium Vocale Gent is a Belgian musical ensemble of vocalists and supporting instrumentalists, founded by Philippe Herreweghe. The group is dedicated to historically informed performance. Founding and program Collegium Vocale Gent was founde ...

. Harmonia Mundi also issues recordings under a number of subsidiary labels such as Ambronay, Discograph, Le Chant du Monde and World Village.

Awards

Harmonia Mundi has received several accolades for its specialist recordings, including Label of the Year 2003 in the

Gramophone Classical Music Awards The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

;

Best Opera Recording The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...

for René Jacobs' recording of '' Mozart's

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' at the

2005 Grammy Awards The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Lat ...

; and Label of the Year 2006 at the Midem Classical Awards.

References

External links

Official website

World Village Records
* {{Authority control French companies established in 1958 Arles Companies based in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Classical music record labels Early music record labels French record labels IFPI members Jazz record labels Record labels established in 1958