Soli Deo Gloria is a British

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 releases recordings of the

Monteverdi Choir The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the ''Vespro della Beata Vergine'' in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic convic ...

and other ensembles conducted by Sir

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Gard ...

. It was founded in order to release recordings made during the

Bach Cantata pilgrimage The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the ''Vespro della Beata Vergine'' in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic convic ...

that took place in the year 2000. According to its website, the name ''Soli Deo Gloria'' is drawn from the initials that

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

appended at the end of each of his

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

s, dedicating them to the "glory of God alone". The label is a not-for-profit organisation.

Bach recordings

Cantata set

Gardiner had a successful collaboration with

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 ...

from the 1980s, but the company was willing to release only a small number of the Bach cantatas which were recorded live in 2000. SDG set out to release a complete set of CDs of the Bach Cantata pilgrimage's concerts. In October 2005 its very first release, ''Bach Cantatas, volume 1'' (SDG101), won "Record of the Year" at the

Gramophone 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 ...

. In 2011, by which time nearly all Bach's

church cantatas A church cantata or sacred cantata is a cantata intended to be performed during Christian liturgy. The genre was particularly popular in 18th-century Lutheran Germany, with many composers writing an extensive output: Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, ...

had been released, SDG's ''Bach Cantata Pilgrimage'' series earned a Gramophone Award for special achievement.

First recording of newly discovered piece

In 2006, at the behest of the

Bach Archive The Bach-Archiv Leipzig or Bach-Archiv is an institution for the documentation and research of the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Bach-Archiv also researches the Bach family, especially their music. Based in Leipzig, the city where ...

in Leipzig, SDG released the first recording of a newly discovered piece by Bach, ''Alles mit Gott''.BACH: Alles mit Gott
www.operatoday.com

Other recordings

As well as music by Bach, the label has since its creation published parallel endeavours of Gardiner and his forces, such as a ''Pilgrimage to Santiago'' CD (recorded after a 2004 tour following the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

). In 2006 the label made headlines with a CD of two Mozart symphonies, recorded live during a concert at London's

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), the first ...

and released at the end of the evening. Autumn 2007 saw the first recordings with the

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique The Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, founded in 1989 by John Eliot Gardiner, performs Classical and Romantic music using the principles and original instruments of historically informed performance. The orchestra has recorded symphonies, ...

, recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London and the

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

in Paris during the Brahms and his Antecedents''

concert cycle. The first release in this new series was in September 2008 and included Brahms’ Symphony Number 1 along with music by Mendelssohn.

References

External links

History of SDGCantatafinder
- search tool dedicated to the live recordings made during the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage under the SDG label Record labels established in 2004 British record labels Classical music record labels {{UK-record-label-stub