Archiv Produktion is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

of German origin. It originated in 1948 as a classical label for the

Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft 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 ...

(DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of DGG, specialising in recordings of Early and

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

. 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 An early music revival is a renewed interest in music from ancient history or prehistory. The general discussion of how to perform music from ancient or earlier times did not become an important subject of interest until the 19th century, when Eu ...

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 Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

who set out the early Archiv Produktion releases according to 12 research periods, from

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

to Mannheim and Vienna. Hamel's successor 1958-1968 Hans Hickmann was a professor at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

who focused on Bach and Handel. The next director was Andreas Holschneider (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 Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

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 Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

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 Fine may refer to: Characters * Fran Fine, the title character of ''The Nanny'' * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (p ...

making solo harpsichord recordings in 1948 of Buxtehude & Krieger.

1950s

Ralph Kirkpatrick Ralph Leonard Kirkpatrick (; June 10, 1911April 13, 1984) was an American harpsichordist and musicologist, widely known for his chronological catalog of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas as well as for his performances and recordings. Life an ...

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

1960s

Cappella Coloniensis Cappella Coloniensis is a German orchestra founded by the West German Radio in Cologne in 1954 for the purpose of introducing historically informed performance of Baroque music to the listening public. In 1998 the orchestra received the Georg Phi ...

* Berlin Hugo Distler Chor,

Klaus Fischer-Dieskau Klaus Fischer-Dieskau (Berlin, 2 January 1921 – 19 December 1994) was a German church musician and director of the Berlin Hugo-Distler Choir 1953-1989. He was the older brother of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.Hans Adolf Neunzig ''Dietrich Fischer ...

Josef Ulsamer Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura and is the only company in Japan spec ...

Münchener Bach-Chor Münchener Bach-Chor is a mixed choir for concert and oratorio in Munich. Performances, international tours and recordings with Karl Richter and the Münchener Bach-Orchester made the choir internationally known. History Heinrich-Schütz-Kre ...

& Münchener Bach-Orchester, Karl Richter *

Colin Tilney Colin Graham Tilney (31 October 1933 – 17 December 2024) was a British-Canadian harpsichordist, fortepianist and teacher. He is well known for his historically-informed approach to performance practice, performing on original or copied ins ...

Jörg Demus Jörg Wolfgang Demus (2 December 1928 – 16 April 2019) was an Austrian classical pianist who appeared internationally and made many recordings. He was also a composer and a lecturer at music academies. In composition and playing, he focused on ...

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (; 28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music. One of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, he is best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's ...

* Schola Cantorum "Francesco Coradini" - Fosco Corti *

Pierre Fournier Pierre Léon Marie Fournier (24 June 19068 January 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound. Biography Pierre Fournier was born in Paris, the son of a F ...

(cello and

viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

)

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 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...

Camerata Bern Located in Bern, Switzerland, the Camerata Bern was founded in 1963 as a conductorless, flexible chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionall ...

, Heinz Holliger

1980s

* Musica Antiqua Köln, Reinhard Goebel * The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock. * Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra,

* harpsichordist Kenneth Gilbert

1990s

* Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski - first recording for Archiv was Rameau's '' Hippolyte et Aricie'' 1994. *

Orlando Consort The Orlando Consort was a British vocal consort which is best known for performing Renaissance choral music one voice to a part. The Consort was founded in 1988 as part of the activities of the Early Music Network of Great Britain, a forerunner of t ...

* Pomerium (ensemble) * Piffaro, The Renaissance Band

2000s

* Gabrieli Consort & Players,

Paul McCreesh Paul McCreesh (born 24 May 1960) is an English conductor. Paul McCreesh is the founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players. With them he has performed in major concert halls and festivals across the world. He has been the ...

* Il Complesso Barocco, 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