Soli Deo Gloria is a British

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, ...

which releases recordings of the Monteverdi Choir 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, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...

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

Bach Cantata pilgrimage The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by John Eliot Gardiner, Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the ''Vespro della Beata Vergine'' in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist List of early music ensembles, Baroque ensemble, t ...

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 (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

appended at the end of each of his

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

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 music, classical record industry. The British awards are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the ...

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

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 (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

). 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, London, Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ( ...

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 the acoustician Gustave Lyon together with the architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed i ...

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