| Deutsche Harmonia Mundi | |
|---|---|
 Deutsche Harmonia Mundi logo | |
| Parent company | Sony Classical Records |
| Founded | 1958 (1958) |
| Genre | Classical music (Early andBaroque music) |
| Country of origin | Germany |
| Location | Freiburg im Breisgau |
| Official website | www |
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (founded 1958) is a German classical music record label. It was founded by Rudolf Ruby and based inFreiburg, Breisgau. The company was acquired byBMG Music in 1992 and is now part ofSony Music Entertainment. Ruby had Alfred Krings of West German Radio assemble their own house orchestraCollegium Aureum, founded 1964, to perform early music, selecting as leaderFranzjosef Maier.[1]
During the war Ruby had been imprisoned as a member of theKreisau Circle of anti-Nazi resistance, and at a reunion in the 1960s he met fellow resistance member princeJoseph-Ernst Graf Fugger von Glött who invited him to use the Fugger castle, Schloss Fugger, inKirchheim in Schwaben for his concerts and recordings.[2][3] The connection with the Fugger family continued through the "Music of the Fuggers" recording made for DHM byAnthony Rooley.
Ruby had distribution deals with his friendBernard Coutaz ofHarmonia Mundi France, until first BASF, then briefly with EMI bought into the label in the late 1980s, before finally selling to BMG in 1992 and retiring in 1993. In his retirement Ruby later founded the smaller Ars Musici label, which was purchased in 2008 byMembran.[4]
