BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Description: Musical publisher
Known For: Founder of Harmonia Mundi label dies
Music Styles: Rock
Date Born: 30th December 1922
Location Born: Arles
Date Died: 26th December 2010
CONTACT DETAILS
Web Site: http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com/news/bernard-coutaz-1922-2010
Other Links: See below:
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BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Bernard Coutaz
A French musical publisher, founder of the Harmonia Mundi label.
Coutaz was born into a working class family and studied at the Salesians of Don Bosco, but was asked to leave in 1945, during his novitiate, for having organized a Marxist study group.
In the 1950s he became a journalist with Groupe Bayard, then Témoignage chrétien. During this period Coutaz published four novels and was an editor at Éditions ouvrières.
At some time during this period Bernard Coutaz met Rudolf Ruby, a German sharing Coutaz’ interests first in books, later in music.
In 1958 Coutaz founded Harmonia Mundi (France), an independent label specializing in classical music in Paris with 26,50F in the bank.
In the same year, or 1959, Rudolf Ruby founded Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (DHM) in Freiburg-im-Breisgau.
The name Harmonia Mundia was shared and each distributed the recordings of the other. The link was maintained until first BASF, then EMI, bought into the German label, then finally (after Ruby retired in 1993), DHM became part of BMG and then Sony.
In 1962 Coutaz relocated to Saint-Michel-l’Observatoire in Provence. The label’s first recording was of Slavonic liturgy sung by French monks.
Bernard Coutaz was made Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 1993 and officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2009 he was awarded a Special Award by Gramophone Magazine.
Bernard Coutaz died of a heart attack on Friday in Arles at the age of 87.