Harmonia Mundi

Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music. It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name translates as "harmony of the world".
In the 1950s, two music entrepreneurs, Frenchman Bernard Coutaz and German Rudolf Ruby, met by chance on a train journey and started a friendship based on their musical interests. They formed a business relationship and set up two classical music record labels, both named Harmonia Mundi. Coutaz's Harmonia Mundi (France) was founded in Saint Michel de Provence, France, in 1958, and around the same time, Rudolf Ruby set up Deutsche Harmonia Mundi in Germany. The two labels shared similar aims and specialised in recordings of Early and Baroque music, with an emphasis on scholarly, historically informed performance and high-quality sound and production values.