Soli Deo Gloria

"Bach is probably the only composer whose musical output is so rich,
so challenging to the performers and so spiritually uplifting
to both performer and listener alike, that one would
gladly spend a year in his exclusive company."

"I believe that Bach’s music carries a universal message of
hope and faith which can touch anybody, irrespective of their
culture, religion or musical knowledge."

"Taken together his cantatas comprise
some of the most consistently beautiful music ever to have
been composed, a corpus of work which counts as one of the
great glories of European music."

Sir John Eliot Gardiner

SDG - Soli Deo Gloria

J S Bach appended these initials at the end of each of his Cantatas scores.

 for Soli Deo Gloria, to the Glory of God alone,

they signified his deep devotion and his desire to serve God through his music.

These same initials now identify a new label, associated with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, dedicated to the recordings made during the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage.

In total SDG will release 51 CDs, each corresponding to one of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage’s concerts and including the cantatas Bach wrote for a specific liturgical feast. It is the first time that Bach cantatas are issued on CD in this coupling.

Covers
	Each release features portrait by photographer Steve McCurry, a celebrated photographic correspondent who is most known for the "Afghan girl" photo which appeared on the cover of National Geographic.
		"McCurry's pictures are immensely striking: they seemed to provide a potent imagery which perfectly complements that of the music."