In 2018, as Deutsche Grammophon celebrated its 120th anniversary, not only did it make a statement by releasing The Anniversary Edition – a collection of definitive recordings from the label’s very beginnings to the present day…
… it also gave itself a gift by asking artist Gregor Hildebrandt to redesign one of its most famous products as a special anniversary edition.
The Beethoven symphony cycle recorded by Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1961 and 1962 and released in 1963 on eight LPs housed in a luxury clothbound box, enjoys legendary status...
... because it was the first Beethoven cycle Karajan set down for Deutsche Grammophon – two more were to follow...
in 1975-1977:
and 1982-1985:
... because it was so expensive that it was originally only available to buy as a subscription set...
... and because, most importantly, it set new recording and artistic standards. To this day, this collection is the touchstone against which every other recording of the Beethoven symphonies is measured.
Although the design of the various individual elements of the 1963 edition had itself long since become a classic, DG decided to use this landmark anniversary as an opportunity to experiment, by asking a contemporary artist to reinterpret its visual presentation.
Dr Clemens Trautmann, President of Deutsche Grammophon since 2015 and himself a collector of music-related art, extended an invitation to Gregor Hildebrandt.
Hildebrandt, who was born in 1974 and appointed as Professor at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 2015, has so ingrained an affinity for music that he uses analogue data carriers – cassette tape, video tape and vinyl discs – as his materials. Having been given carte blanche for his approach to this project, he ultimately paid a respectful tribute to the original while incorporating his own signature interventions and additions.
He created a stunning one-off, multifaceted work of art in which, for example, each LP is housed in a leporello (fold-out) sleeve clad in the tape from a cassette on which he had previously recorded the work appearing on that disc. Although the original remains in his possession, it also formed the basis of a 120-copy limited edition of the nine symphony recordings, each set numbered and signed by the artist.
Reproducing the various hand-crafted elements of Hildebrandt’s artwork for this edition while preserving their artistic character proved to be quite a challenge. This notably applied to his completely redesigned cover. While the 1963 set had been adorned with Siegfried Lauterwasser’s powerful photographic portrait of the conductor, Hildebrandt decided to coat the entire outer surface of his box with a cassette-tape collage. The white lettering is made up of tiny snippets of leader tape, carefully collected by the artist.
For the edition, the lettering was stamped into the black cloth-covered surface of the box, and the impressions left were then filled with white paint, creating a mosaic-like effect. The removable lid was also designed so that it could be hung on a wall, like any other work of art.
The level of care and attention that went into this new visual design echoes the words written by Karajan in a letter to DG after the final Beethoven recording sessions in 1962:
“You know how much love and effort the Philharmoniker and I have put, time and again, into our Beethoven interpretations, so much the focus of our work together since our collaboration began seven years ago. These recordings, however, have only been made possible with the support of the members of your team, who are not only experts in their field but also individuals of profound artistic sensitivity.”
Gregor Hildebrandt himself presents the project here:
