BIS Records

Most record labels begin with a need to fill a niche. When Robert von Bahr founded BIS in 1973, he seems to have found any number of musical niches to fill. The first year's releases included music from the renaissance, Telemann on period instruments, Birgit Nilsson singing Sibelius and works by 29 living composers - Ligeti and Britten as well as Rautavaara and Sallinen - next to Purcell, Mussorgsky and Richard Strauss. A musical chameleon was born, a label that meant different things to different - and usually passionate - devotees.