The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO; sv, Göteborgs Symfoniker) is a Swedish

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

based in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. The GSO is resident at the Gothenburg Concert Hall at

Götaplatsen Götaplatsen is a public square in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the southern end of Avenyn, the city's main boulevard. The square was inaugurated when Gothenburg held a major international industrial exhibition, 1923, celebrating the city's 300th anniv ...

. The orchestra received the title of the National Orchestra of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges Nationalorkester) in 1997.

Background and history

The GSO was founded in 1905, with Heinrich Hammer as its first principal conductor. The composer

Wilhelm Stenhammar Carl Wilhelm Eugen Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927) was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Stenhammar was born in Stockholm and was the brother of architect Ernst Stenhammar. He received his first musical e ...

was the orchestra's second principal conductor, from 1907 to 1922. In addition to Stenhammar conducting his own works,

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...

and

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he ...

made regular guest-conducting appearances with the GSO. The orchestra's fortunes waxed and waned in subsequent years, until the advent of

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...

as principal conductor, from 1982 to 2004. Although the GSO has a broad repertoire, it has a special affinity for the works of the Nordic Late Romantic composers, such as

and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

. During Järvi's tenure as principal conductor, the longest tenure of any principal conductor in the GSO's history, its reputation on the world stage was greatly increased, including sponsorships from

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

and a recording contract with

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

. Järvi currently holds the title of Principal Conductor Emeritus (''Chefdirigent Emeritus'') with the GSO.

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. Early life Dudamel was ...

was principal conductor of the GSO from 2007 to 2012, and now has the title of ''hedersdirigent'' (honorary conductor) of the GSO. Past principal guest conductors of the GSO have included Norman del Mar, who was Permanent Guest Conductor from 1968 to 1973, and

Christian Zacharias Christian Zacharias (born 27 April 1950 in Jamshedpur) is a German pianist and conductor. Music career Zacharias studied piano with Irene Slavin and Vlado Perlemuter in Paris. He won second prize at both the Geneva Competition in 1969 and the Va ...

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 20 ...

became principal guest conductor and artistic advisor of the GSO as of the 2013–2014 season, with an initial contract of three years. In August 2014,

Santtu-Matias Rouvali Santtu-Matias Rouvali (born 5 November 1985) is a Finnish conductor and percussionist. He is currently chief conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Philharmonia Or ...

first guest-conducted the GSO. In May 2016, the GSO announced the appointment of Rouvali as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2017–2018 season, with an initial contract of four years. In May 2019, the GSO announced the extension of Rouvali's contract through 2025. In addition to Deutsche Grammophon, the orchestra has recorded commercially for such labels as BIS.

Principal Conductors

* Heinrich Hammer (1905–1907) *

(1907–1922) *

Ture Rangström Anders Johan Ture Rangström (30 November 1884 – 11 May 1947) belonged to a new generation of Swedish composers who, in the first decade of the 20th century, introduced modernism to their compositions. In addition to composing, Rangström was a ...

(1922–1925) *

Tor Mann Tor Mann (25 February 1894 – 29 March 1974) was a Sweden, Swedish conducting, conductor. Mann was music director, principal conductor of the Göteborgs Symfoniker from 1925 to 1939, and the Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester from 1939 to 195 ...

(1925–1939) *

Issay Dobrowen Issay Alexandrovich Dobrowen (russian: Исай Александрович Добровейн; in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Empire9 December 1953, Oslo, Norway), born Itschok Zorachovitch Barabeitchik, was a Russian/Soviet-Norwegian pianist, co ...

(1941–1953) *

Dean Dixon Charles Dean Dixon (January 10, 1915November 3, 1976) was an American conductor. Career Dixon was born in the upper-Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem in New York City to parents who had earlier migrated from the Caribbean. He studied conducting ...

(1953–1960) * Sten Frykberg (1960–1967) *

Sergiu Comissiona Sergiu Comissiona (June 16, 1928 – March 5, 2005) was a Romanian-Israelis, Israeli-Americans, American Conducting, conductor and violinist. Biography Early life Born in Bucharest, Romania in a Jewish family, he began violin studies at the ag ...

(1967–1973) *

Sixten Ehrling Evert Sixten Ehrling (3 April 1918 – 13 February 2005) was a Swedish conductor and pianist who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a ...

(1974–1976) * Charles Dutoit (1976–1979) *

(1982–2004) * Mario Venzago (2004–2007) *

(2007–2012) *

(2017–present)

Premieres

Hilding Hallnäs symphonies Nos. 1 (1945), 2 (1948), 3 (1948), 4 (1952), and 5 (1963), Gösta Nystroem symphonies 1 (1932), 2 (1937), and 4 (1952),

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger Olof Wilhelm Peterson-Berger ( 27 February 1867, Ullånger — 3 December 1942, Östersund) was a Swedish composer and music critic. As a composer, his main musical influences were Grieg, August Söderman and Wagner as well as Swedish folk id ...

Symphony No.2 (1911),

Allan Pettersson Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers, he was described as one of the last great symphonists, ...

symphonies Nos. 3 (1956), 9 (1971), Hilding Rosenberg Tre Fantasistycken (1919), Symphony 1 (1921), Piano Concerto (1951), and

Eduard Tubin Eduard Tubin ( – 17 November 1982) was an Estonian composer, conductor, and choreographer. Life Tubin was born in Torila, Tartu County, Governorate of Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire. Both his parents were music lovers, and his fat ...

Symphony No.11. (1989). Alain Pâris. ''Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siècle.''

Éditions Robert Laffont Éditions Robert Laffont is a book publishing company in France founded in 1941 by Robert Laffont. Its publications are distributed in almost all francophone countries, but mainly in France, Canada and in Belgium. It is considered one of the most ...

, Paris, 1995 (p1089).

References

Sources

External links

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra official website
{{Authority control

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...