The Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known in English as the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra and in German as the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks) was a German

radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

located in the German cities of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

and

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

History

The first incarnation of the orchestra occurred in 1946, initially with members of the discontinued spa orchestra of the city as the core of players. The revival of the spa orchestra two years later forced the reorganization of the radio orchestra. Subsequently,

Hans Rosbaud Hans Rosbaud (22 July 1895 – 29 December 1962) was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century. Biography Rosbaud was born in Graz. As children, he and his brother Paul Rosbaud performed with thei ...

was hired as the orchestra's first chief conductor. Rosbaud was already well known as a champion of modern music, and Heinrich Strobel, the music director in charge of the orchestra, shared this sympathy with contemporary music. Thus the orchestra had as its focus performances of modern music. The orchestra was first sponsored by '' Südwestfunk'' (SWF), a public broadcasting corporation headquartered in Baden-Baden. In 1998 SWF merged into

Südwestrundfunk Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany , specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices ...

("Southwest Broadcasting"), which took over responsibility for the orchestra. The orchestra's final chief conductor was

François-Xavier Roth François-Xavier Paul Roth (born 6 November 1971) is a French conductor, who founded Les Siècles, an orchestra which performs on instruments appropriate to the period of composition of each piece, from the late Baroque and Classical eras to 20t ...

, from 2011 to 2016.

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...

, chief conductor from 1986 to 1999, had the title of ''Ehrendirigent'' (conductor laureate) with the orchestra. In June 2012, the SWR Broadcasting Council voted to approve a measure proposed by SWR ''Intendant'' Peter Boudgoust to merge the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, for ostensible reasons of budgetary limitations for two separate orchestras affiliated with the SWR. The SWR Broadcasting Council formally passed the measure in September 2012, with the merger of the two orchestras scheduled to occur in 2016. Protests at the decision resulted. The orchestra made its first, and only, appearance at

The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

on 26 August 2015. The orchestra gave its final concert, under the direction of François-Xavier Roth, on 17 July 2016 in Freiburg. The name of the new orchestra is SWR Symphonieorchester. One of the most widely heard recordings by this orchestra was Ligeti's ''Atmospheres'' conducted by

Ernest Bour Ernest Bour (20 April 1913 - 20 June 2001) was a noted conductor. Born in Thionville, Moselle (in north-eastern Lorraine, then part of Germany), Bour studied at both the University and the Conservatoire of Strasbourg. His conducting teachers inc ...

on the 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack. The orchestra has also recorded commercially for the Hänssler label, including music of Messiaen, Bartók, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

Chief conductors

(1948–1962) *

(1964–1979) *

Kazimierz Kord Kazimierz Kord (18 November 1930 – 29 April 2021) was a Polish conductor. Between 1949 and 1955, he studied piano at the Leningrad Conservatory. He also studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków. He held major conducting positions with the ...

(1980–1986) *

Klaus Arp Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

(1987–1995) *

(1986–1999) *

Sylvain Cambreling Sylvain Cambreling (born 2 July 1948 in Amiens, France) is a French conductor. Biography Trained as a trombone player, Cambreling studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He joined l' Orchestre Symphonique de Lyon (OSL) as a trombonist in 1971. In 19 ...

(1999–2011) *

(2011–2016)

References

External links

Official German-language orchestra homepage
Archive

Archive {{Authority control Baden-Baden Freiburg im Breisgau German symphony orchestras Disbanded orchestras Musical groups established in 1946 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Radio and television orchestras 1946 establishments in Germany 2016 disestablishments in Germany