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 or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

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 (; ), shortened to SWR (), 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 in three cities: Stuttg ...

("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. Biography Roth is the son of the organist Daniel Roth—the two share the same first name. His brother Vincent is a violist. Before turning to conducting, he was a flauti ...

, 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 The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (German: ''Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR'') was a German radio orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. History The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orches ...

, 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 is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

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 The SWR Symphonieorchester (SWR Symphony Orchestra) is a radio orchestra affiliated with the ''Südwestrundfunk'' (Southwest German Radio) public broadcasting network. Formed in 2016, the orchestra is administratively based in Stuttgart. The c ...

. 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 incl ...

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 (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

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 P ...

(1980–1986) * Klaus Arp (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 197 ...

(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 Former radio and television orchestras 1946 establishments in Germany 2016 disestablishments in Germany Südwestrundfunk German radio orchestras Orchestras in Baden-Württemberg