SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden Und Freiburg -
Sinfonische Musik - Musiktage Donaueschingen: Uraufführungen 1955-1989 (2000)
This is my first foray into RCA's series devoted to "Musik In Deutschland 1950-2000". Discogs tells us:
"Musik in Germany 1950-2000 outlines the history of contemporary music in Germany during the second half of the twentieth century on a total of 130 CDs. Based on a broadly conceived concept of music, it covers six main areas: concert music, electronic music, music theater, applied music, jazz, and popular music. Within these areas it is subdivided into chronological overviews of particular genres ("series") interspersed with special topics ("portraits")."
This collection brings us a variety of avant garde orchestral music performed by the merry makers at SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden Und Freiburg, conducted by Hans Rosebaud, Michael Gielen and others. The most familiar composer here would be Olivier Messiaen, joined by the lesser known (and equally difficult to pronounce) Iannis Xenakis, Kryzysztof Penderecki, Györdy Ligeti, Heinz Holliger, Helmut Lachenmann and Wolfgang Rihm. I won't pretend that this music is friendly to the ear, but this album shows that Germany in the decades after WWII regained its standing as a world leader in experimental, innovative music.
