Ernest Bour
One of France's greatest champions of contemporary music, Ernest Bour conducted the world premieres of works by some of the twentieth century's most challenging composers: Xenakis, Ferneyhough, Rihm, Bussotti, and many others. He also oversaw the French premieres of such important operas as Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Hindemith's Mathis der Maler. He made some commercial recordings, most notably a highly regarded rendition of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, but his legacy has largely been preserved through his association with radio orchestras and his discography revolves around French and Dutch composers. The son of an organist and conductor of amateur choirs and orchestras, Bour obtained a broad general education, studying classics at the University of Strasbourg and piano, organ, and theory at the Strasbourg Conservatory. His primary mentor at the latter institution was Fritz Münch and from 1933 to 1934, he also studied conducting with Hermann Scherchen. Bour got his professional start in radio, first conducting choruses in Geneva and Strasbourg and soon being named chief conductor of Strasbourg Radio, a post he held from 1935 to 1939. After a short stint teaching piano at the Strasbourg Conservatory, he moved to the town of Mulhouse (near the German border) for the duration of the war, being appointed conductor of the orchestra there in 1941 and of the conservatory in 1945. Bour left the orchestra in 1947 and guest-conducted throughout Western Europe, settling back in Strasbourg in 1950 as conductor of the city's Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1954 -- 1955, he shifted to the Strasbourg Opera, where he served as co-director with Fritz Adam. During the 1950s, Bour and Adam organized many concerts of contemporary music in Strasbourg. Bour's career reached its high point in 1964 with his appointment as principal conductor of Germany's Southwest Radio Orchestra in Baden-Baden, a post he held until 1979. Here, Bour threw himself into new music with particular energy, drawing precise, honorable, and often compelling performances from his second-string orchestra. He carried these interests and skills over to his term as permanent guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra from 1976 until his retirement in 1987.
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Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole, Ma mère l'oye, Valses nobles et sentimentales, Le tombeau de Couperin
Ernest Bour, Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks
Symfonische muziek - Released by naïve classique on 1 jan. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 60, 61, 64
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden and Freiburg
Klassiek - Released by SWRmusic on 1 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps & Le chant du rossignol
Ernest Bour, Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks
Symfonische muziek - Released by naïve classique on 1 jan. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn, Weber & Genzmer: Piano Concertos
Wolfram Lorenzen, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Bamberger Symphoniker, Ernest Bour, Grzegorz Nowak, Alexander Symeonides
Klassiek - Released by Troubadisc on 4 sep. 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn - Bartók - Reger: Piano Concertos, Vol. 1
Wolfram Lorenzen, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Bour, Jiri Starek, Reinhard Petersen
Klassiek - Released by Troubadisc on 4 sep. 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Le songe d'une nuit d'été, extraits & Les Hébrides (Mono Version)
Orchestre du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Ernest Bour
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphonie No. 3 avec orgue (Mono Version)
Maurice Duruflé, Orchestre du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Ernest Bour
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
D'Indy: Jour d'été à la montagne & Symphonie sur un chant montagnard français "Cévenole" (Mono Version)
Daniel Wayenberg, Orchestre du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Ernest Bour
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Jolivet: Pièces pour orchestre et solistes (Mono Version)
Ernest Bour, Roger Delmotte, Lucette Descaves
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Sinfonie No. 2, Op. 73 - Variationen, Op. 56 A
Sudwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden, Ernest Bour, Jascha Horenstein
Klassiek - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 30 okt. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 85, 86, 87
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden
Klassiek - Released by SWRmusic on 1 mei 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 46, 49 & 59
SWR Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks, Ernest Bour
Klassiek - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on 26 aug. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius & Ponce: Concertos pour violon (Mono Version)
Henryk Szeryng, Orchestre Colonne, Ernest Bour
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Honegger: Symphonie No. 2 pour cordes (Mono Version)
Grosses Orchester des Südwestfunks, Ernest Bour
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Scherzo & Nocturne, Extracts from A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mono Version)
Jean-Pierre Rampal, Pierre Del Vescovo, Ernest Bour
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Concerto pour violon, Op. 64 (Mono Version)
Devy Erilh, Ernest Bour, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Honegger: Symphonie No. 2 & Concerto da camera pour flûte, cor anglais et orchestre à cordes (Mono Version)
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Ernest Bour
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Veerhoff: Works for Orchestra - World Premier Recordings (Digitally Remastered)
Klassiek - Released by EMG Classical on 15 feb. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Plays Brahms
Zino Francescatti, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Ernest Bour
Klassiek - Released by SWR Classic on 7 aug. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moussorgsky - Ravel - Kodaly
Klassiek - Released by Ina Archives on 28 feb. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kelemen: Archetypon Ii / Nonet / Die Richter
Niksa Bareza, Ernest Bour, Helmut Franz
Klassiek - Released by BIS on 31 jan. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo