By the time I interviewed Ernest Bour in Warsaw in 1978, I had seen him conduct often enough to have conceived unstinting admiration for his advocacy of new music and the authority with which he led world premieres at the head of his symphony orchestra of Südwestfunk, the South West German radio station in Baden-Baden. He was a worthy successor to Hans Rosbaud who had died in 1962 but whose legend as a supreme interpreter of contemporary music was still very much alive.

However, unlike the ascetic and monkish Rosbaud, Bour—a Frenchman with a remarkable mastery of the German language—exuded a genuine joie de vivre. He had a witty smile and was in the habit of starting his rehearsals with a joke to make sure his orchestra relaxed and would plunge into work in a good mood.

In my mind's eye, I can see Bour on the podium. His gestures were economical, rather like Boulez's. Very rarely, to make a point, he would take a step toward the orchestra or, just for a second, lean slightly forward. The overall impression was total control of the performance (he conducted invariably by heart) without the slightest emotional involvement. His interpretations were objective and sober, you might say dry, but then the music he presented required precisely that approach.

Oddly enough, I have kept absolutely no memory of our interview at the Warsaw Autumn Festival.