This decision has infuriated avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who calls the act one of a "common criminal." Because his compositions sometimes require large choruses, Stockhausen feels that such a decision "[kills] my works.... I am alarmed to be living in Germany in this day and age."
SWR superintendent Peter Voss said that the budget cuts are necessary due to a decline in revenue from television-set taxes in Germany. The Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation, based in Munich, made a similar announcement about the elimination of one of its orchestras earlier this month.