The Collegium Aureum considered itself a "resurrected court orchestra" that attempted to play music with the authentic performance practice and sound using the actual historical instruments of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods of European music. The orchestra was founded in 1962 by the West German record company Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, based in Freiburg. Its members were professional soloists and music conservatory teachers who were dedicated to reviving, as much as possible, the actual concert experience of the various chosen eras by imitating the timbral colors through use of original string instruments and copies of old woodwind instruments, through sensitive musical interpretations, and through early performance practices, such as playing without a conductor and instead being led by the violin concertmaster. The Collegium Aureum toured internationally, performing in famous concert halls in England, France, Japan, Latin America, North Africa, the Netherlands, the countries of the former U.S.S.R., and the Middle East. The Collegium Aureum dissolved in the 1990s.