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The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The BBC SO is the principal
broadcast orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...
of the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
(BBC). The orchestra was originally conceived in 1928 as a joint enterprise by the BBC and the conductor
Sir Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with th ...
, but the latter withdrew the next year and the task of assembling and training the orchestra fell to the BBC's director of music, Adrian Boult. Among its guest conductors in its first years was Arturo Toscanini, who judged it the finest orchestra he had ever conducted. During and after the Second World War, Boult strove to maintain standards, but the senior management of the post-war BBC did not allocate the orchestra the resources to meet competition from new and well-funded rivals. After Boult's retirement from the BBC in 1950, the orchestra went through a fallow period. Boult's successor, Sir Malcolm Sargent, was popular with the public but had poor rapport with his players, and orchestral morale dropped. Sargent's successor, Rudolf Schwarz, made relatively little impact, and although the BBC appointed high-profile chief conductors in the 1960s and 1970s –
Antal Doráti Antal Doráti (, , ; 9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Antal Doráti was born in Budapest, where his father Alexander Doráti was a vi ...
, Colin Davis, Pierre Boulez and
Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (russian: Генна́дий Никола́евич Рожде́ственский; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. ...
– the BBC SO remained underfunded. However, because it was the sole symphony orchestra in London that offered its players full-time contracts, players of high repute, including Alan Civil (horn) and John Wilbraham (trumpet), enrolled as regular members. As a result of initiatives begun in the 1960s by the BBC controller of music
William Glock Sir William Frederick Glock, CBE (3 May 190828 June 2000) was a British music critic and musical administrator who was instrumental in introducing the Continental avant-garde, notably promoting the career of Pierre Boulez. Biography Glock was bo ...
, performing standards rose appreciably. Under Andrew Davis in the 1990s and
Jiří Bělohlávek Jiří Bělohlávek, (; 24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasio ...
in the 2000s, the orchestra prospered. By the second decade of the 21st century, the BBC SO was regarded by critics as of first-class status. From the outset, the orchestra has been known for pioneering new music, and it continues to do so, at
the Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
, in concerts at the Barbican Centre, and in studio concerts from its base at BBC Maida Vale studios.


History


Background

Almost from its beginning in November 1922, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
had started broadcasting from its " 2LO" transmitter with its own musical ensembles. The first such groups were the "2LO Dance Band", the "2LO Military Band", the "2LO Light Orchestra", and the "2LO Octette", all of which began broadcasting in 1923. No concert promoter would co-operate with the BBC, regarding it as a dangerous competitor, but the
British National Opera Company The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham Opera Company (19 ...
allowed broadcasts of its performances from the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
.Kennedy, p. 137 John Reith, the general manager of the BBC, invited the opera company's musical director,
Percy Pitt Percy Pitt (4 January 1869 – 23 November 1932) was an English organist, conductor, composer, and Director of Music of the BBC from 1924 to 1930. Biography A native of London, Pitt studied music in Europe at the Leipzig conservatory, t ...
, to become the BBC's part-time musical adviser from May 1923. Later in the same year, Pitt conducted the BBC's first broadcast symphony concert, which included Dvořák's ''
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
'' Symphony and works by Saint-Saëns,
Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
and Weber. Pitt expanded the regular eight-piece studio ensemble to form The Wireless Orchestra of 18 players, augmented to 37 for important broadcasts. The augmented "Wireless Orchestra" conducted by
Sir Landon Ronald Sir Landon Ronald (born Landon Ronald Russell) (7 June 1873 – 14 August 1938) was an English conductor, composer, pianist, teacher and administrator. In his early career he gained work as an accompanist and '' répétiteur'', but struggle ...
made its first commercial recording in July 1924 by the acoustical process for
HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
,
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
's ''
Rosamunde ''Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern'' (''Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus'') is a play by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an d ...
'' overture, which was issued in the following October. There was no thought at this stage that the BBC would maintain a full-scale symphonic orchestra of up to 100 players. With Reith's approval, Pitt engaged various orchestras for a BBC concert series in 1924 at the
Methodist Central Hall Westminster The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...
. Pitt and
Landon Ronald Sir Landon Ronald (born Landon Ronald Russell) (7 June 1873 – 14 August 1938) was an English conductor, composer, pianist, teacher and administrator. In his early career he gained work as an accompanist and '' répétiteur'', but struggle ...
conducted the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra; Eugene Goossens conducted the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
; and
Hamilton Harty Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a w ...
and Sir Edward Elgar conducted the orchestra of the
Royal Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...
. In 1924, the Wireless Orchestra, by then comprising 22 players, was contracted for six concerts a week. The following year, Pitt, by now working full-time for the BBC, as its director of music, augmented the ensemble to form the "Wireless Symphony Orchestra" for a new series of concerts broadcast from Covent Garden, conducted by
Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...
,
Ernest Ansermet Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor. Biography Ansermet ...
and Pierre Monteux;Kennedy, p. 138 at this time Reith also allowed Pitt and the Wireless Symphony Orchestra to contract with the
Columbia Graphophone Company Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a managemen ...
to make a substantial series of electrically recorded discs, most of which were recorded in the
Methodist Central Hall Westminster The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...
which the BBC had previously used for concerts. In 1927 the BBC and Covent Garden collaborated in a series of public concerts with an orchestra of 150 players under conductors including Richard Strauss and
Siegfried Wagner Siegfried Helferich Richard Wagner (6 June 18694 August 1930) was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930. Life Siegfried Wagner ...
. Although the orchestra was large, it was not good. The BBC attempted to stop its contracted players sending deputies to rehearsals and even to concerts, but was unsuccessful. In January 1928 ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...
'' protested: In 1927, the BBC took over the responsibility for the
Promenade Concerts The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
, widely known as "the Proms". At first
Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the The Proms, Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introd ...
, the founding conductor, persuaded the corporation to engage his Queen's Hall Orchestra for each Prom season; from 1930 onwards, the BBC provided the orchestra. The inadequacy of the BBC's players, and also of the established London orchestras, was shown up by the
Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
, under
Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...
, in two concerts in 1927. A historian of the
Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...
, Robert Elkin, writes, "At this period the standard of orchestral playing in London was distinctly low, and the well-drilled efficiency of the Berliners under their dynamic conductor came as something of a revelation." These, and later concerts by the same orchestra, gained plaudits from the public and music critics at the expense of the London orchestras. The chief music critic of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'',
Frank Howes Frank Stewart Howes (2 April 1891 – 28 September 1974) was an English music critic. From 1943 to 1960 he was chief music critic of ''The Times''. From his student days Howes gravitated towards criticism as his musical specialism, guided by the a ...
, later commented, "the British public ... was electrified when it heard the disciplined precision of the Berlin Philharmonic... This apparently was how an orchestra could, and, therefore, ought to sound". After the Berliners, London heard a succession of major foreign orchestras, including the Amsterdam
Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the "R ...
under
Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest s ...
and the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York under Arturo Toscanini. Among those determined that London should have a permanent orchestra of similar excellence were Reith and the conductor
Sir Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with th ...
. The latter aimed at setting up a first-rate ensemble for opera and concert performances and, though no admirer of broadcasting, he was willing to negotiate with the BBC if this gave him what he sought. Reith's concern was that the BBC should have a first-rate radio orchestra. The critic Richard Morrison writes:
Reith's BBC of the 1920s was ... imbued with an almost religious zeal for "enlightening" the public through the magical medium of the wireless. An orchestra, and particularly one that was unencumbered by commercial constraints and thus free to deliver the highest of highbrow programmes, would fit very well into that idealistic philosophy.
Landon Ronald brought Reith and Beecham together in April 1928; negotiations and preliminary arrangements continued for more than 18 months until it became clear that the corporation and the conductor had irreconcilable priorities for the proposed new ensemble. Beecham withdrew and, as described by Nicholas Kenyon:


Foundation

By the time Adrian Boult succeeded Pitt as director of music for the BBC, the violinist
Albert Sammons Albert Edward Sammons CBE (23 February 188624 August 1957) was an English violinist, composer and later violin teacher. Almost self-taught on the violin, he had a wide repertoire as both chamber musician and soloist, although his reputation res ...
and the violist
Lionel Tertis Lionel Tertis, CBE (29 December 187622 February 1975) was an English violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame and a noted teacher. Career Tertis was born in West Hartlepool, the son of Polish-Jewish immigra ...
had scouted for new talent around the country on behalf of the corporation. Twenty-seven players had been offered positions in the new orchestra. Among those who joined were Aubrey Brain, Arthur Catterall, Eugene Cruft, Sidonie Goossens, Lauri Kennedy and Frederick Thurston. Although many of the principals were stars recruited from the LSO,
the Hallé The Hallé is an English symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It supports a choir, youth choir, youth training choir, children's choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasiona ...
and other orchestras, a high proportion of the rank and file members were fresh from music colleges. Boult wrote, "a brilliant group of young and inexperienced players came to sit behind the well-known old stagers." A substantial number of the players performed at the 1930 Promenade Concerts under Wood, and the full BBC Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert on 22 October 1930, conducted by Boult at the Queen's Hall. The programme consisted of music by
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
,
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
, Saint-Saëns and
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
.Boult, p. 99 Of the 21 programmes in the orchestra's first season, Boult conducted nine and Wood five. The reviews of the new orchestra were enthusiastic. ''The Times'' wrote of its "virtuosity" and of Boult's "superb" conducting. ''The Musical Times'' commented, "The boast of the B.B.C. that it intended to get together a first-class orchestra was not an idle one", spoke of "exhilaration at the playing", and called another concert later in the season "an occasion for national pride". ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' called the playing "altogether magnificent". After the initial concerts Reith was told by his advisers that the orchestra had played better for Boult than anyone else. Reith asked him if he wished to take on the chief conductorship, and if so whether he would resign as director of music or occupy both posts simultaneously. Boult opted for the latter. During the 1930s, the orchestra became renowned for its high standard of playing and for performing new and unfamiliar music. The pioneering work of Boult and the BBC SO included an early performance of Schoenberg's ''Variations,'' Op. 31, British premieres, including
Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states * Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...
's ''
Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama '' Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at ...
'' and '' Three Movements from the Lyric Suite'', and world premieres, including Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 4 in F minor.
Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...
conducted eight BBC SO concerts between 1931 and 1936. During the 1930s the orchestra presented rarely heard large-scale works from the past, including Berlioz's ''
Grande Messe des morts The ''Grande Messe des morts'' (or Requiem), Op. 5, by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. The ''Grande Messe des Morts'' is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four ant ...
'' and '' Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale''.
Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
's Eighth and Ninth Symphonies, and
Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest Eng ...
's '' King Arthur''. The excellence of the orchestra attracted leading international conductors. In its second season guest conductors included Richard Strauss,
Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. ...
and Bruno Walter, followed, in later seasons, by Serge Koussevitzky, Beecham and Mengelberg. Arturo Toscanini, widely regarded at the time as the world's leading conductor, conducted the BBC SO in 1935 and later said that it was the finest he had ever directed. He returned to conduct the orchestra in 1937, 1938 and 1939, and declared, "This is the orchestra I would like to take round the world."


Second World War and postwar

On the outbreak of war in September 1939 the BBC put into effect its contingency plans to minimise disruption of broadcasting. The corporation withdrew from responsibility for the Proms, with which Wood went ahead, backed by the Royal Philharmonic Society, with the LSO replacing the BBC SO. The BBC SO was relocated from London to
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. More than 40 players were released for active service, including the 30 youngest members; the orchestra was reduced to a complement of 70, although it was increased to 90 later in the war. During 1940 and 1941 Bristol suffered devastation from German air-raids, and the BBC decided to move the orchestra again. In September 1941 the BBC SO took up residence in
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
, where it remained, giving live broadcasts and making recordings until it returned permanently to its London base at the BBC's BBC Maida Vale studios in 1945. The BBC resumed its support for the Proms in 1942, with the BBC SO returning temporarily to London during the Proms seasons of 1942–45. For the rest of the year, the orchestra played in the hall of Bedford School, and after the launch of the V-1 raids in 1944 the remaining broadcast concerts of that year's Proms season were performed at the
Bedford Corn Exchange Bedford Corn Exchange is an events and concert venue located on St Paul's Square in the Castle, Bedford, Castle area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. History of the Corn Exchange The building (constructed in 1874) was designed to be a concert ...
. Boult had striven to maintain the orchestra's standards and prestige during the war; as an instance of its prowess in the 1940s Kennedy cites an
HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...
recording of Elgar's Second Symphony released in January 1945: "a performance that blazed with excitement and passion and is documentary evidence of the excellence of the orchestra in 1944". With Reith long gone from the post of director-general, Boult found that the top management of the BBC was less concerned for the status of its Symphony Orchestra. The new director-general, Sir William Haley, was unwilling to approve the funding needed to keep the orchestra competitive with new rivals – Walter Legge's
Philharmonia The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, ...
and Beecham's
Royal Philharmonic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
. Some younger players felt that many BBC SO principals were past their best.
Steuart Wilson Sir James Steuart Wilson (21 July 1889 – 18 December 1966) was an English singer, known for tenor roles in oratorios and concerts in the first half of the 20th century. After the Second World War he was an administrator for several organ ...
, the new Director of Music who had previously been married to Boult's wife Ann, engineered Boult's retirement in 1950, Wilson had neglected to secure a successor of similar eminence to take over the orchestra. His efforts to recruit
Sir John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...
and
Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. Son of a well-known violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague, and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of ...
were unsuccessful, and he was obliged to offer the post to his third choice, Sir Malcolm Sargent, on whatever terms Sargent demanded.


1950s

Sargent, an immensely popular figure with the public, was not at all popular with orchestral players, because of what a historian of the Proms has called his "autocratic and ''prima-donna'' attitude towards orchestral players". He offended the BBC SO players by demanding that they all stand up when he came on to the platform – which they firmly declined to do. He rapidly became equally unpopular with the BBC music department, ignoring its agenda and pursuing his own.Cox, p. 164 He refused to join the staff of the BBC, and insisted on remaining a freelance, taking numerous external engagements to the detriment of his work with the BBC SO. A senior BBC manager wrote:
Except when a Barbirolli or a Kletzki has been in charge for a few days, the Orchestra is inferior, as an artistic instrument, to the Hallé or Philharmonia...
argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to ...
is indifferent to the morale and welfare of the Orchestra and to the individual temperaments of his players as artists or as human beings.
It did not help that Sargent was universally acknowledged to be at his finest in choral music. His reputation in big works for chorus and orchestra such as ''
The Dream of Gerontius ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment b ...
'', '' Hiawatha's Wedding Feast'' and ''
Belshazzar's Feast Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel), tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. A hand appears and ...
'' was unrivalled, and his large-scale performances of Handel oratorios were assured packed houses. However, his regular programming of such works did nothing to lift the spirits of the BBC SO: orchestral musicians regarded playing the instrumental accompaniment for large choirs as drudgery. In the 1950s, the BBC SO, in common with the rest of the BBC's musical organisation, suffered from stagnation. In the words of the critic Peter Heyworth, "the Corporation's music department had become a byword for its narrow-mindedness and lassitude". Boult had been followed as director of music by a series of successors between 1944 and 1959 who either lacked his commitment to modern music or were actively hostile to it. Richard Howgill, who held the post from 1952 to 1959, took the view that although Webern "might have been a small composer of some significance, Schoenberg wasn't really a composer at all." In addition to working under a conductor it disliked, the BBC SO found its role as a pioneer of progressive music gone, and its performances of the standard classics criticised as under-rehearsed (particularly during Proms seasons) compared with those given by Legge's Philharmonia and others. Sargent's contract was not renewed in 1957, although he continued as chief conductor of the Proms until his death ten years later. Howgill appointed Rudolf Schwarz as chief conductor of the BBC SO. Schwarz failed to restore orchestral standards to pre-war levels, and lacked Sargent's box-office appeal. Under Schwarz, BBC SO concerts other than the Proms drew poor houses – as low as 29 per cent of capacity in the 1959–60 season.Kenyon, p. 292 The manager of the Royal Festival Hall, Ernest Bean, spoke of "an inherited aura of mediocrity about BBC concerts which keeps people away". Schwarz's five-year contract was not renewed when it expired.


1960s to 1980s

In 1959, the BBC appointed
William Glock Sir William Frederick Glock, CBE (3 May 190828 June 2000) was a British music critic and musical administrator who was instrumental in introducing the Continental avant-garde, notably promoting the career of Pierre Boulez. Biography Glock was bo ...
as controller of music for the BBC. During Glock's tenure, the profile and fortunes of the BBC SO began to rise. Glock engaged
Antal Doráti Antal Doráti (, , ; 9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Antal Doráti was born in Budapest, where his father Alexander Doráti was a vi ...
as the orchestra's principal conductor. Heyworth judged that Doráti raised standards of playing and brought new vigour to the programmes in his four years in charge (1962–1966). Doráti was convinced that the orchestra was stultified by concentrating on studio broadcasts, as it did except during the Proms season. He strove to free players from "slavery to the microphone", and Glock promoted a regular series of concerts at the Festival Hall. The music critic Tom Sutcliffe later wrote that Doráti and his successors, Colin Davis (1967–71), Pierre Boulez (1971–75) and
Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (russian: Генна́дий Никола́евич Рожде́ственский; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. ...
(1978–81) had been partly successful in improving playing standards, but had not brought the orchestra up to its original level of distinction. By 1962, Glock had persuaded the BBC management to increase the orchestra's budget to allow for joint principals in the string sections, to attract top musicians who could play in the BBC SO without having to give up their solo or chamber careers. The following season, he was able to engage joint principals for the wind section, including as Jack Brymer and
Terence MacDonagh John Alfred Terence MacDonagh (3 February 1908 – 12 September 1986) was an English Oboe, oboist and cor anglais player, particularly known as one of the four members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's so-called "Royal Family" of woodwind pla ...
, formerly members of Beecham's celebrated "Royal Family" in the RPO. The problem remained that recruiting rank-and-file string players was difficult: although the BBC offered secure employment and a pension, it did not pay as well as its London rivals. After 1964, the BBC SO was the only one of the five London symphony orchestras that was not self-governed, and some musicians felt that the BBC SO's constitution as a body of salaried employees, with no say in the management or repertory of the orchestra, attracted an unadventurous type of player. A former member of the BBC SO said in 1979,
I felt I was getting too secure ... nthe BBC Symphony you can be a poor player, but if you're on time and never moan at the conductor … you'll have no trouble... I think the BBC Symphony lost some good young players because the management got their priorities wrong.
Glock was well known as a proponent of music of the Second Viennese School and their successors; earlier in his career he had been dismissed as music critic of ''The Observer'' for such views as "no great composer has ever cared how 'pleasant' his music sounds". Under his administration, the BBC SO gave world premieres of works by composers including Roberto Gerhard,
Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...
and
Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...
, and UK premieres of works by, among others,
Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
, Boulez and Edgard Varèse. The policy of commissioning works, and giving UK premieres of new compositions was continued under Glock's successors. World or UK premieres in the 1970s included works by
Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...
,
György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century ...
,
Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...
, Olivier Messiaen,
Luigi Nono Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music. Biography Early years Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...
, Arvo Pärt and
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...
. BBC commissions premiered by the BBC SO in the 1980s included
Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...
's Second Symphony,
Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...
's ''
Earth Dances ''Earth Dances'' is an orchestral work by British composer Harrison Birtwistle. Its title is part of a geological metaphor that is also found in the piece's structure: Birtwistle has divided the orchestra into six 'strata', whose changing relation ...
'', and
John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Song ...
's '' The Protecting Veil''. Although Glock restored the orchestra's reputation as Britain's leading modern music ensemble, the balance of programming affected the players' capacity in the mainstream repertoire. The principal horn,
Alan Civil Alan Civil OBE (13 June 1929 – 19 March 1989) was a British horn player. Civil began to play the horn at a young age, and joined the famous Royal Artillery Band and Orchestra at Woolwich, while still in his teens. He studied the instrument ...
, recalled: : "We did about eighty percent modern and twenty percent classical. The awful tragedy, for the orchestra, was that eventually we were not able to play the standard classics. We could sight-read the most fearsome contemporary piece, but a Brahms symphony – embarrassing!" The bassoon player William Waterhouse who joined the BBC SO from the LSO found the BBC's repertory refreshing, but the music making less impressive: " : There were no potboilers, but also, I'm afraid, no world-ranking soloists either." John Pritchard was principal conductor from 1982 to 1989. In ''The Times'', Paul Griffiths wrote: : "Sir John's seven-year period with the orchestra has been marked by growing orchestral confidence and many memorable performances." Principal guest conductors in the 1970s and 1980s included
Sir Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...
(1977–1979), Michael Gielen (1978–1981),
Günter Wand Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in Elberfeld, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near Bern, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a co ...
,
Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ba ...
(1982–1985) and
Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...
(1985–1988).


1990s and 21st century

Pritchard's successor was Andrew Davis, beginning in 1989. He held the post until 2000, the longest-serving chief conductor since Boult. He was at the helm for what John Allison in ''The Times'' called "the valuable Barbican weekends that each January investigate another major but not fully understood 20th-century composer." Noting that modern music was central to the work of Davis and the orchestra, Allison added that under Davis the orchestra took part in "once-in-a-lifetime projects such as
Anthony Payne Anthony Edward Payne (2 August 1936 – 30 April 2021) was an English composer, music critic and musicologist. He is best known for his acclaimed completion of Edward Elgar's third symphony, which subsequently gained wide acceptance into Elga ...
's completion of Elgar's Third Symphony." Upon Davis' departure, the orchestra appointed him its first conductor laureate.
Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...
succeeded Davis as chief conductor, from 2000 to 2004. His relationship with the players was reported to be uneasy, and his choice of repertoire received criticism. In February 2005,
Jiří Bělohlávek Jiří Bělohlávek, (; 24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasio ...
was named the orchestra's next chief conductor, effective with the 2006 Proms season. He was principal guest conductor of the orchestra from 1995 to 2000, and was the first past principal guest conductor of the orchestra to be named its chief conductor. The classical repertory was regarded as one of Bělohlávek's strengths, but he had no reputation for conducting new works, which remained a core part of the orchestra's remit. He welcomed the fact that the orchestra's new principal guest conductor was David Robertson, a new-music expert and a protégé of Boulez. The orchestra was seen by some as "a bolshie lot" and "grumpy", but its relations with Bělohlávek were harmonious. Under Bělohlávek the orchestra won glowing reviews: ''The Times'' referred to its "superb musicians", Michael Kennedy in ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'' referred to a "rich and opulent
core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the centra ...
magnificently played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra" under Bělohlávek, and another ''Telegraph'' critic praised the BBC SO's "virtuoso form". In addition to Bělohlávek, other principal guest conductors of the orchestra from this period included Alexander Lazarev (1992–1995) and Jukka-Pekka Saraste (2002–2005). In October 2011,
Sakari Oramo Sakari is a given name, and may refer to: * Sakari Kukko (born 1953), Finnish saxophonist and flutist * Sakari Kuosmanen (born 1956), Finnish singer and actor * Sakari Oramo (born 1965), Finnish conductor * Sakari Pinomäki, Finnish mechanical and ...
made his first guest conducting appearance with the BBC SO, his first guest-conducting engagement with any London orchestra. On the basis of this concert, in February 2012, Oramo was named the orchestra's 13th Chief Conductor, with an initial contract of 3 years, effective with the First Night of the 2013 Proms season. In September 2015, the BBC SO announced the extension of his contract to the 2019–2020 season. In May 2018, the BBCSO indicated a further extension of Oramo's contract through 2022. In October 2020, the BBC SO announced a further extension of Oramo's contract as chief conductor through September 2023, the scheduled conclusion of the 2023 Proms season. In April 2022, the BBC SO announced an additional extension of Oramo's contract as chief conductor through the close of the 2025–2026 season. In August 2012, the BBC SO announced the appointment of Semyon Bychkov to a newly created conducting post with the orchestra, the Günter Wand Conducting Chair. In January 2019, the BBC SO announced the appointment of Dalia Stasevska as its next principal guest conductor, the first woman ever to be named to the post and the second female conductor ever to be given a titled post with a BBC orchestra.


Function in the 21st century

The BBC SO is the associate orchestra of the Barbican Centre in London, where it gives an annual season of concerts. These seasons include series of concerts devoted to individual modern composers, who have included John Cage,
James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...
, Elliott Carter, Sofia Gubaidulina, Michael Tippett, George Benjamin,
Roberto Carnevale Roberto Carnevale (born 15 June 1966) is an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. Biography and career Born in Catania, he started studying piano at the age of seven. He took a degree in Arts at the University of Catania and he attended th ...
and
Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), '' ...
."A profile of the BBC Symphony Orchestra"
BBC Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 1 August 2012 The orchestra remains the principal orchestra of the Proms, giving about a dozen concerts each season, including the first and last nights. Most of its concerts are broadcast on BBC Radio 3, streamed online and available as podcasts for a month after broadcast, and a number are televised: the orchestra's website claims that this gives the BBC "the highest broadcast profile of any UK orchestra". The orchestra continues to make studio recordings for Radio 3 at the Maida Vale studios; some recording sessions are free for the public to attend. In common with other orchestras, the BBC SO engages in educational work. According to the orchestra's website: "Among ongoing projects are the BBC SO Family Music Intro scheme, introducing families to live classical music, BBC SO Student Zone and the highly successful BBC SO Family Orchestra, alongside work in local schools. Total Immersion composer events also provide rich material for education work.""Biography"
BBC Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 1 August 2012 In 2000, the orchestra appointed its first associate composer,
Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...
.
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
became the BBC Symphony Orchestra's artist in association in June 2003. The composer and conductor
Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer and conductor. Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ...
took up the post of artist-in-association in July 2009. The orchestra's commitment to new music continues. In 2013, the music journalist
Tom Service Tom Service (born 8 March 1976) is a British writer, music journalist and television and radio presenter, who has written regularly for ''The Guardian'' since 1999 and presented on BBC Radio 3 since 2001. He is a regular presenter of The Proms f ...
wrote, "I've heard the BBC Symphony give concerts that I don't think any other orchestra in the world could do as brilliantly … That supreme virtuosity in new music makes them unique among London's big orchestras."


Recordings

From their first years the BBC SO and its predecessor the BBC Wireless SO were active in commercial recording studios. Under Percy Pitt the Wireless SO recorded mostly shorter works and some that were abridged, but represented composers as diverse as Glazunov, Tchaikovsky (the entire ''
Nutcracker Suite ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
'' on six 78 rpm sides, for instance), Mendelssohn, Wolf-Ferrari, Puccini, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rossini, and Grieg, as well as a few recordings with the BBC Wireless Singers directed by
Stanford Robinson Stanford Robinson OBE (5 July 190425 October 1984) was an English conductor and composer, known for his work with the BBC. He remained a member of the BBC's staff until his retirement in 1966, founding or building up the organisation's choral g ...
. Under Boult the BBC Symphony Orchestra recorded a wide range of music from Bach to Mozart and Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner and Elgar. In the 1950s and 1960s it recorded a range of music with Sargent, mostly British but with several Sibelius discs in addition. With Doráti the orchestra made recordings of works by Bartók, Gerhard and Messiaen. Under Colin Davis it made its first opera sets: Mozart's ''
Idomeneo ' (Italian for '' Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', K. 366) is an Italian language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a Frenc ...
'' and '' The Marriage of Figaro'', and Berlioz's '' Benvenuto Cellini'', as well as works by Beethoven and Tippett. Under Boulez the orchestra recorded mostly twentieth century music – works by Bartók, Berg, Schoenberg and Boulez himself – and also Berlioz.Kenyon pp. 499–507 Andrew Davis has recorded extensively with the orchestra for the Teldec label and others. Under Bělohlávek the orchestra has recorded Martinů's complete symphonies, and also his '' The Epic of Gilgamesh''."The Epic of Gilgamesh"
WorldCat. Retrieved 1 August 2012 With guest conductors, the BBC SO has recorded Elgar and Vaughan Williams under the composers, Beethoven under Toscanini, Bruno Walter and Barbirolli, and Sibelius under Beecham and Koussevitsky.


See also

*
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional r ...


Notes and references


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*BBC Symphony Orchestr
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Symphony Orchestra Barbican Estate British symphony orchestras EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists London orchestras Musical groups established in 1930 Radio and television orchestras 1930 establishments in the United Kingdom Oehms Classics artists Erato Records artists Symphony Orchestra