History of the society and orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

1 history of society , orchestra

1.1 19th century
1.2 1900–1939
1.3 second world war
1.4 late 1940s–1960s
1.5 1970s–present day

history of society , orchestra
19th century

the society has origins in group of music amateurs in 19th century. had met during 1830s in st martin s church under leadership of william sudlow, stockbroker , organist; main interest choral music. society established liverpool philharmonic society on 10 january 1840 object of promoting science , practice of music ; orchestra consisted largely of amateur players. society second of kind established, first being london-based royal philharmonic society orchestra disbanded in 1932.

the organisation founded rich , élite members of liverpool society, pleasure of moneyed merchant class in town . first concert given on 12 march 1840 in room @ of dance academy in great richmond street , conducted john russell william sudlow organist. programme consisted of 13 short orchestral , choral pieces, including works auber, rossini, spohr, henry bishop, , george onslow, , madrigals thomas morley , john wilbye. society outgrew room , gave performances in hall of collegiate institution in shaw street. in 1843 society appointed first principal conductor, swiss-born j. zeugheer herrmann, continued in role until death in 1865. during following year, orchestra performed first symphonies, haydn s no. 99 , beethoven s first.

interior of first philharmonic hall, 1849

in 1844 society appointed liverpool architect john cunningham prepare plans concert hall situated @ junction of hope street , myrtle street. contain audience of 2,100 , orchestra of 250. raise money building, shares issued , members of liverpool society invited buy seats in boxes included in hall. foundation stone laid in 1846 , construction began following year. in 1847 society invited felix mendelssohn compose cantata based on words milton s comus celebrate opening of hall. mendelssohn died before carried out. hall cost £30,000 (£2.86 million of 2017) , formally opened on 27 august 1849. first concert performed orchestra of 96 , choir of on 200; performers @ concert included 3 future conductors of orchestra, alfred mellon, julius benedict , charles hallé. organist w. t. best. hall not full first performance; attributed 2 factors, high price of admission, , fear building, without central supporting pillars, unsafe.

problems arose. in 1850 choir formed liverpool philharmonic auxiliary society , in conflict conductor. herrmann offered resignation, not accepted. 1852 financial problems of society deteriorating. membership exclusive , not seats on offer had been taken up. suggestions conditions membership should relaxed refused. in 1852 society widened activities music arranging theatrical performances, including charles dickens company , appearance william makepeace thackeray. in 1855 discovered william sudlow, honorary secretary had been stealing money society; amount of more £2,424 (£210 thousand of 2017) had been embezzled. sudlow resigned society. replaced paid secretary; post given henry sudlow, distant relative of william. henry serve society 30 years no similar problem. prominent performers appearing society in 1856 jenny lind, clara schumann , charles hallé. dickens returned in 1858 , during year society able pay off mortgage on hall.

liverpool philharmonic conductors, 1867–1913: clockwise top left: benedict, bruch, hallé , cowen

by 1865 hermann s health deteriorating , new principal conductor, alfred mellon, appointed in september. mellon died 18 months later, , replaced julius benedict, remained in post until 1880, when eyesight deteriorating. while benedict principal conductor, society flourished both artistically , financially. did not continue during tenure of next principal conductor, despite later fame. max bruch appointed on 23 february 1880 , served less 3 years. during time experienced conflict committee of society , complained behaviour of audience. resigned in january 1883 @ time standards of orchestra , choir had deteriorated, , members of committee disagreeing each other. person appointed sort out charles hallé had time established hallé orchestra in manchester. hallé continued principal conductor until death in 1895. during time orchestra , choir flourished. appeared society during time included paderewski, hubert parry, nellie melba, , clara butt. in 1883 secretary, henry sudlow, died; replaced george broadbent.

1900–1939

the next principal conductor frederic cowen remained in post until 1913. during time more romantic music played, including works elgar, , not popular audiences. although society continued exclusive, there criticism behaviour of members during concerts. performers appeared during time fritz kreisler, , rachmaninoff, latter playing third piano concerto , conducting other works @ concert in 1911. after resignation of frederic cowen, society did not appoint principal conductor until 1942.

bruno walter , teenage prodigy yehudi menuhin, 1931

during period orchestra conducted series of guest conductors, included wilhelm furtwängler, george szell, pierre monteux, serge koussevitzky, , bruno walter. soloists included pablo casals, john mccormack, elisabeth schumann, yehudi menuhin (his first appearance @ age of 15), solomon, benno moiseiwitsch, , maggie teyte. british conductors have major influence on orchestra during time sir henry wood , sir thomas beecham. during 1930s there concern deteriorating financial situation of society. there problem in filling seats , suggested rule of wearing evening dress @ concerts should relaxed; turned down.

disaster struck society on 5 july 1933 when philharmonic hall destroyed fire. concerts held in central hall until new hall built; larger scale works performed in st george s hall. considerable discussion took place financing , design of new hall. decided society pay without city corporation. herbert j. rowse appointed architect , designed hall in art deco style; cost little on £120,000 (£6.83 million of 2017). sir thomas beecham conducted opening concert on 20 june 1939. incorporated in hall organ built rushworth , dreaper, pipework being decorative feature @ rear of orchestra platform. organ console rises beneath, , built on turntable, allowing organist face audience , conductor, or choir. console fitted wheels , can played anywhere on platform. waldurdaw rising cinema screen housed under platform.

second world war

after outbreak of second world war there pressure suspend orchestra s concerts. chairman of management committee, david webster, resisted it, insisting music essential morale-booster. set low-priced concerts factory workers , members of armed forces. pre-war rule insisting audiences wear formal evening dress abolished. webster recruited malcolm sargent chief conductor; though not loved orchestral players sargent immensely popular paying public. guest conductors included sir henry wood , charles münch.

wartime disbanding of other orchestras enabled webster , sargent recruit leading players such anthony pini , reginald kell, result few years liverpool philharmonic had strong claim finest orchestra in country. during webster s period chairman, orchestra increased concerts 32 year 148 and, in 1942, became permanent body first time. until philharmonic not permanent ensemble, comprised nucleus of local players augmented pool of musicians played hallé , latterly bbc northern orchestra. during autumn , winter months orchestra gave no more 1 concert in fortnight. hallé, operated on similar ad hoc basis, followed liverpool s example following year , became permanent ensemble first time, under john barbirolli.

the financial situation of society improved in 1942 when local authority, liverpool city corporation, bought freehold of hall £35,000; corporation undertook pay society annuity of £4,000 , allow free use of hall provided gave agreed number of concerts each year, , maintained permanent orchestra. society agreed promote musical education in , around liverpool. in sargent s first season, orchestra made first recording, first broadcast, , gave first school children s concert. under him there spectacular explosion in number of concerts , recording sessions performed. in 1944 orchestra made first appearance in london, performing @ royal albert hall. times commented, if liverpool felt qualms letting orchestra, accustomed perfect acoustics of own hall, try fortunes in rough , tumble of albert hall, have been silenced, apparent … ensemble , congruity of tone-colouring london in less fortunate conditions can envy . sargent , orchestra gave british premieres of tippett s first symphony, , bartók s concerto orchestra and, in october 1946, concert première of britten s young person s guide orchestra. guest conductors in immediate postwar years included beecham, sir adrian boult, young charles groves, , karl rankl, made impression appointed musical director of covent garden opera company.

late 1940s–1960s

in 1948 sargent resigned principal conductor. successor, hugo rignold, had difficult time, partly because of background jazz , dance band player. however, served in post 6 years , left in 1954 enhanced reputation. 1955 society had joint principal conductors, john pritchard , efrem kurtz. latter resigned in 1957 , pritchard continued sole principal conductor until 1963.

in 1957 society , orchestra granted royal status , authorised include word in title. following year queen became patron of orchestra. in 1958 society instigated competition young conductors. first winner zubin mehta. under pritchard s successor competition became seminar young conductors, in participants included andrew davis, mark elder, john eliot gardiner, james judd , barry wordsworth. pritchard champion of contemporary music , of david lloyd-jones introduced series of concerts known musica viva showcasing new compositions. during pritchard s time, society commissioned walton write second symphony, received première @ edinburgh festival in 1960. pritchard succeeded charles groves, served principal conductor 14 years until resigned in 1977. groves helped maintain high standards of orchestra , encouraged work of modern composers. first english conductor direct full cycle of mahler s symphonies. orchestra undertook first overseas tour in 1966, playing in germany , switzerland. in 1968 groves conducted performance of messiaen s turangalîla symphony, in presence of composer, messiaen s wife, yvonne loriod, playing concertante piano part.

1970s–present day

after groves fourteen years tenure principal conductor, each of 3 successors remained in post shorter periods; walter weller 1977 1980, david atherton 1980 1983 , marek janowski 1983 1987. in 1983 edward cowie made composer in residence, first such appointment major british orchestra. musically society entering period of greater security appointment in 1987 of libor pešek principal conductor. pešek remained in post ten years , during time standards , popularity of orchestra improved. in pešek s first season, director of society, stephen gray, retired after 23 years in post. occasion marked concert @ groves, weller, atherton, janowski, pešek , former associate conductor, simon rattle, conducted. in 1990 society celebrated 150th anniversary of foundation. in 1990–91 season, among works performed new society paul mccartney s liverpool concerto, conducted in liverpool cathedral carl davis. in 1992 rear extension added hall. during following year, while on tour, orchestra first non-czech orchestra perform opening concert in prague spring festival.

the hall refurbished in 1995 @ cost of £10.3 million; during time concerts performed in liverpool cathedral. part of refurbishment, curving interior, had been constructed in fibrous plaster, replaced concrete. in 1997 libor pešek resigned principal conductor , given title of conductor laureate. succeeded petr altrichter continued in post until 2001, being followed gerard schwarz. schwarz resigned in 2006 , place principal conductor taken young russian vasily petrenko. @ time of appointment aged 29 , youngest conductor have held post. in 2006 society entered sponsorship agreement radio music station classic fm. station s first arts partner , orchestra given title of classic fm orchestra in north west england. result of partnership, concerts of more popular , accessible pieces classical repertoire played, , radio station broadcasts of these concerts. start of 2008, station had broadcast 25 concerts, , contract partnership has been extended 2012. in 2008 liverpool european capital of culture , society played major role in events performed part of celebration. in 2009, petrenko s title changed principal conductor chief conductor, , extended contract society until 2015.

on 12 march 2015 orchestra celebrated 175th anniversary special concert, first of series of special events.