The New Birmingham Orchestra, sometimes called simply the Birmingham Orchestra, [1] was a professional symphony orchestra established by Thomas Beecham and based in Birmingham, England between 1917 and 1919. [2] Although it was short-lived, it was succeeded the year after its dissolution by what is now the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, which was run in its early days by many of the same individuals. [3]
The New Birmingham Orchestra owed its foundation to three influential Birmingham citizens who believed that the city needed an official, publicly funded professional symphony orchestra to replace the competing orchestral enterprises that had dominated the city's music since the demise of George Halford's Orchestra in 1907. [4] Granville Bantock had succeeded Edward Elgar as Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham and had been involved in promoting orchestral concerts in the city since 1907. [5] Ernest Newman was the music critic of the Birmingham Post and had written as early as 1913 that the system of financial guarantees from wealthy backers that had sustained Birmingham's orchestras through the 19th century had become discredited. [6] Neville Chamberlain was Lord Mayor of Birmingham from 1916 to 1918. [7] A genuine music-lover, [6] he wrote "I shall be really pleased if I can get something done for music, because it is the one thing I always had in mind to attempt if I ever did become Lord Mayor". [8] Chamberlain believed that a new orchestra could be funded with a combination of an endowment fund and a contribution from the municipal rates – a revolutionary idea for a British politician – but that such a plan would be unlikely to be successful until the end of the war. [9]
Chamberlain, Bantock and Newman set themselves up as the "Midland Concert Promotors' Association" to develop plans for an orchestra, and set up a working party to investigate details of such a scheme. [6] At this time Thomas Beecham was the most powerful figure in British music [9] and all three all agreed he would be the best person to direct a new orchestra. [10] On 26 September 1916 a meeting was held to which Beecham was invited, later claiming that "All the trite sentiments ever uttered upon such a subject anywhere since life began were rolled out by one speaker after another .... but of any idea how to put it into practical operation there was little evidence". [11] Although Chamberlain felt that the establishment of a high quality orchestra would need a financial contribution from the city that wouldn't be possible until after the war, Beecham disagreed and offered to set up an orchestra himself. [9]
Beecham invited the leaders of every choral society in the local area to a meeting, where they agreed to use his planned orchestra to support their concerts as long as the expense was no greater than engaging freelance musicians. [12] On 2 March 1917 Beecham formally offered to provide the Midlands Concert Promotors' Association with a permanent local orchestra for an initial period of three years [13] and as no municipal scheme was likely while the war continued he was asked to proceed. [11]
Beecham did not have time to recruit or train the orchestra so delegated the task to Eugene Goossens. [14] Wartime conscription had reduced the pool of high-quality players available in the Birmingham area, so some positions remained unfilled and had to be occupied for concerts by players from London. [14] The orchestra scheduled nine Symphony concerts on Wednesday evenings – three each to be conducted by Beecham, Henry Wood and Landon Ronald – together with 10 concerts of popular classics on Sunday evenings. [13] The symphony concerts had adventurous programmes including works by Frederick Delius, Igor Stravinsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Édouard Lalo, and performances by prestigious soloists including Benno Moiseiwitsch, Arthur De Greef and Albert Sammons. [13] Nearly 60 other concerts for promoters throughout the Midlands were also performed by the orchestra in its first year. [8]
Beecham conducted the first concert on 10 October 1917, to enthusiastic reviews from Ernest Newman in the Birmingham Post but with a worryingly large number of empty seats. [14] The orchestra's second concert under Henry Wood two weeks later was felt by Newman to "not have the electric quality" of the earlier one. [14] With Beecham conducting only three of the nine concerts himself he was not able to develop a personally loyal audience. [14]
Beecham later recalled that he not made "more than a reasonable loss" on the first season and was expecting financial support from Lady Cunard to help the enterprise continue. [8] A second season of concerts took place in 1918–1919, but had to be moved to the Central Hall in Corporation Street after the Town Hall was requisitioned by the government for wartime purposes. [2] Although audiences in the new venue were very healthy, [15] the orchestra couldn't continue without a financial contribution from Beecham, who at this point was insolvent after a disastrous involvement in a property deal in Covent Garden in London. [16] With the orchestra's predicament compounded by the loss of its primary performance venue the city refused to intervene to save it and the orchestra was abruptly dissolved. [8]
Despite the demise of Beecham's orchestra, in March 1919 Bantock submitted a new proposal to Birmingham City Council for the establishment of what became the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. [17]
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH 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 the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor.
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its administrative and rehearsal base is at the nearby CBSO Centre, where it also presents chamber concerts by members of the orchestra and guest performers.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra 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 of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
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 Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services. The LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset the LSO was organised on co-operative lines, with all players sharing the profits at the end of each season. This practice continued for the orchestra's first four decades.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works.
Sir Henry Joseph Wood was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundreds of new works to British audiences. After his death, the concerts were officially renamed in his honour as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts", although they continued to be generally referred to as "the Proms".
Sir Granville Ransome Bantock was a British composer of classical music.
The Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was a professional symphony orchestra based in Birmingham, England between 1906 and 1918.
Joseph Charles Holbrooke was an English composer, conductor, and pianist.
Thomas Appleby Matthews was an English conductor and organist.
Albert Edward Sammons CBE 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 rests mainly on his association with British composers, especially Elgar. He made a number of recordings over 40 years, many of which have been re-issued on CD.
Julius Allan Greenway Harrison was an English composer and conductor who was particularly known for his interpretation of operatic works. Born in Lower Mitton, Stourport in Worcestershire, by the age of 16 he was already an established musician. His career included a directorship of opera at the Royal Academy of Music where he was a professor of composition, a position as répétiteur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conductor for the British National Opera Company, military service as an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, and founder member and vice-president of the Elgar Society.
Classical music in Birmingham began in the late Middle Ages, mainly devotional music which did not survive the Reformation. Evidence is scant until the years following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, when Birmingham's economy boomed. This was reflected in the scientific and cultural awakening known as the Midlands Enlightenment. The first sign of this transformation was the opening of the baroque St Philip's Church in 1715, which had a fine organ that attracted gifted musicians to the town.
George Halford's Orchestra was a professional symphony orchestra based in Birmingham, England from 1897 to 1907 and an important precursor of the later City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
George John Halford was an English pianist, organist, composer and conductor.
The British Symphony Orchestra is the name of a number of symphony orchestras, active in both concert halls and recording studios, which have existed at various times in Britain since c1905 until the present day.
William Stockley's Orchestra was a symphony orchestra based in Birmingham, England from 1856 to 1899. It was the first permanent orchestra formed of local musicians to be established in the town, in contrast to the earlier Birmingham Festival Orchestra, which consisted largely of outside musicians and only performed during the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival.
This is a summary of 1920 in music in the United Kingdom.
Harold Charles Gray was an English conductor, choirmaster, pianist and organist who served as Associate Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1932 until 1979. He was also the Principal Conductor of the Carl Rosa Opera Company from 1943 to 1946, Director of Music at Holy Trinity Church, Sutton Coldfield for 50 years until 1981, and conductor of the Birmingham Choral Union for 20 years until 1975.