The London Symphony on stage (and screen)

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1904, the London Symphony gave its first concert at the old Queen’s Hall in London. Founded as a musician-run ensemble, along co-operative lines, back then all its players shared the profits at the end of each season.

So, from the start, the LSO had to be entrepreneurial: it made some of the first acoustic recordings of major orchestral works, and in the era of silent movies, played in a London theater pit for major films of the day. By the 1930s, they were recording musical scores for early British sound films as well.

One famous film score venture occurred in 1946, for a British movie entitled “The Instruments of the Orchestra,” in which the LSO itself played a starring role, performing Benjamin Britten's “The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra” -- a work specially-composed for the film.

But the LSO’s best-known film score recording dates from 1977. It was then that the LSO that recorded the John Williams score for the first of the “Star Wars” movies. The score became an instant classic, and the LSO became the “go-to” orchestra for John Williams film scores, including “Superman,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and Harry Potter.

Speaking of “titanically” successful films, in 1912, the LSO arranged a North American tour and was booked to sail on a brand-new ocean liner named the Titanic. At the last minute, their tour schedule had to be changed, and – fortunately -- they sailed on a liner named the Baltic instead!

Music Played in Today's Program

Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976) Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra London Symphony; Benjamin Britten, cond. London/Decca CD 417 509

John Williams (b. 1932) “Star Wars” Main Title London Symphony; John Williams, cond. RSO CD 6641-679 (and other CD reissues)

On This Day

Births

• 1810 - German composer and conductor Otto Nicolai, in Königsberg (Kaliningrad);

• 1865 - French composer Alberic Magnard, in Paris; He was killed by German soldiers while defending his home in Baron, Oise, on Sept. 3, 1914;

• 1865 - Danish composer Carl Nielsen, in Sortelung, near Norre Lyndelse, Funen;

• 1891 - American composer Cole Porter, in Peru, Ind.;

• 1912 - German-born American composer and pianist, Ingolf Dahl, in Hamburg;

• 1938 - American composer Charles Wuorinen, in New York;

Deaths

• 1656 - burial date of English composer Thomas Tomkins, age c. 84, in the village of Martin Hussingtree, near Worcester;

Premieres

• 1860 - R. Schumann: Cello Concerto, posthumously, by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, at a concert commemorating the late composer's 50th birthday anniversary (see June 8), with soloist Ludwig Ebert;

• 1902 - Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in Krefeld, Germany, at the Festival of the Allgemeiner Deutsche Musikverein, with the composer conducting;

• 1912 - At the home of L. Láloy in Bellevue, Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky perform a four-hand piano version of the latter’s new ballet score for “The Rite of Spring,” which the Ballet Russe would premiere the following year in Paris (May 29, 1913);

• 1939 - Bax: Symphony No. 7 (dedicated to the American people), at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic, with Sir Adrian Boult conducting; This work was commissioned by the British Council as part of the British Exhibition at 1939 World's Fair;

• 1940 - Copland: "Our Town" orchestral suite (from the film score), on a CBS radio broadcast; A revised version of the suite was given its first public performance by the Boston Pops conducted by Leonard Bernstein on May 7, 1944;

• 1951 - Haydn: opera "Orpheus and Eurydice," posthumously, in Florence at the Teatro della Pergola; Haydn composed this opera in 1791 for performance in London, but the work was never staged in his lifetime;

• 1966 - Britten: church opera "The Burning Fiery Furnace," in Orford Church, near Aldeburgh;

Others

• 1840 - Franz Liszt gives a solo performance at the Hanover Square Rooms in London billed as "Recitals"; This was the first time the term "recital" was used to describe a public musical performance, and it caused much discussion and debate at the time; Liszt is credited with both inventing and naming the now-common solo piano "recital";

• 1904 - The London Symphony gives its first concert, with Hans Richter conducting;

• 1912 - At the home of L. Láloy in Bellevue, Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky perform a four-hand piano version of the latter's new ballet score for "The Rite of Spring," which the Ballet Russe would premiere the following year in Paris (see May 29, 1913);

• 1968 - Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in the "Adagietto" movement from Mahler's Symphony No. 5 at a memorial concert for Robert Kennedy at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.