A Brief History of the London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) was founded in 1904 as the first British musical ensemble to be owned entirely by its member-players.
The ensemble was organized as a limited company, and its musicians are all individual shareholders.
This reputation for independence has continued to be one of the orchestra's endearing hallmarks, especially since many "national" orchestras of other European nations are government-owned and consequently federally controlled.
The LSO has accumulated a number of musical "firsts" for Great Britain, including the first British orchestra to perform outside the country -- it played in Paris in 1906 -- and the first to appear in the United States [1912].
The ensemble actually had tickets to sail on the Titanic to begin this particular American tour but was forced to alter its plans at a late date.
It became the first British orchestra to appear in South Africa [1956], the first to visit Japan [1962], and the first to be invited to perform at the Salzburg Festival in Austria [1973].
The list of names to have conducted the LSO over the years is a veritable Who's Who of the podium.
Many of the orchestra's British-born conductors and/or music directors have gone on to earn knighthoods, including Edward Elgar, Thomas Beecham, Adrian Boult, John Barbirolli, Hamilton Harty, and Henry Wood.
In recent years, two highly influential directors have led from the podium: Michael Tilson Thomas [1987-1995] and Colin Davis [1995-2006].
Even after their departure from active conducting, each has remained an integral part of the organization.
Davis is currently the president of the LSO, while Thomas is one of two principal guest conductors.
Russian Valery Gergiev has been the orchestra's principal conductor since 2007.
The Barbican Centre, the largest center for the performing arts in all of Europe, is the official home of the London Symphony Orchestra.
This facility is situated on London's north side and was built in 1982 at a cost of £161 million.
Barbican Hall, the largest single venue within the complex, boasts a capacity of 1,949 concertgoers.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra performs here as well.
Down through the years, the orchestra has enjoyed a very high recording profile -- not only of concertos and symphonies, but for a wide range of film scores as well.
The LSO logged its first recording in June 1913, a performance of Beethoven's Egmont Overture for HMV at their Hayes Studios.
Since then, the orchestra has earned the title of World's Most Recorded Orchestra; given its continued impetus within this realm, the ensemble should retain that crown well into the 21st century.
Among its most famous contributions to the motion picture industry are musical scores for all of the Star Wars movies, with compositions by John Williams.
Another famous collaboration with the prolific Williams was the orchestra's recording of the score for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was released in 2002.
In 2000, the London Symphony launched its own recording company, LSO Live, and continues to release CDs on that label.
The orchestra has also been very successful on iTunes, where its version of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings has been a big hit with consumers.
The ensemble was organized as a limited company, and its musicians are all individual shareholders.
This reputation for independence has continued to be one of the orchestra's endearing hallmarks, especially since many "national" orchestras of other European nations are government-owned and consequently federally controlled.
The LSO has accumulated a number of musical "firsts" for Great Britain, including the first British orchestra to perform outside the country -- it played in Paris in 1906 -- and the first to appear in the United States [1912].
The ensemble actually had tickets to sail on the Titanic to begin this particular American tour but was forced to alter its plans at a late date.
It became the first British orchestra to appear in South Africa [1956], the first to visit Japan [1962], and the first to be invited to perform at the Salzburg Festival in Austria [1973].
The list of names to have conducted the LSO over the years is a veritable Who's Who of the podium.
Many of the orchestra's British-born conductors and/or music directors have gone on to earn knighthoods, including Edward Elgar, Thomas Beecham, Adrian Boult, John Barbirolli, Hamilton Harty, and Henry Wood.
In recent years, two highly influential directors have led from the podium: Michael Tilson Thomas [1987-1995] and Colin Davis [1995-2006].
Even after their departure from active conducting, each has remained an integral part of the organization.
Davis is currently the president of the LSO, while Thomas is one of two principal guest conductors.
Russian Valery Gergiev has been the orchestra's principal conductor since 2007.
The Barbican Centre, the largest center for the performing arts in all of Europe, is the official home of the London Symphony Orchestra.
This facility is situated on London's north side and was built in 1982 at a cost of £161 million.
Barbican Hall, the largest single venue within the complex, boasts a capacity of 1,949 concertgoers.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra performs here as well.
Down through the years, the orchestra has enjoyed a very high recording profile -- not only of concertos and symphonies, but for a wide range of film scores as well.
The LSO logged its first recording in June 1913, a performance of Beethoven's Egmont Overture for HMV at their Hayes Studios.
Since then, the orchestra has earned the title of World's Most Recorded Orchestra; given its continued impetus within this realm, the ensemble should retain that crown well into the 21st century.
Among its most famous contributions to the motion picture industry are musical scores for all of the Star Wars movies, with compositions by John Williams.
Another famous collaboration with the prolific Williams was the orchestra's recording of the score for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which was released in 2002.
In 2000, the London Symphony launched its own recording company, LSO Live, and continues to release CDs on that label.
The orchestra has also been very successful on iTunes, where its version of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings has been a big hit with consumers.
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