BBC Symphony Orchestra
File:BBCSO Logo.jpg
Background information
Also known as BBCSO
Origin London, England, United Kingdom
Genres Classical
Occupations Symphony orchestra
Years active 1946–present
Associated acts BBC Symphony Chorus
Website Official website
Members
Chief Conductor
Jiří Bělohlávek
Principal Guest Conductor
David Robertson
Conductor Laureate
Andrew Davis
Artist-in-Association
John Adams
Chorus Director
Stephen Jackson
Past members
Founder
Adrian Boult

The BBC Symphony Orchestra is a British radio orchestra based in London. It is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Contents

History [link]

The BBC had started broadcasting with ensembles using its institutional name (or variants) almost from its beginning in 1922, the first such group being the "2LO Military Band" in 1923. The "Wireless Orchestra" was formed the following year under conductors Landon Ronald and Dan Godfrey, the latter becoming the orchestra's first permanent conductor. In 1926 the conductorship went to the BBC's Director of Music Percy Pitt, and the ensemble went under several names, notably the "BBC Wireless Symphony Orchestra" or the "British Broadcasting Corporation's Wireless Symphony Orchestra," under which names it recorded for Columbia Records. Upon Pitt's retirement in 1930 the orchestra became a full time organisation as the "BBC Symphony Orchestra," with Adrian Boult as its first chief conductor. He remained chief conductor until 1950, when Malcolm Sargent took over (holding the post until 1957). Other principal conductors have included Antal Doráti (1962–66), Colin Davis (1967–71), Pierre Boulez (1971–75), Gennady Rozhdestvensky (1978–81) Andrew Davis (no relation to Colin) (1989–2000), and Leonard Slatkin (2000–2004). In 2005, the Czech conductor, Jiří Bělohlávek was named the orchestra's 12th Chief Conductor, the first former BBC SO Principal Guest Conductor to become its Chief Conductor. He became Chief Conductor in 2006 with the First Night of The Proms 2006.[1] Bělohlávek is scheduled to conclude his chief conductorship after the conclusion of the 2012 Proms season, and to take the title of Conductor Laureate.[2] [3] In February 2012, the BBC SO announced the appointment of Sakari Oramo as its 13th Chief Conductor, as of the 2013 Proms season, with an initial contract of 3 years. Oramo is to hold the title of Chief Conductor Designate for the 2012-2013 season.[4] [5] [6]

As well as these principal conductors, the orchestra has had several notable guest conductors, including Arturo Toscanini, who made a series of commercial recordings with the orchestra in Queen's Hall from 1937 to 1939, which were released by His Master's Voice in the UK and RCA Victor in the US. EMI later issued recordings of broadcast concerts with Toscanini and the orchestra. Past Principal Guest Conductors have included Charles Mackerras (1977–1979), Michael Gielen (1978–1981), Günter Wand, Mark Elder (1982–1985), Peter Eötvös (1985–1988), Alexander Lazarev (1992–1995), Bělohlávek (1995–2000), and Jukka-Pekka Saraste (2002–2005). The current Principal Guest Conductor is the American conductor David Robertson, since October 2005.

The orchestra primarily performed in Queen's Hall until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, curtailing that year's season of Proms. The orchestra was then evacuated to Bristol, where it was initially left largely unused. Due to Bristol's strategic status as a port it suffered heavy bombing, so the orchestra was relocated to Bedford in July 1941. The 1940 and 1941 Proms seasons were run without BBC involvement, but the BBC returned in 1942. The Queen's Hall was destroyed by a Luftwaffe incendiary bomb on 11 May 1941, prompting the move of the Proms to their current location in the Royal Albert Hall. Outside the Proms season, broadcast concerts and recordings were then moved to the 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.[7] A memorable 1944 recording of Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, was later reissued on CD by EMI, along with shorter works of Elgar recorded during the 1930s in Queen's Hall.

The BBC SO is Associate Orchestra of the Barbican in London and gives an annual season of concerts there. The orchestra is the principal orchestra of The Proms, the annual season of concerts played at the Royal Albert Hall, giving around a dozen concerts each season, including the First and Last Nights, the most concerts of any single orchestra during The Proms. All concerts are broadcast on BBC Radio 3, streamed online and available on the BBC iPlayer for seven days after broadcast, and a number are televised, giving the BBC Symphony Orchestra the highest broadcast profile of any UK orchestra. Central to its life are studio recordings for BBC Radio 3 at the Orchestra’s Maida Vale home, some of which are free for the public to attend. In addition to these BBC-produced recordings, the orchestra has recorded for several commercial labels, including Teldec, Deutsche Grammophon,[8] and Chandos.

Performing throughout the world, the BBC SO has recently given concerts in Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Taiwan.

The Orchestra is committed to innovative education work. Recent projects include a day of free music for communities across West London, as part of Proms Out+About, and last November the Orchestra cleared its schedule for a week-long celebration of the music and culture of Turkey involving Turkish musicians and people of all ages from across London. Among ongoing projects are the Family Music Intro scheme, introducing families to live classical music, BBC SO Student Zone and the highly successful BBC SO Family Orchestra.

The orchestra frequently commissions works by contemporary composers, and is a particular champion of new British works. Harrison Birtwistle's Earth Dances, Pierre Boulez' Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna and John Tavener's The Protecting Veil were all BBC commissions first played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2000, the orchestra appointed its first Associate Composer, Mark-Anthony Turnage. John Adams became the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Artist in Association in June 2003. Composer and conductor Oliver Knussen took up the post of Artist in Association in July 2009.

Chief conductors [link]

References [link]

  1. ^ Tom Service (2006-07-17). "BBCSO/Belohlavek (Royal Albert Hall, London; Prom 1)". The Guardian. https://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/jul/17/classicalmusicandopera.proms2006. Retrieved 2009-09-08. 
  2. ^ Geoffrey Norris (2007-09-10). "BBC Proms: A vintage and stirring night". Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/10/bmlast110.xml. Retrieved 2008-09-05. 
  3. ^ "Bělohlávek to become Czech Philharmonic's chief conductor in 2012". Prague Daily Monitor. 2010-12-23. https://praguemonitor.com/2010/12/23/b%C4%9Blohl%C3%A1vek-become-czech-philharmonics-chief-conductor-2012xml. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  4. ^ "BBC Symphony Orchestra announces new Chief Conductor" (Press release). BBC. 23 February 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/symphonyorchestra/about/news/conductor_announcement.shtml. Retrieved 2012-02-24. 
  5. ^ "Sakari Oramo is to become BBC Symphony Orchestra's next chief conductor". Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition. 2012-02-23. https://www.hs.fi/english/article/Sakari+Oramo+is+to+become+BBC+Symphony+Orchestra%E2%80%99s+next+chief+conductor+bUPDATEDb/1329103494007. Retrieved 2012-02-23. 
  6. ^ Alex Needham (2012-02-23). "Sakari Oramo to become BBC Symphony Orchestra chief conductor". The Guardian. https://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/feb/23/sakari-oramo-bbcso-chief-conductor. Retrieved 2012-02-23. 
  7. ^ Doctor, Jenny; et al. (April 2007). "Chapter 3: A new dimension: the BBC takes on the Proms 1920–44". In (ed.) Doctor, Jenny; Wright, David & Kenyon, Nicholas. The Proms: A New History. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 116–129. ISBN 978-0-500-51352-1. 
  8. ^ Anna Picard (2008-02-17). "Album: Janacek – The Excursions of Mr Broucek – Belohlavek/BBC Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-janacek-783248.html. Retrieved 2009-09-08. 

External links [link]


https://wn.com/BBC_Symphony_Orchestra

The Planets

The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst.

From its premiere to the present day, the suite has been enduringly popular, influential, widely performed and frequently recorded. The work was not heard in a complete public performance, however, until some years after it was completed. Although there were four performances between September 1918 and October 1920, they were all either private (the first performance, in London) or incomplete (two others in London and one in Birmingham). The premiere was at the Queen's Hall on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holst's friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people. The first complete public performance was finally given in London by Albert Coates conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on 15 November 1920.

Orchestra

An orchestra (/ˈɔːrkstrə/ or US /ˈɔːrˌkɛstrə/; Italian: [orˈkɛstra]) is a large instrumental ensemble used in classical music that contains sections of string (violin, viola, cello and double bass), brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes be grouped into a fifth section such as a keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and, for 20th and 21st century compositions, electric and electronic instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus. The orchestra grew by accretion throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, but changed very little in composition during the course of the 20th century.

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