Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society is a society based in Liverpool
, Merseyside
, England, that organises concerts and other events mainly in the field of classical music
. The society is the second oldest of its type in the United Kingdom and its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, is the country's longest surviving professional orchestra. In addition to the orchestra, the society administers the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, as well as other choirs and ensembles. It is involved in educational and community projects in Liverpool and its surrounding region. The society and its members have been successful in winning a number of honours and awards and played an important role when Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture
in 2008. It is based in the Philharmonic Hall, an art deco
concert hall built in the late 1930s. The hall is available for hire for weddings and other events, and tours of the hall are arranged.
whose orchestra was disbanded in 1932.
It was founded for the rich and élite members of Liverpool society, for "the pleasure of the moneyed merchant class in the town". Its first concert was given on 12 March 1840 in a room at the back of a dance academy in Great Richmond Street and was conducted by John Russell with William Sudlow as organist. The programme consisted of 13 short orchestral and choral pieces, including works by Auber
, Rossini, Spohr
, Henry Bishop, and George Onslow, and madrigals
by Thomas Morley
and John Wilbye
. The society outgrew this room and gave its performances in the hall of the Collegiate Institute in Shaw Street. In 1843 the society appointed its first principal conductor, the Swiss-born J. Zeugheer Herrmann
, who continued in this role until his death in 1865. During the following year, the orchestra performed its first symphonies, Haydn's No. 99
and Beethoven's 1st
.
In 1844 the society appointed the Liverpool architect John Cunningham to prepare plans for a concert hall to be situated at the junction of Hope Street
and Myrtle Street. It was to contain an audience of 2,100 and an orchestra of 250. In order to raise money for its building, shares were issued and members of Liverpool society were invited to buy seats in the boxes to be included in the hall. The foundation stone
was laid in 1846 and construction began the following year. In 1847 the society invited Felix Mendelssohn
to compose a cantata
based on words from Milton's
Comus
to celebrate the opening of the hall. Unfortunately Mendelssohn died before this could be carried out. The hall cost £30,000 (£ as of ) and was formally opened on 27 August 1849. The first concert was performed by an orchestra of 96 and a choir of over 200; included in the concert were three future conductors of the orchestra, Alfred Mellon
, Julius Benedict
and Charles Hallé
. The organist was W. T. Best
. The hall was not full for the first performance; this was attributed to two factors, the high price of admission, and the fear that the building, without central supporting pillars, was unsafe.
Problems soon arose. In 1850 the choir formed the Liverpool Philharmonic Auxiliary Society and were in conflict with their conductor. Herrmann offered to resign, this was not accepted by the society. By 1852 the financial problems of the society were deteriorating. Membership of the society was exclusive and not all the seats on offer had been taken up. Suggestions that the conditions for membership should be relaxed were refused. In 1852 the society widened its activities from music by arranging theatrical performances, including Charles Dickens
' company and an appearance by William Makepeace Thackeray
. In 1855 it was discovered that William Sudlow, the Honorary Secretary had been stealing money from the society; an amount of more than £2,424 (£ as of ) had been embezzled. Sudlow resigned from the society. He was replaced by a paid secretary and the post was given to Henry Sudlow, a distant relative of William. Henry was to serve the society for some 30 years without any similar problem. Prominent artists appearing for the society in 1856 were Jenny Lind
, Clara Schumann
and Charles Hallé. Dickens returned in 1858 and during that year the society was able to pay off the mortgage on the hall.
By 1865 Hermann's health was deteriorating and a new principal conductor, Alfred Mellon, was appointed in September. However Mellon died only 18 months later, and was replaced by Julius Benedict, who remained in post until 1880, when his eyesight was deteriorating. During the time Benedict was principal conductor, the society flourished both in artistic and financial terms. This was not to continue during the tenure of the next principal conductor, despite his later fame. Max Bruch
was appointed on 23 February 1880 and served for less than three years. During this time he experienced conflict with the committee of the society and complained about the behaviour of the audience. He resigned in January 1883 at which time the standards of the orchestra and the choir had deteriorated, and members of the committee were disagreeing with each other. The person appointed to sort this out was Charles Hallé who had by this time established the Hallé Orchestra
in Manchester
. Hallé continued as principal conductor until his death in 1895. During this time the orchestra and choir flourished. Major artistes who appeared with the society during this time included Paderewski
, Hubert Parry
, Nellie Melba
, and Clara Butt
. In 1883 the secretary, Henry Sudlow died and he was replaced by George Broadbent.
The next principal conductor was Frederic Cowen
who remained in post until 1913. During this time more Romantic music
was played, including works by Elgar
, and this was not always popular with the audiences. Although the society continued to be exclusive, there was criticism about the behaviour of its members during concerts. Notable artistes who appeared during this time were Fritz Kreisler
, and Rachmaninoff
, the latter playing his Third Piano Concerto
and conducting other works at a concert in 1911. Following the resignation of Frederic Cowen, the society did not appoint another principal conductor until 1942. During this period the orchestra was conducted by a series of guest conductors, who included Furtwängler
, George Szell
, Pierre Monteux
, Koussevitzky
, and Bruno Walter
. Notable artistes included Pablo Casals
, John McCormack, Elisabeth Schumann
, Yehudi Menuhin
(his first appearance was at the age of 15), Solomon, Moiseiwitsch
, and Maggie Teyte
. The British conductors to have a major influence on the orchestra during this time were Henry Wood and Thomas Beecham
. During the early 1930s there was concern about the deteriorating financial situation of the society. There was a problem in filling empty seats and it was suggested that the rule of wearing evening dress at concerts should be relaxed; this was turned down.
Disaster struck the society on 5 July 1933 when the Philharmonic Hall was destroyed by fire. Concerts were mainly held in the Central Hall
until a new hall could be built; larger scale works were performed in St. George's Hall
. Considerable discussion took place about the financing and the design of the new hall. It was decided that the society would pay for it without help from the City Council. Herbert J. Rowse
was appointed as architect and he designed to hall in art deco style; it cost a little over £120,000 (£ as of ). Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the opening concert on 20 June 1939. Incorporated in the hall were an organ built by Rushworth and Dreaper
and a Waldurdaw rising cinema screen.
The financial situation of the society improved in 1942 when the lease for the hall was transferred to the City Council, in return for an immediate payment of cash and an annual rent. The society also agreed to promote musical education in and around Liverpool. Later in 1942 Malcolm Sargent
was appointed principal conductor. In his first season, the society made its first recording, its first broadcast, and it produced its first school children's concert. Under Sargent there was a "spectacular explosion" in the number of concerts and recording sessions performed. In 1944 the orchestra made its first appearance in London, performing at the Royal Albert Hall
. In October 1946 Sargent conducted the première of Britten's
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
. In 1948 he resigned as principal conductor. Sargent was replaced by Hugo Rignold
. He initially had a difficult time, partly because of his background as a jazz
and dance band player. However he served in the post for six years and left in 1954 with an enhanced reputation. From 1955 the society had joint principal conductors, John Pritchard and Efrem Kurtz
. The latter resigned in 1957 and Pritchard continued as sole principal conductor until 1963.
In 1957 the society and orchestra were granted "Royal " status and were allowed to include this word in their title. The following year the Queen
became the patron of the orchestra. In 1958 the society instigated a competition for young conductors. Pritchard was a champion of contemporary music and introduced a series of concerts known as Musica Viva which included new compositions. During Pritchard's time, the society commissioned Walton to write his second symphony
, which received its première at the Edinburgh Festival
in 1960. Pritchard was succeeded by Charles Groves
, who served as principal conductor for 14 years until he resigned in 1977. Groves helped to maintain the high standards of the orchestra and also encouraged the work of modern composers. He was the first English composer to direct a full cycle of Mahler's
symphonies. The orchestra undertook its first overseas tour in 1996, playing in Germany and Switzerland. In 1968 Groves conducted a performance of Messiaen's
Turangalîla Symphony
, with Messiaen's wife playing in the orchestra.
After Groves' fourteen years' tenure as principal conductor, each of his three successors remained in post for much shorter periods; Walter Weller
from 1977 to 1980, David Atherton
from 1980 to 1983 and Marek Janowski
from 1983 to 1987. In 1893 Edward Cowie
was made Composer in Residence, the first such appointment to a major British orchestra. Musically the society was also entering a period of greater security with the appointment in 1987 of Libor Pešek
as principal conductor. Pesek remained in post for ten years and during this time the standards and popularity of the orchestra improved. In 1990 the society celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundation. In the 1990–91 season, among the works performed that were new to the society was Paul McCartney
's Liverpool Concerto, conducted in Liverpool Cathedral
by Carl Davis
. In 1992 a rear extension was added to the hall. During the following year, while on tour, the orchestra was the first non-Czech orchestra to perform the opening concert in the Prague Spring Festival.
The hall was refurbished in 1995 at a cost of £10.3 million; during this time concerts were performed in Liverpool Cathedral. As part of this refurbishment, the curving interior, which had originally been constructed in fibrous plaster, was replaced with concrete. In 1997 Libor Pešek resigned as principal conductor and was given the title of conductor laureate. He was succeeded by Petr Altrichter
who continued in the post until 2001, being followed by Gerard Schwarz
. Schwarz resigned in 2006 and his place as principal conductor was taken by the young Russian Vasily Petrenko
. At the time of his appointment he was aged 29 and was the youngest conductor to have held the post. Also in 2006 the society entered into a sponsorship agreement with the radio music station Classic FM
. It was the station's first arts partner and the orchestra was given the title of the Classic FM Orchestra in North West England. As a result of this partnership, concerts of more "popular and accessible" pieces from the classical repertoire are played, and the radio station broadcasts some of these concerts. By the start of 2008, the station had broadcast 25 concerts, and the contract for the partnership has been extended to 2012. In 2008 Liverpool was a European Capital of Culture
and the society played a major role in the events performed to as part of this celebration. In 2009, Petrenko's title was changed from principal conductor to chief conductor, and he extended his contract with the society until 2015.
.
More recently choirs for younger people have been formed. The main choir in this category is the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir. Even younger members sing in the Liverpool Philharmonic Training Choir and in Melody Makers. Two other choirs in the society are the Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir, and the Liverpool Philharmonic Community Choir, the latter choir accepting anyone with a love of singing and without an audition
.
was formed in 1991 and named after Alfred E. Rodewald, a local conductor and benefactor. Its aim is to promote the performance of chamber music
in the region. The society ran into financial difficulties in the early 1990s. It was re-formed in 1998, and now performs its concerts in the recently refurbished Small Concert Hall in St George's Hall
.
to Mozart's
The Magic Flute
. The orchestra changed its name to the present one in 2006. Its patron is Simon Rattle
, who was a percussionist
in the orchestra from 1965 to 1972.
. It has been conducted since its creation by Clark Rundell, and has performed a large number of world premières. Many of its concerts are played in The Cornerstone, Hope, at Everton, the second campus of Liverpool Hope University
.
The society is the principal Higher Education Partner with Liverpool Hope University, supplying members of the orchestra to teach in their music department, and arranging workshops and masterclasses
. Students from the Royal Northern College of Music
are invited to gain experience by rehearsing and playing with the orchestra and with Ensembl10/10. The society is also working with the Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium under the Creative Apprenticeships scheme.
.
Belshazzar's Feast
, and the second was Bliss'
Piano Concerto, with Solomon as soloist, and conducted by Adrian Boult
. In 1998 the orchestra became the first in Britain to own and run its own record label, known as RPLO Live. This was a company created by the members of the orchestra, using the technical expertise of its own members to create recordings of live performances, with the performers, conductor and soloists being equal shareholders. The society recorded a live album with Irish
singer Moya Brennan
entitled Heart Strings
in 2008. The recording of Tchaikovsky's
Manfred Symphony
and The Voyevoda
was considered to be the Best of Category - Orchestral in the Gramophone Award
2009.
and in 1991 they became one of the first organisations to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool. The City of Liverpool granted them an honour of Meritorious Service in 1997. In the Classic FM Gramophone Awards
2007, Vasily Petrenko was named Young Artist of the Year. In 2009 the orchestra and Ensemble 10/10 were joint winners of the title Ensemble of the Year in the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards
, with Ensemble 10/10 being the winners in the Concert Series of the Year category. The hall won the title of the Best Performing Venue in The Mersey Partnership Annual Tourism Awards in both 2006 and 2009.
, the resident organist. In the Rodewald Suite at the rear of the hall, concerts of jazz, roots
, and impromptu music are given.
The society also arranges concerts in the Small Concert Room of St George's Hall. The orchestra tours to other towns and cities in the UK and abroad. In March 2010 it will be touring in Switzerland. Tours of the Philharmonic Hall and opportunities for watching the orchestra in rehearsal are arranged. The hall can also be hired for corporate or private events, including weddings. The orchestra rehearses and makes recordings at the Liverpool Phil at the Friary.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, England, that organises concerts and other events mainly in the field of classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. The society is the second oldest of its type in the United Kingdom and its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, is the country's longest surviving professional orchestra. In addition to the orchestra, the society administers the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, as well as other choirs and ensembles. It is involved in educational and community projects in Liverpool and its surrounding region. The society and its members have been successful in winning a number of honours and awards and played an important role when Liverpool was the European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
in 2008. It is based in the Philharmonic Hall, an art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
concert hall built in the late 1930s. The hall is available for hire for weddings and other events, and tours of the hall are arranged.
History of the society and orchestra
The society was established as the Liverpool Philharmonic Society on 10 January 1840 with the purpose of organising concerts of classical music. Its orchestra, then the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, is the oldest surviving professional symphony orchestra in the United Kingdom. The society was the second of its kind to be established, the first being the London-based Royal Philharmonic SocietyRoyal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
whose orchestra was disbanded in 1932.
It was founded for the rich and élite members of Liverpool society, for "the pleasure of the moneyed merchant class in the town". Its first concert was given on 12 March 1840 in a room at the back of a dance academy in Great Richmond Street and was conducted by John Russell with William Sudlow as organist. The programme consisted of 13 short orchestral and choral pieces, including works by Auber
Daniel Auber
Daniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...
, Rossini, Spohr
Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludewig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name. Described by Dorothy Mayer as "The Forgotten Master", Spohr was once as famous as Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria...
, Henry Bishop, and George Onslow, and madrigals
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
by Thomas Morley
Thomas Morley
Thomas Morley was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. He was the most famous composer of secular music in Elizabethan England and an organist at St Paul's Cathedral...
and John Wilbye
John Wilbye
John Wilbye , was an English madrigal composer. The son of a tanner, he was born at Brome, Suffolk, near Diss, and received the patronage of the Cornwallis family. It is thought that he accompanied Elizabeth Cornwallis to Hengrave Hall near Bury St...
. The society outgrew this room and gave its performances in the hall of the Collegiate Institute in Shaw Street. In 1843 the society appointed its first principal conductor, the Swiss-born J. Zeugheer Herrmann
Jakob Zeugheer
Jakob Zeugheer , was a Swiss violinist, conductor and composer.-Childhood:...
, who continued in this role until his death in 1865. During the following year, the orchestra performed its first symphonies, Haydn's No. 99
Symphony No. 99 (Haydn)
The Symphony No. 99 in E-flat major is the seventh of the twelve so-called London Symphonies written by Joseph Haydn. The symphony was completed in 1793. Although not the most frequently performed of his London Symphonies, no...
and Beethoven's 1st
Symphony No. 1 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21, was dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, an early patron of the composer. The piece was published in 1801 by Hoffmeister & Kühnel of Leipzig...
.
In 1844 the society appointed the Liverpool architect John Cunningham to prepare plans for a concert hall to be situated at the junction of Hope Street
Hope Street, Liverpool
Hope Street, Liverpool, England stretches from Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral past Liverpool Cathedral to Upper Parliament Street. It contains several restaurants, hotels and bars. The road runs parallel to Rodney Street...
and Myrtle Street. It was to contain an audience of 2,100 and an orchestra of 250. In order to raise money for its building, shares were issued and members of Liverpool society were invited to buy seats in the boxes to be included in the hall. The foundation stone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
was laid in 1846 and construction began the following year. In 1847 the society invited Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
to compose a cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
based on words from Milton's
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
Comus
Comus (John Milton)
Comus is a masque in honour of chastity, written by John Milton. It was first presented on Michaelmas, 1634, before John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater at Ludlow Castle in celebration of the Earl's new post as Lord President of Wales.Known colloquially as Comus, the mask's actual full title is A...
to celebrate the opening of the hall. Unfortunately Mendelssohn died before this could be carried out. The hall cost £30,000 (£ as of ) and was formally opened on 27 August 1849. The first concert was performed by an orchestra of 96 and a choir of over 200; included in the concert were three future conductors of the orchestra, Alfred Mellon
Alfred Mellon
Alfred Mellon was an English violinist, conductor and composer.Mellon was born in Birmingham. He played the violin in the opera and other orchestras, and afterwards became leader of the ballet at the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden...
, Julius Benedict
Julius Benedict
Sir Julius Benedict was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career.-Life:...
and Charles Hallé
Charles Hallé
Sir Charles Hallé was an Anglo-German pianist and conductor, and founder of The Hallé orchestra in 1858.-Life:Hallé was born in Hagen, Westphalia, Germany who after settling in England changed his name from Karl Halle...
. The organist was W. T. Best
William Thomas Best
William Thomas Best was an English organist.The son of a solicitor, he was born at Carlisle. Having decided on a musical career, he became a pupil of the cathedral organist. He became particularly skilled in the interpretation of Bach's music...
. The hall was not full for the first performance; this was attributed to two factors, the high price of admission, and the fear that the building, without central supporting pillars, was unsafe.
Problems soon arose. In 1850 the choir formed the Liverpool Philharmonic Auxiliary Society and were in conflict with their conductor. Herrmann offered to resign, this was not accepted by the society. By 1852 the financial problems of the society were deteriorating. Membership of the society was exclusive and not all the seats on offer had been taken up. Suggestions that the conditions for membership should be relaxed were refused. In 1852 the society widened its activities from music by arranging theatrical performances, including Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' company and an appearance by William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
. In 1855 it was discovered that William Sudlow, the Honorary Secretary had been stealing money from the society; an amount of more than £2,424 (£ as of ) had been embezzled. Sudlow resigned from the society. He was replaced by a paid secretary and the post was given to Henry Sudlow, a distant relative of William. Henry was to serve the society for some 30 years without any similar problem. Prominent artists appearing for the society in 1856 were Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
, Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
and Charles Hallé. Dickens returned in 1858 and during that year the society was able to pay off the mortgage on the hall.
By 1865 Hermann's health was deteriorating and a new principal conductor, Alfred Mellon, was appointed in September. However Mellon died only 18 months later, and was replaced by Julius Benedict, who remained in post until 1880, when his eyesight was deteriorating. During the time Benedict was principal conductor, the society flourished both in artistic and financial terms. This was not to continue during the tenure of the next principal conductor, despite his later fame. Max Bruch
Max Bruch
Max Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
was appointed on 23 February 1880 and served for less than three years. During this time he experienced conflict with the committee of the society and complained about the behaviour of the audience. He resigned in January 1883 at which time the standards of the orchestra and the choir had deteriorated, and members of the committee were disagreeing with each other. The person appointed to sort this out was Charles Hallé who had by this time established the Hallé Orchestra
The Hallé
The Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir, youth choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. Hallé continued as principal conductor until his death in 1895. During this time the orchestra and choir flourished. Major artistes who appeared with the society during this time included Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
, Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
, Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
, and Clara Butt
Clara Butt
Dame Clara Ellen Butt DBE , sometimes called Clara Butt-Rumford after her marriage, was an English contralto with a remarkably imposing voice and a surprisingly agile singing technique. Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer.-Early life and career:Clara Butt was born in Southwick,...
. In 1883 the secretary, Henry Sudlow died and he was replaced by George Broadbent.
The next principal conductor was Frederic Cowen
Frederic Hymen Cowen
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen , was a British pianist, conductor and composer.-Early years:Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last child of Frederick Augustus Cohen and Emily Cohen née Davis. His siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen ; actress,...
who remained in post until 1913. During this time more Romantic music
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
was played, including works by Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
, and this was not always popular with the audiences. Although the society continued to be exclusive, there was criticism about the behaviour of its members during concerts. Notable artistes who appeared during this time were Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...
, and Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
, the latter playing his Third Piano Concerto
Piano Concerto No. 3 (Rachmaninoff)
The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, composed in 1909 by Sergei Rachmaninoff is famous for its technical and musical demands on the performer...
and conducting other works at a concert in 1911. Following the resignation of Frederic Cowen, the society did not appoint another principal conductor until 1942. During this period the orchestra was conducted by a series of guest conductors, who included Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler was a German conductor and composer. He is widely considered to have been one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. By the 1930s he had built a reputation as one of the leading conductors in Europe, and he was the leading conductor who remained...
, George Szell
George Szell
George Szell , originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer...
, Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux
Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...
, Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky
Serge Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.-Early career:...
, and Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter was a German-born conductor. He is considered one of the best known conductors of the 20th century. Walter was born in Berlin, but is known to have lived in several countries between 1933 and 1939, before finally settling in the United States in 1939...
. Notable artistes included Pablo Casals
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló , known during his professional career as Pablo Casals, was a Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor. He is generally regarded as the pre-eminent cellist of the first half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest cellists of all time...
, John McCormack, Elisabeth Schumann
Elisabeth Schumann
Elisabeth Schumann was a German lyric soprano who sang in opera, operetta, oratorio, and lieder. She left a substantial legacy of recordings.-Career:...
, Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
(his first appearance was at the age of 15), Solomon, Moiseiwitsch
Benno Moiseiwitsch
Benno Moiseiwitsch CBE was a Ukrainian-born British pianist.-Biography:Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Moiseiwitsch began his studies at age seven at the Odessa Music Academy. He won the Anton Rubinstein Prize when he was just nine years old. He later took lessons from Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna...
, and Maggie Teyte
Maggie Teyte
Dame Maggie Teyte DBE was an English operatic soprano and interpreter of French art song.-Early years:Margaret Tate was born in Wolverhampton, England, one of ten children of Jacob James Tate, a successful wine and spirit merchant and proprietor of public houses and later lodgings. Her parents...
. The British conductors to have a major influence on the orchestra during this time were Henry Wood and Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
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...
. During the early 1930s there was concern about the deteriorating financial situation of the society. There was a problem in filling empty seats and it was suggested that the rule of wearing evening dress at concerts should be relaxed; this was turned down.
Disaster struck the society on 5 July 1933 when the Philharmonic Hall was destroyed by fire. Concerts were mainly held in the Central Hall
Grand Central Hall
Grand Central Hall is a Grade II listed building located in Liverpool, England. It is a former Methodist church that is now used as accommodation for many alternative shops of the type formerly based at Quiggins, Liverpool.-History:...
until a new hall could be built; larger scale works were performed in St. George's Hall
St. George's Hall, Liverpool
St George's Hall is on Lime Street in the centre of the English city of Liverpool, opposite Lime Street railway station. It is a building in Neoclassical style which contains concert halls and law courts, and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building...
. Considerable discussion took place about the financing and the design of the new hall. It was decided that the society would pay for it without help from the City Council. Herbert J. Rowse
Herbert James Rowse
Herbert James Rowse was a British architect, born in Crosby, Merseyside on the northern outskirts of Liverpool. He graduated from the Liverpool University School of Architecture in 1907 three years after the influential Professor Charles Reilly became Head of the School.Rowse was one of the ...
was appointed as architect and he designed to hall in art deco style; it cost a little over £120,000 (£ as of ). Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the opening concert on 20 June 1939. Incorporated in the hall were an organ built by Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders based in Liverpool, England Upon its bankruptcy, its archives were mostly destroyed, and the Victorian clock in the works tower was removed...
and a Waldurdaw rising cinema screen.
The financial situation of the society improved in 1942 when the lease for the hall was transferred to the City Council, in return for an immediate payment of cash and an annual rent. The society also agreed to promote musical education in and around Liverpool. Later in 1942 Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
was appointed principal conductor. In his first season, the society made its first recording, its first broadcast, and it produced its first school children's concert. Under Sargent there was a "spectacular explosion" in the number of concerts and recording sessions performed. In 1944 the orchestra made its first appearance in London, performing at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. In October 1946 Sargent conducted the première of Britten's
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34, is a musical composition by Benjamin Britten in 1946 with a subtitle "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell"...
. In 1948 he resigned as principal conductor. Sargent was replaced by Hugo Rignold
Hugo Rignold
Hugo Henry Rignold was an English conductor and violinist, who is best remembered as Musical Director of the Royal Ballet and conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra ....
. He initially had a difficult time, partly because of his background as a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and dance band player. However he served in the post for six years and left in 1954 with an enhanced reputation. From 1955 the society had joint principal conductors, John Pritchard and Efrem Kurtz
Efrem Kurtz
Efrem Kurtz was a Russian conductor. He studied at the Saint Petersburg conservatory with Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Tcherepnin, among others. He later studied in Riga, Berlin and in Leipzig, in the last city as a pupil of Arthur Nikisch....
. The latter resigned in 1957 and Pritchard continued as sole principal conductor until 1963.
In 1957 the society and orchestra were granted "Royal " status and were allowed to include this word in their title. The following year the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
became the patron of the orchestra. In 1958 the society instigated a competition for young conductors. Pritchard was a champion of contemporary music and introduced a series of concerts known as Musica Viva which included new compositions. During Pritchard's time, the society commissioned Walton to write his second symphony
Symphony No. 2 (Walton)
The Symphony No. 2, composed by English composer William Walton, was commissioned by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society to celebrate the city's 750th anniversary in 1957...
, which received its première at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh International Festival
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music , theatre, opera...
in 1960. Pritchard was succeeded by Charles Groves
Charles Groves
Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors....
, who served as principal conductor for 14 years until he resigned in 1977. Groves helped to maintain the high standards of the orchestra and also encouraged the work of modern composers. He was the first English composer to direct a full cycle of Mahler's
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
symphonies. The orchestra undertook its first overseas tour in 1996, playing in Germany and Switzerland. In 1968 Groves conducted a performance of Messiaen's
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
Turangalîla Symphony
Turangalîla-Symphonie
The Turangalîla-Symphonie is a large-scale piece of orchestral music by Olivier Messiaen. It was written from 1946 to 1948, on a commission by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The premiere was given by that orchestra on December 2, 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein in Boston...
, with Messiaen's wife playing in the orchestra.
After Groves' fourteen years' tenure as principal conductor, each of his three successors remained in post for much shorter periods; Walter Weller
Walter Weller
Walter Weller is an Austrian conductor and violinist.-Biography:Weller was born in Vienna, Austria where he first gained renown as a prodigy on the violin...
from 1977 to 1980, David Atherton
David Atherton
David Atherton OBE, is an English conductor.-Background:Atherton was born in Blackpool, Lancashire in a musical family. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School. His father, Robert Atherton, was the Music Master at St Joseph's College, Blackpool and was also a conductor...
from 1980 to 1983 and Marek Janowski
Marek Janowski
Marek Janowski is a Polish-born conductor.Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, Germany, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the start of World War II to be with her parents...
from 1983 to 1987. In 1893 Edward Cowie
Edward Cowie
Edward Cowie is an English composer, author, Natural Scientist, and painter-Biography:Cowie was born in Birmingham, England in 1943 and spent most of his early life in the rural countryside...
was made Composer in Residence, the first such appointment to a major British orchestra. Musically the society was also entering a period of greater security with the appointment in 1987 of Libor Pešek
Libor Pešek
Libor Pešek KBE is a Czech conductor.Pešek was born in Prague and studied conducting, piano, cello and trombone at the Academy of Musical Arts there, with Václav Smetáček and Karel Ančerl among his teachers. He worked at the Pilsen and Prague Operas, and from 1958 to 1964 was the founder and...
as principal conductor. Pesek remained in post for ten years and during this time the standards and popularity of the orchestra improved. In 1990 the society celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundation. In the 1990–91 season, among the works performed that were new to the society was Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's Liverpool Concerto, conducted in Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin...
by Carl Davis
Carl Davis
Carl Davis CBE is an American born conductor and composer who has made his home in the UK since 1961. In 1970 he married the English actress Jean Boht....
. In 1992 a rear extension was added to the hall. During the following year, while on tour, the orchestra was the first non-Czech orchestra to perform the opening concert in the Prague Spring Festival.
The hall was refurbished in 1995 at a cost of £10.3 million; during this time concerts were performed in Liverpool Cathedral. As part of this refurbishment, the curving interior, which had originally been constructed in fibrous plaster, was replaced with concrete. In 1997 Libor Pešek resigned as principal conductor and was given the title of conductor laureate. He was succeeded by Petr Altrichter
Petr Altrichter
Petr Altrichter is a Czech conductor. He studied French horn and conducting at the Conservatory of Music in Ostrava. He also studied at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts...
who continued in the post until 2001, being followed by Gerard Schwarz
Gerard Schwarz
Gerard Schwarz is an American conductor. He was music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2011.In 2007 Schwarz was named music director of the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, having served as principal conductor since 2005...
. Schwarz resigned in 2006 and his place as principal conductor was taken by the young Russian Vasily Petrenko
Vasily Petrenko
Vasily Petrenko is a Russian conductor. He attended the Capella Boys Music School and the St Petersburg Conservatoire. He studied conducting with Ilya Musin, and later under the tutelage of Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov and Esa-Pekka Salonen. He was resident conductor at the St. Petersburg...
. At the time of his appointment he was aged 29 and was the youngest conductor to have held the post. Also in 2006 the society entered into a sponsorship agreement with the radio music station Classic FM
Classic FM (UK)
Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
. It was the station's first arts partner and the orchestra was given the title of the Classic FM Orchestra in North West England. As a result of this partnership, concerts of more "popular and accessible" pieces from the classical repertoire are played, and the radio station broadcasts some of these concerts. By the start of 2008, the station had broadcast 25 concerts, and the contract for the partnership has been extended to 2012. In 2008 Liverpool was a European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
and the society played a major role in the events performed to as part of this celebration. In 2009, Petrenko's title was changed from principal conductor to chief conductor, and he extended his contract with the society until 2015.
Choirs
A choir has been an integral part of the society since its foundation. Originally called the Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, the name "Royal" was added to its title in 1990. Its longest serving chorus master was Dr J. E. Wallace who held this position from 1929 to 1970, apart from a break during the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
More recently choirs for younger people have been formed. The main choir in this category is the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir. Even younger members sing in the Liverpool Philharmonic Training Choir and in Melody Makers. Two other choirs in the society are the Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir, and the Liverpool Philharmonic Community Choir, the latter choir accepting anyone with a love of singing and without an audition
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
.
Rodewald Concert Society
The Rodewald Concert SocietyRodewald Concert Society
The Rodewald Concert Society is a promoter of chamber music in the Liverpool and Merseyside area of England. The Society was established in 1911, in memory of Alfred E Rodewald , a well-respected amateur conductor in Liverpool, and close friend of Edward Elgar who dedicated the first of his Pomp...
was formed in 1991 and named after Alfred E. Rodewald, a local conductor and benefactor. Its aim is to promote the performance of chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
in the region. The society ran into financial difficulties in the early 1990s. It was re-formed in 1998, and now performs its concerts in the recently refurbished Small Concert Hall in St George's Hall
St. George's Hall, Liverpool
St George's Hall is on Lime Street in the centre of the English city of Liverpool, opposite Lime Street railway station. It is a building in Neoclassical style which contains concert halls and law courts, and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building...
.
Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra
This was founded as the Merseyside Youth Orchestra in 1951. Its conductor for the first 22 years of its existence was William Jenkins. The first work to be performed by the orchestra was the overtureOverture
Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...
to Mozart's
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. The orchestra changed its name to the present one in 2006. Its patron is Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....
, who was a percussionist
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
in the orchestra from 1965 to 1972.
Ensemble 10/10
This group was formed in 1997 to perform works of contemporary musicContemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
. It has been conducted since its creation by Clark Rundell, and has performed a large number of world premières. Many of its concerts are played in The Cornerstone, Hope, at Everton, the second campus of Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool Hope University is a university in Liverpool, England. Two of its three founding colleges were established in 1844 and 1856, the third opening in the 1960s. It is the only ecumenical university in Europe. Based on two campuses, the main campus is located in Childwall and the second...
.
Education and training
The society has been organising events aimed towards schools and the community since the 1940s, when Sargent introduced concerts for schools. By 2009 these were reaching some 45,000 people, including 22,000 children, each year, including 17,500 children attending a series of Schools' Concerts. In 2003 the society a project known as Music for Life was launched to work with people in the most deprived areas in the city, working with primary schools and their communities. The project includes providing instruments and supporting a children's orchestra and a community choir. More recently the society has been involved in the national Find Your Talent and In Harmony schemes.The society is the principal Higher Education Partner with Liverpool Hope University, supplying members of the orchestra to teach in their music department, and arranging workshops and masterclasses
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
. Students from the Royal Northern College of Music
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...
are invited to gain experience by rehearsing and playing with the orchestra and with Ensembl10/10. The society is also working with the Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium under the Creative Apprenticeships scheme.
Health
Through the community choirs, the society promotes the emotional health and wellbeing of their participants. It also runs programmes in two NHS trusts, the Mersey Care NHS Trust and the Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation TrustAlder Hey Children's Hospital
Alder Hey Children Hospital is a children's hospital in West Derby, Liverpool. It is run by the Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust as part of the National Health Service in England...
.
Recordings
The society made its earliest recordings in 1943; the first was Walton'sWilliam Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
Belshazzar's Feast
Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)
Belshazzar's Feast is an oratorio by the English composer William Walton. It was first performed at the Leeds Festival on 8 October 1931. The work has remained one of Walton's most celebrated compositions and one of the most popular works in the English choral repertoire...
, and the second was Bliss'
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...
Piano Concerto, with Solomon as soloist, and conducted by Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
. In 1998 the orchestra became the first in Britain to own and run its own record label, known as RPLO Live. This was a company created by the members of the orchestra, using the technical expertise of its own members to create recordings of live performances, with the performers, conductor and soloists being equal shareholders. The society recorded a live album with Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
singer Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan
Moya Brennan, born Máire Ní Bhraonáin , also known as Máire Brennan , is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist who began performing professionally in 1970, when her family formed the band Clannad, and is now widely considered as the "First Lady of Celtic Music"...
entitled Heart Strings
Heart Strings (Moya Brennan album)
Heart Strings is a live album by Irish singer Moya Brennan. The album was released in September 2008, but was previously available to fans throughout Brennan's Spring 2008 tour of the Netherlands. It was recorded at her concerts on 21 October 2007 in the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool and in November...
in 2008. The recording of Tchaikovsky's
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
Manfred Symphony
Manfred Symphony
The Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58, is a programmatic symphony composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between May and September 1885. It is based on the poem "Manfred" written by Lord Byron in 1817...
and The Voyevoda
The Voyevoda (symphonic ballad)
The Voyevoda, Op. 78, is a "symphonic ballad" for orchestra, written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1891. It is based on Alexander Pushkin's translation of Adam Mickiewicz's poem of that name....
was considered to be the Best of Category - Orchestral in the Gramophone Award
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
2009.
Honours and awards
In 1989 the society and orchestra received an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John Moores UniversityLiverpool John Moores University
Liverpool John Moores University is a British 'modern' university located in the city of Liverpool, England. The university is named after John Moores and was previously called Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and later Liverpool Polytechnic before gaining university status in 1992, thus...
and in 1991 they became one of the first organisations to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool. The City of Liverpool granted them an honour of Meritorious Service in 1997. In the Classic FM Gramophone Awards
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
2007, Vasily Petrenko was named Young Artist of the Year. In 2009 the orchestra and Ensemble 10/10 were joint winners of the title Ensemble of the Year in the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards
Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards
The Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards are given annually for live classical music-making in the United Kingdom. The awards were first held in 1989 and are independent of any commercial interest....
, with Ensemble 10/10 being the winners in the Concert Series of the Year category. The hall won the title of the Best Performing Venue in The Mersey Partnership Annual Tourism Awards in both 2006 and 2009.
Present day
Each year the society organises more than 60 concerts of classical music played by the orchestra. A series of Family Concerts is arranged on Sunday afternoons, aimed mainly at children aged 4–10. The society also organises workshops for children. It arranges other events in the hall, including performances of jazz and pop music, and comedy shows. Films are shown on the Walturdaw screen, and these are accompanied by Dave NicholasDave Nicholas
Dave Nicholas is currently the UK's only resident cinema organist and at 20 years is the longest serving organist at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.-Career:...
, the resident organist. In the Rodewald Suite at the rear of the hall, concerts of jazz, roots
Roots reggae
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...
, and impromptu music are given.
The society also arranges concerts in the Small Concert Room of St George's Hall. The orchestra tours to other towns and cities in the UK and abroad. In March 2010 it will be touring in Switzerland. Tours of the Philharmonic Hall and opportunities for watching the orchestra in rehearsal are arranged. The hall can also be hired for corporate or private events, including weddings. The orchestra rehearses and makes recordings at the Liverpool Phil at the Friary.