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Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra, founded in Bournemouth in 1893. Since 1979 its administration has been in neighbouring Poole, where the orchestra is based at the Lighthouse. It also plays in Portsmouth, Exeter and Bristol and is meant to serve the south and south-west of England. Dan Godfrey founded it as the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, a group of thirty wind players and a drummer. Many musicians could play both wind and string instruments, so that the group could play as a military band on the pier and as a classical ensemble indoors. The first concert was on Whit Monday 1893 in the Winter Gardens.

Music and breakthrough

The orchestra quickly became a full symphony orchestra and gained a reputation as a champion of British music. Edward Elgar and Gustav Holst conducted their own works there, and it gave the British premières of major works by Richard Strauss, Camille Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky. In 1903 it gave its five-hundredth symphony concert, and in 1927 its Easter festival was devoted to music by British women composers. Godfrey, still the longest-serving chief conductor, conducted more than two thousand symphony concerts and retired in 1934. The orchestra's first recording dates from 1914. Later came recordings such as Scheherazade in 1967 and The Planets in 1974.

Influence

Later chief conductors included Rudolf Schwarz, Constantin Silvestri, Paavo Berglund, Andrew Litton, Marin Alsop and Kirill Karabits. Since the 2024–25 season it has been Mark Wigglesworth. The orchestra shows that a seasonal orchestra in a seaside town could grow into an ensemble of national importance, with a special place for British composers.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Gustav Holst's The Planets in the 1974 recording and notice Mars, with its five-beat rhythm. Observe how the orchestra builds a menacing sound out of it.

Discography

Studio albums

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