Composers Datebook

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!