Editing London Symphony Orchestra (section)

==History==
===Background===
[[File:LSO-founders.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Clockwise from top left: [[Adolf Borsdorf]], Thomas Busby, John Solomon and Henri van der Meerschen, founding fathers of the LSO]]
At the turn of the twentieth century there were no permanent [[Salary|salaried]] orchestras in London. The main orchestras were those of [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]], the [[Royal Philharmonic Society|Philharmonic Society]] and the [[Queen's Hall]]; their proprietors engaged players individually for each concert or for a season. As there were competing demands for the services of the finest players it was an accepted practice that, even though under contract to play for a concert, a player was at liberty to accept a better-paid engagement if it were offered. He would then engage another player to deputise for him at the original concert and the rehearsals for it. The treasurer of the Philharmonic Society described the system thus: "A, whom you want, signs to play at your concert. He sends B (whom you don't mind) to the first rehearsal. B, without your knowledge or consent, sends C to the second rehearsal. Not being able to play at the concert, C sends D, whom you would have paid five [[shilling]]s to stay away."<ref>Levien, John Mewburn, ''quoted'' in Reid, p. 50</ref> There was much competition for good orchestral players, with well-paid engagements offered by more than fifty [[music hall]]s, by pit bands in [[West End theatre|West End]] [[Edwardian musical comedy|musical comedies]], and by grand hotels and restaurants which maintained orchestras.<ref>Morrison, p. 12</ref>

In 1904, the manager of the Queen's Hall, [[Robert Newman (impresario)|Robert Newman]] and the conductor of his [[the Proms|promenade concerts]], [[Henry Wood]], agreed that they could no longer tolerate the deputy system. After a rehearsal in which Wood was faced with dozens of unfamiliar faces in his own orchestra, Newman came to the platform and announced: "Gentlemen, in future there will be ''no'' deputies! Good morning!"<ref>Wood, p. 212</ref> This caused a furore. Orchestral musicians were not highly paid, and removing their chances of better-paid engagements permitted by the deputy system was a serious financial blow to many of them.<ref name=mt>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/906448 "The London Symphony Orchestra"], ''[[The Musical Times]]'', Vol. 52, No. 825 (November 1911), pp. 705–707 {{subscription required}}</ref> While travelling by train to play under Wood at a music festival in the north of England in May 1904, soon after Newman's announcement, some of his leading players discussed the situation and agreed to try to form their own orchestra. The principal movers were three horn players ([[Adolf Borsdorf]], Thomas Busby, and Henri van der Meerschen) and a trumpeter, John Solomon.<ref name=mt/>

===Foundation===
[[File:Hans Richter portrait photo.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Hans Richter, first conductor of the LSO]]
Busby organised a meeting at St. Andrew's Hall, not far from the Queen's Hall. Invitations were sent to present and former members of the Queen's Hall Orchestra. About a hundred players attended.<ref name=mt/> Busby explained the scheme: a new [[Musical ensemble|ensemble]], the London Symphony Orchestra,{{#tag:ref|The orchestra was not the first to appear under this title: in the 1890s a group of about 41 players performed in London, Ontario, Canada, as the London Symphony Orchestra.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/cihm_57844#page/n3/mode/2up London Symphony Orchestra programme, 11 February 1890], Open Library. Retrieved 16 July 2012</ref>|group= n}} to be run on [[Cooperative|co-operative]] lines, "something akin to a Musical Republic",<ref>Morrison, p. 19</ref> with a constitution that gave the organisation independence.{{#tag:ref|The orchestra was incorporated under the Limited Liability Act with a capital of £1,000 in £1 shares. Every member was required to hold £10 in shares.<ref name=m36>Morrison, pp. 36–37</ref>|group= n}} At concerts promoted by the LSO the members played without fee, their remuneration coming at the end of each season in a division of the orchestra's profits.<ref name=mt/> This worked well in good years, but any poorly-patronised series left members out of pocket, and reliant on the LSO's engagements to play for provincial choral societies and other managements.<ref name=m36/> The proposal was approved unanimously, and a management committee was elected, comprising the four original movers and Alfred Hobday (viola) and E F (Fred) James (bassoon).<ref name=mt/> Busby was appointed chief executive, a post variously titled "Secretary", "managing director", "general secretary" and "general manager" over the years.<ref>Morrison, p. 258</ref>

Borsdorf was a player of international reputation, and through his influence, the orchestra secured [[Hans Richter (conductor)|Hans Richter]] to conduct its first concert.<ref name=mt/> Newman held no grudge against the rebels and made the Queen's Hall available to them. He and Wood attended the LSO's first concert, on 9 June 1904.<ref>Jacobs, p. 100</ref> The programme consisted of the prelude to ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg|Die Meistersinger]]'', music by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]] and [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]], and finally [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven's]] [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Symphony]].<ref name=fm/> In a favourable review in ''[[The Times]]'', [[John Alexander Fuller Maitland|J A Fuller Maitland]] noted that 49 members of the new orchestra were rebels against Newman's no-deputy rule, 32 had left the Queen's Hall Orchestra earlier, and the other 21 had no connection with Wood and Newman.<ref name=fm>"Concerts", ''The Times'', 10 June 1904, p. 7</ref>

In a profile of the orchestra in 1911, ''[[The Musical Times]]'' commented:
{{blockquote|Thus encouraged, the committee ventured to arrange for a series of symphony concerts at Queen's Hall. They had no regular conductor, and to this day they have pursued this policy of freedom. Dr. (now Sir) Frederic Cowen conducted the first concert of the series on October 27, 1904, and the others were conducted by Herr Arthur Nikisch, Mr. Fritz Steinbach, Sir Charles Stanford, M. Edouard Colonne, Sir Edward Elgar, and Mr. Georg Henschel. At every one of these concerts brilliant performances were given, and the reputation of the organization as one of the finest of its kind in the world was made.<ref name=mt/>|}}

===Early years===
The orchestra made its first British tour in 1905, conducted by [[Edward Elgar|Sir Edward Elgar]].<ref name=lso1900s/> Elgar's conducting was highly praised; as to the orchestra, [[Ernest Newman]] wrote in ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'', "Its brass and its wood-wind were seen to be of exceptional quality, but the strings, fine as they are, have not the substance nor the colour of [[the Hallé]] strings."<ref>Newman, Ernest. "The Harrison Concert", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 16 November 1905, p. 12</ref> The following year the LSO played outside Britain for the first time, giving concerts in Paris, conducted by [[Edouard Colonne]], [[Charles Villiers Stanford|Sir Charles Stanford]] and [[André Messager]]. [[Richard Morrison (music critic)|Richard Morrison]], in his centenary study of the LSO, writes of "stodgy programmes of insipid Cowen, worthy Stanford, dull Parry and mediocre Mackenzie";{{#tag:ref|[[Frederic Hymen Cowen]] was better known as a conductor than as a composer.<ref>Dibble, Jeremy and Jennifer Spencer. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/06744 "Cowen, Sir Frederic Hymen"], Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 3 April 2013 {{subscription required}}</ref>
 [[Charles Villiers Stanford]], [[Hubert Parry]] and [[Alexander Mackenzie (composer)|Alexander Mackenzie]] were British composers of the "[[English musical renaissance]]". Some of their works, notably choral music by Stanford and Parry, have retained a place in the repertoire, but little of their purely orchestral music is regularly played. At the time, they held considerable sway in British musical life.<ref>Stradling and Hughes, p. 52</ref>|group= n}} they put the Parisian public off to a considerable degree, and the players ended up out of pocket.<ref>Morrison pp. 35–36</ref>

[[File:Elgar-LSO-1911.jpg|thumb|left|Elgar and the LSO, Queen's Hall, 1911]]
In its early years Richter was the LSO's most frequently-engaged conductor, with four or five concerts every season;<ref>Morrison, p. 28</ref> the orchestra's website and Morrison's 2004 book both count him as the orchestra's first chief conductor, though the 1911 ''Musical Times'' article indicates otherwise.<ref name=mt/><ref name=lso1900s>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3150/1900s-and-1910s "1900s and 1910s"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 7 July 2012; Morrison, p. 26</ref> Richter retired from conducting in 1911, and Elgar was elected conductor-in-chief for the 1911–12 season. Elgar conducted six concerts, [[Arthur Nikisch]] three, and [[Willem Mengelberg]], [[Fritz Steinbach]] and [[Gustave Doret]] one each.<ref name=mt/> As a conductor Elgar did not prove to be a big enough box-office draw, and after one season he was replaced by the charismatic Hungarian maestro Nikisch.<ref>Morrison, p. 42</ref>

Nikisch was invited to tour North America in 1912, and despite his long association with the [[Berlin Philharmonic]] and [[Leipzig Gewandhaus]] orchestras, he insisted that the LSO should be contracted for the tour.<ref>Morrison, pp. 44–45</ref> The orchestra, 100-strong (all men except for the harpist),<ref>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3452/100-years-of-the-Titanic "100 years of the Titanic"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 16 July 2012</ref> was booked to sail on the [[RMS Titanic|Titanic]], but the tour schedule was changed at the last minute, and the players sailed safely on the [[RMS Baltic (1903)|Baltic]].<ref name=m45>Morrison, p. 45</ref> The tour was arduous, but a triumph. ''[[New York Press (historical)|The New York Press]]'' said, "The great British band played with a vigor, force and temperamental impetuousness that almost lifted the listener out of his seat."<ref>''Quoted'' in Morrison, p. 46</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised all departments of the orchestra, though, like ''The Manchester Guardian'', it found the strings "brilliant rather than mellow". The paper had a little fun at the LSO's expense: from the viewpoint of a country that had long enjoyed permanent, salaried orchestras such as the [[Boston Symphony]], it gently mocked the LSO's "bold stand for the sacred right of sending substitutes"<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/04/09/100529285.pdf "Arthur Nikisch Welcomed Here – Gives His First Concert with London Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall"], ''The New York Times'', 9 April 1912</ref>

===First World War and 1920s===
Shortly after the beginning of the war the board of the orchestra received a petition from rank and file players protesting about Borsdorf's continued membership of the LSO. Although he had done as much as anyone to found the orchestra, had lived in Britain for 30 years and was married to an Englishwoman, Borsdorf was regarded by some colleagues as an [[enemy alien]] and was forced out of the orchestra.<ref>Morrison, p. 21</ref>

[[File:Beecham-1910-crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Sir Thomas Beecham]]
During the war the musical life of Britain was drastically curtailed. The LSO was helped to survive by large donations from [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]], who also subsidised the Hallé and the Royal Philharmonic Society. For a year he took the role, though not the title, of chief conductor of the LSO. In 1916 his millionaire father died and Beecham's financial affairs became too complicated for any further musical philanthropy on his part.<ref>Lucas, pp. 45–147</ref> In 1917 the LSO's directors agreed unanimously that they would promote no more concerts until the end of the war.<ref>Morrison, p. 54</ref> The orchestra played for other managements, and managed to survive, although the hitherto remunerative work for regional choral societies dwindled to almost nothing.<ref>Morrison, p. 55</ref>

When peace resumed many of the former players were unavailable. A third of the orchestra's pre-war members were in the armed forces, and rebuilding was urgently needed.<ref name=m56>Morrison, p. 56</ref> The orchestra was willing to allow the ambitious conductor [[Albert Coates (musician)|Albert Coates]] to put himself forward as chief conductor. Coates had three attractions for the orchestra: he was a pupil of Nikisch, he had rich and influential contacts, and he was willing to conduct without fee.<ref name=m56/> He and the orchestra got off to a disastrous start. Their first concert featured the premiere of Elgar's [[Cello Concerto (Elgar)|Cello Concerto]]. Apart from the concerto, which the composer conducted, the rest of the programme was conducted by Coates, who overran his rehearsal time at the expense of Elgar's. Lady Elgar wrote, "that brutal selfish ill-mannered bounder&nbsp;... that brute Coates went on rehearsing."<ref name=webber>Lloyd-Webber, Julian, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3665153/How-I-fell-in-love-with-E-Es-darling.html "How I fell in love with E E's darling"], ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 17 May 2007; and Anderson, Keith, Liner notes to Naxos CD 8.550503, Dvořák and Elgar Cello Concertos (1992), p. 4</ref> In ''[[The Observer]]'' Newman wrote, "There have been rumours about during the week of inadequate rehearsal. Whatever the explanation, the sad fact remains that never, in all probability, has so great an orchestra made so lamentable an exhibition of itself."<ref>Newman, Ernest, "Music of the Week", ''The Observer'', 2 November 1919, p. 11</ref> Coates remained as chief conductor for two seasons, and after the initial debacle is credited by Morrison with "breathing life and energy into the orchestra".<ref name=m57>Morrison, p. 57</ref>

After Coates left, the orchestra reverted to its preferred practice of engaging numerous guest conductors rather than a single principal conductor.<ref name=m57/> Among the guests were Elgar, Beecham, [[Otto Klemperer]], [[Bruno Walter]], [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] and [[Serge Koussevitzky]]; soloists in the 1920s included [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]], [[Artur Schnabel]] and the young [[Yehudi Menuhin]]. Revenues were substantial, and the orchestra seemed to many to be entering into a golden age. In fact, for lack of any serious competition in the 1920s, the LSO allowed its standards of playing to slip. In 1927 the Berlin Philharmonic, under Furtwängler, gave two concerts at the Queen's Hall. These, and later concerts by the same orchestra in 1928 and 1929, made obvious the poor standards then prevailing in London.<ref>Kennedy, p. 138</ref> Both the [[BBC]] and Beecham had ambitions to bring London's orchestral standards up to those of Berlin. After an early attempt at co-operation between the BBC and Beecham, they went their separate ways. In 1929 the BBC began recruiting for the new [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] under [[Adrian Boult]]. The prospect of joining a permanent, salaried orchestra was attractive enough to induce some LSO players to defect.<ref>Morrison, pp. 72–74</ref> The new orchestra immediately received enthusiastic reviews that contrasted starkly with the severe press criticisms of the LSO's playing.<ref>Morrison, pp. 73–74</ref> According to the critic [[Walter J. Turner|W J Turner]] the LSO's problem was not that its playing had deteriorated, but that it had failed to keep up with the considerable improvements in playing achieved over the past two decades by the best European and American orchestras.<ref>Morrison, p. 64</ref>

===1930s===
In 1931, Beecham was approached by the rising young conductor [[Malcolm Sargent]] with a proposal to set up a permanent, salaried orchestra with a subsidy guaranteed by Sargent's patrons, the [[Samuel Courtauld (industrialist)|Courtauld]] family.<ref>Aldous, p. 68</ref> Originally Sargent and Beecham had in mind a reorganised version of the LSO, but the orchestra baulked at weeding out and replacing underperforming players. In 1932 Beecham lost patience and agreed with Sargent to set up a new orchestra from scratch.<ref>Reid, p. 202</ref> The [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]] (LPO), as it was named, consisted of 106 players including a few young musicians straight from music college, many established players from provincial orchestras, and 17 of the LSO's leading members.<ref>Morrison, p. 79</ref>

[[File:W. Mengelberg.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Willem Mengelberg]]
To try to raise its own standards the LSO had engaged Mengelberg, a famous orchestral trainer, known as a perfectionist.<ref>Shore, pp. 111–113</ref> He made it a precondition that the deputy system must be abandoned, which occurred in 1929.<ref name=lso20s>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3281/1920s-and-1930s "1920s and 1930s"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 16 July 2012</ref> He conducted the orchestra for the 1930 season, and music critics commented on the improvement in the playing.<ref>Morrison, p. 66</ref> Nonetheless, as patently the third-best orchestra in London, the LSO lost work it had long been used to, including the Covent Garden seasons, the Royal Philharmonic Society concerts and the Courtauld-Sargent concerts.<ref>Morrison, pp. 66 and 82</ref> The orchestra persuaded [[Hamilton Harty|Sir Hamilton Harty]], the popular conductor of the Hallé Orchestra, to move from Manchester to become the LSO's principal conductor. Harty brought with him eight of the Hallé's leading players to replenish the LSO's ranks, depleted by defections to the BBC and Beecham.<ref>Morrison, p. 84</ref> Critics including [[Neville Cardus]] recognised the continued improvement in the LSO's playing: "On this evening's hearing the London Symphony Orchestra is likely, after all, to give its two rivals a gallant run. Under Sir Hamilton it will certainly take on a style of sincere expression, distinguished from the virtuoso brilliance cultivated by the B.B.C. Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Beecham."<ref>Cardus, Neville. "London Symphony Orchestra", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 8 November 1932, p. 5</ref> Among the milestones on the orchestra's path to recovery were the premieres of [[William Walton|Walton]]'s ''[[Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)|Belshazzar's Feast]]'' (1930) and [[Symphony No. 1 (Walton)|First Symphony]] (1934), showing the orchestra "capable of rising to the challenge of the most demanding contemporary scores" (Morrison).<ref>Morrison, p. 86</ref>

The foundation of the [[Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne Festival]] in 1934 was another good thing for the LSO, as its players made up nearly the entirety of the festival orchestra.<ref>Morrison, p. 83</ref> An important additional source of income for the orchestra was the film industry. In March 1935 the LSO recorded [[Arthur Bliss]]'s incidental music for [[Alexander Korda]]'s film ''[[Things to Come]]''. According to the LSO's website the recording took 14 full orchestral sessions and "started a veritable revolution in film production history.&nbsp;... For the first time, music for the cinema, previously regarded as a lowly art form, captured the attention of classical music scholars and enthusiasts, music critics and the film and music public. The LSO had begun its long historic journey as the premier film orchestra."<ref name=film>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3151/LSO-and-Film-Music "LSO and Film Music"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930173905/http://lso.co.uk/page/3151/LSO-and-Film-Music |date=30 September 2011 }}, London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 16 July 2012</ref>

In London Harty did not prove to be a box-office draw, and according to Morrison, he was "brutally and hurtfully" dropped in 1934, as his LSO predecessor Elgar had been in 1912.<ref>Morrison, p. 34</ref> After this the orchestra did not appoint a chief conductor for nearly 20 years.<ref>Morrison, p. 174</ref> By 1939 the orchestra's board was planning an ambitious programme for 1940, with guests including Bruno Walter, [[Leopold Stokowski]], [[Erich Kleiber]] and [[George Szell]].<ref>Morrison, p. 89</ref>

===1940s and 50s===
When the Second World War broke out the orchestra's plans had to be almost completely changed. During the First World War the public's appetite for concert-going diminished drastically, but from the start of the Second it was clear that there was a huge demand for live music.<ref>Morrison, pp. 53 and 89</ref> The LSO arranged a series of concerts conducted by Wood, with whom the orchestra was completely reconciled.<ref>Morrison, p. 90</ref> When the BBC evacuated its orchestra from London and abandoned [[the Proms]], the LSO took over for Wood.<ref name=m89>Jacobs, p. 348</ref> The Carnegie Trust, with the support of the British government, contracted the LSO to tour Britain, taking live music to towns where symphony concerts were hitherto unknown.<ref>Morrison, p. 91</ref>

The orchestra's loss of manpower was far worse in the Second World War than in the First. Between 1914 and 1918 there were 33 members of the LSO away on active service; between 1939 and 1945 there were more than 60, of whom seven were killed.<ref>Morrison, pp. 53 and 92–93</ref> The orchestra found replacements wherever it could, including the bands of army regiments based in London, whose brass and woodwind players were unofficially recruited.<ref>Morrison pp. 92–93</ref>

During the war it had become clear that private patronage was no longer a practical means of sustaining Britain's musical life; a state body, the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts – the forerunner of the [[Arts Council of Great Britain|Arts Council]] – was established, and given a modest budget for public subsidy.<ref>Morrison, p. 96</ref> The council made it a condition of sponsoring the LSO that the profit-sharing principle should be abandoned and the players made salaried employees. This renunciation of the principles for which the LSO had been founded was rejected by the players, and the offered subsidy was declined.<ref>Morrison, p. 97</ref>

[[File:Royal Festival Hall and Shot Tower c1959.jpg|thumb|right|The Royal Festival Hall: the LSO and LPO battled each other for residency in 1951]]
At the end of the war the LSO had to face new competition. The [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] and the [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]] had survived the war intact, the latter, abandoned by Beecham, as a self-governing body. All three were quickly overshadowed by two new orchestras: [[Walter Legge]]'s [[Philharmonia]] and Beecham's [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]].<ref>Morrison, pp. 98–100</ref> To survive, the LSO played in hundreds of concerts of popular classics under undistinguished conductors. By 1948 the orchestra was anxious to resume promoting its own concert series.<ref name=m100>Morrison, p. 100</ref> The players decided to accept the Arts Council's conditions for subsidy, and changed the LSO's constitution to replace profit-sharing with salaries.<ref name=1940s/> With a view to raising its playing standards it engaged [[Josef Krips]] as conductor. His commitments in Vienna preventing him from becoming the LSO's chief conductor until 1950, but from his first concert with the orchestra in December 1948 he influenced the playing for the better.<ref name=m100/> His chosen repertoire was good for the box office: cycles of Beethoven symphonies and concertos (the latter featuring [[Wilhelm Kempff]] in one season and [[Claudio Arrau]] in another) helped restore the orchestra's finances as well as its musical standards.<ref>Morrison, pp. 101–102</ref> With Krips and others the orchestra recorded extensively for the [[Decca Records|Decca Record Company]] during the early 1950s.<ref name=decca/> The orchestra's workload in these years was second only to the other self-governing London orchestra, the LPO: the LPO played 248 concerts in the 1949–50 season; the LSO 103; the BBC SO 55; the Philharmonia and RPO 32 each.<ref>Hill, pp. 49–50</ref> When the [[Royal Festival Hall]] opened in 1951 the LSO and LPO engaged in a mutually bruising campaign for sole residency there. Neither was successful, and the Festival Hall became the main London venue for both orchestras and for the RPO and Philharmonia.<ref>Morrison, pp. 106–107</ref>

Krips left the LSO in 1954,<ref>"Mr. Krips's Resignation from L.S.O.", ''The Times'', 24 June 1954, p. 6</ref> and the following year tensions between the orchestral principals and the rank-and-file players erupted into an irreconcilable dispute. The principals argued that the future of the LSO lay in profitable session work for film companies, rather than in the overcrowded field of London concerts. They also wished to be free to accept such engagements individually, absenting themselves from concerts if there were a clash of dates.<ref>Morrison, p. 109</ref> The LSO's board, which reflected the majority opinion of the players, refused to accommodate the principals, most of whom resigned ''en masse'', to form the [[Sinfonia of London]], a session ensemble that flourished from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, and then faded away.{{#tag:ref|Morrison comments that the LSO would probably also have faded away if it had gone down the same route. The Sinfonia of London was no longer extant at the time of the [[Alan T. Peacock|Peacock]] Committee's report on orchestral resources in Great Britain in 1970, where it is not mentioned in the lists of chamber or symphony orchestras. The Sinfonia's director, the flautist and former LSO chairman, Gordon Walker, died in 1965. The title "Sinfonia of London" was purchased from his heirs in 1982 for use by a new ensemble.<ref>Morrison, p. 109; Peacock, pp. 4–12; and "Mr. Gordon Walker", ''The Times'', 21 August 1965, p. 8</ref>|group= n}} For fifteen years after the split the LSO did little film work, recording only six soundtracks between 1956 and 1971, compared with more than 70 films between 1940 and 1955.<ref name=m280/>

To replace the departing principals the LSO recruited rising young players including [[Hugh Maguire (violinist)|Hugh Maguire]], [[Neville Marriner]] and [[Simon Streatfeild]] in the string sections, [[Gervase de Peyer]] and [[William Waterhouse (bassoonist)|William Waterhouse]] in the woodwinds, and [[Barry Tuckwell]] and [[Denis Wick]] in the brass. With the new intake the orchestra rapidly advanced in standards and status.<ref>Morrison, p. 110</ref> The average age of the LSO players dropped to about 30.<ref name=1940s>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3284/1940s-and-1950s "1940s and 1950s"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 8 July 2012</ref> In 1956 the orchestra visited South Africa to play at the Johannesburg Festival.<ref name=1940s/> The players were impressed by the dynamic director of the festival, [[Ernest Fleischmann]], and engaged him as general secretary of the orchestra when the post fell vacant in 1959.<ref>Morrison, pp. 32 and 258</ref> He was the LSO's first professional manager; all his predecessors as secretary/managing director had been orchestral players combining the duties with their orchestral playing.<ref name=conductors/>

===1960s===
To raise the profile and prestige of the orchestra, Fleischman strove to attract top soloists and conductors to work with the LSO. After Krips's resignation the orchestra had worked with a few leading conductors, including Klemperer, Stokowski, [[Jascha Horenstein]] and [[Pierre Monteux]], but also with many less eminent ones. Fleischmann later said, "It wasn't difficult to change the list of conductors that the orchestra worked with, because one couldn't do much worse, really".<ref>Quoted in Morrison, p. 133</ref>{{#tag:ref|Among those under whom the LSO played during the middle and late 1950s were lesser-known conductors such as Leighton Lucas, Alan J Kirby, [[Gaston Poulet]], John Russell, [[Eugen Szenkar]], Thornton Lofthouse, Foster Clark, [[Royalton Kisch]], Thomas Scherman and Samuel Rosenheim.<ref>"Opera And Ballet", ''The Times'', 13 March 1954, p. 2 (Lucas); "Croydon Philharmonic Society", ''The Times'', 13 May 1954, p. 9 (Kirby); "London Symphony Orchestra", ''The Times'', 28 June 1954, p. 3 (Poulet); "Opera And Ballet", ''The Times'', 3 July 1954, p. 2 (Russell ); "Opera And Ballet", ''The Times'', 19 March 1955, p. 2 (Szenkar); "Opera And Ballet", ''The Times'', 18 June 1955, p. 2 (Lofthouse); "Opera And Ballet", ''The Times'', 9 February 1957, p. 2 (Clark); "Concerts", ''The Times'', 9 March 1957, p. 2 (Kisch); "Opera And Ballet", ''The Times'', 8 June 1957, p. 2 (Scherman); and "Opera And Ballet", ''The Times'', 5 September 1959, p. 2 (Rosenheim)</ref>|group= n}} A rising conductor of a younger generation, [[Georg Solti]], began working with the LSO; Fleischmann persuaded the management of the [[Vienna Festival]] to engage the LSO with Solti, Stokowski and Monteux for the 1961 Festwochen.<ref>Morrison, p. 136</ref>

[[File:Pierre Monteux, Conductor of the Ballets Russes (c1911-1914) - Gallica (cropped, BW).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Pierre Monteux]]
While in Vienna, Fleischmann persuaded Monteux to accept the chief conductorship of the orchestra. Though 86 years old, Monteux asked for, and received, a 25-year contract with a 25-year option of renewal. He lived for another three years, working with the LSO to within weeks of his death.<ref>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3285/1960s-and-1970s "1960s and 1970s"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 15 July 2012; and "Opera Ballet and Concerts", ''The Times'', 4 April 1964, p. 2</ref> Members of the LSO believed that in those few years he had transformed the orchestra; Neville Marriner said that Monteux "made them feel like an international orchestra&nbsp;... He gave them extended horizons and some of his achievements with the orchestra, both at home and abroad, gave them quite a different constitution."<ref>Tolansky, John. "Monteux in London", ''Classical Recordings Quarterly'', Autumn 2003, Number 34, pp. 16–19</ref> Announcing Monteux's appointment, Fleischmann added that the LSO would also work frequently with [[Antal Doráti]] and the young [[Colin Davis]].<ref>"Monteux for the L.S.O.", ''The Times'', 16 August 1961, p. 11</ref>

Together with Tuckwell, chairman of the orchestra, Fleischmann worked to create the LSO Trust, a fund to finance tours and provide sick and holiday pay for LSO players, thus ending, as Morrison says, "nearly sixty years of 'no play, no pay'&nbsp;... this was a revolution."<ref>Morrison, p. 140</ref> They also pioneered formal sponsorship by commercial firms: the orchestra's "Peter Stuyvesant" concerts, underwritten by the tobacco company of that name, were given in London, [[Guildford]], [[Bournemouth]], Manchester and [[Swansea]].<ref>"L.S.O. To Visit Manchester", ''The Times'', 28 February 1964, p. 16</ref> The company also sponsored LSO commissions of new works by British composers.<ref>"Four To Write For L.S.O.", ''The Times'', 10 September 1964, p. 8</ref>

In 1964, the LSO undertook its first world tour, taking in Israel, Turkey, Iran, India, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and the United States. The following year [[István Kertész (conductor)|István Kertész]] was appointed principal conductor.<ref name=lso60s>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3285/1960s-and-1970s "1960s and 1970s"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 15 July 2012</ref> Negotiations with the Corporation of the City of London with a view to establishing the LSO as the resident orchestra of the planned [[Barbican Centre]] began in the same year.<ref name=lso60s/> In 1966 [[Leonard Bernstein]] conducted the LSO for the first time, in [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]]'s ''[[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)|Symphony of a Thousand]]'' at the [[Royal Albert Hall]]. This was another coup for Fleischmann, who had to overcome Bernstein's scorn for the inadequate rehearsal facilities endured by London orchestras.<ref>Morrison, p. 145</ref> Bernstein remained associated with the LSO for the rest of his life, and was its president from 1987 to 1990.<ref name=conductors>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3218/LSO-Principal-Conductors-and-Title-Holders "LSO Principal Conductors and Title Holders"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 16 July 2012</ref>

Mindful of the enormous success of the [[Philharmonia Chorus]], founded in 1957 by Legge to work with his Philharmonia Orchestra, the LSO decided to establish its own chorus.<ref>Morrison, p. 181</ref> The [[London Symphony Chorus|LSO Chorus]] (later called the London Symphony Chorus) was formed in 1966 under [[John Alldis]] as chorus master.<ref name=lso60s/> Its early years were difficult; Kertész did not get on with Alldis, and there were difficulties within the chorus. Most of its members were amateurs, but at first, they were reinforced by a small number of professionals. This led to disputes over the balance between amateurs and professionals.<ref name="Morrison 182">Morrison, p. 182</ref> There was a brief crisis, after which the professional element was removed, and the LSO chorus became, and remains, an outstanding amateur chorus.<ref name="Morrison 182"/>

By 1967 many in the LSO felt that Fleischmann was seeking to exert too much influence on the affairs of the orchestra, and he resigned.<ref>Morrison, pp. 159–161</ref> Kertész, too, was dispensed with when he sought control of all artistic matters; his contract was not renewed when it expired in 1968.<ref>Morrison, pp. 164–165.</ref> His successor as principal conductor was [[André Previn]], who held the post for 11 years – at 2013 the longest tenure of the post to date.<ref name=lso60s/>

By the Previn era the LSO was being described as the finest of the London orchestras.<ref>Coleman, Terry. "Orchestral life and hard times", ''The Guardian'', 21 July 1969, p. 6</ref> A reviewer of an Elgar recording by one of the other orchestras remarked, "these symphonies really deserve the LSO at its peak."<ref>Fiske, Roger. "Elgar Symphonies", ''Gramophone'', October 1968, p. 52</ref> The implication that the LSO was not always at its peak was illustrated when Sir Adrian Boult, who was recording Elgar and Vaughan Williams with the LSO, refused to continue when he discovered that five leading principals had absented themselves. [[EMI]] took Boult's side, and the orchestra apologised.<ref>"A protest by Sir Adrian", ''The Guardian'', 6 August 1970, p. 1</ref>

===1970s and 80s===
In 1971, [[John Culshaw]] of BBC television commissioned "André Previn's Music Night", bringing classical music to a large new audience. Previn would talk informally direct to camera and then turn and conduct the LSO, whose members were dressed in casual sweaters or shirts rather than formal evening clothes.<ref name=m180/> The programme attracted unprecedented viewing figures for classical music;<ref name=culshaw>"Mr John Culshaw", ''The Times'', 29 April 1980, p. 16</ref> Morrison writes, "More British people heard the LSO play in ''Music Night'' in one week than in sixty-five years of LSO concerts."<ref name=m180>Morrison, p. 180</ref> Several series of the programme were screened between 1971 and 1977.<ref>"Broadcasting," ''The Times'', 25 May 1977, p. 31</ref> Previn's popularity with the public enabled him and the LSO to programme works that under other conductors could have been box-office disasters, such as [[Olivier Messiaen|Messiaen]]'s ''[[Turangalila]]'' Symphony.<ref>Camden, Anthony, ''quoted'' in Previn, p. 215</ref> In the early 1970s the LSO recorded two firsts for a British orchestra, appearing at the [[Salzburg Festival]], conducted by Previn, [[Seiji Ozawa]] and [[Karl Böhm]], in 1973, and playing at the [[Hollywood Bowl]] the following year.<ref name=lso60s/>

[[File:The Henry Wood Hall (former Holy Trinity Church) - geograph.org.uk - 847582.jpg|thumb|left|Henry Wood Hall, acquired and converted by the LSO and the LPO in the 1970s]]
The lack of good rehearsal facilities to which Bernstein had objected was addressed in the 1970s when, jointly with the LPO, the LSO acquired and restored a disused church in [[Southwark]], converting it into the [[Henry Wood Hall, London|Henry Wood Hall]], a convenient and acoustically excellent rehearsal space and recording studio, opened in 1975.<ref>[[William Mann (critic)|Mann, William]]. "The making of a rehearsal hall", ''The Times'', 17 June 1975, p. 11</ref>

In 1978, two aspects of the LSO's non-symphonic work were recognised. The orchestra shared in three [[Grammy]] awards for the score to ''[[Star Wars (soundtrack)|Star Wars]]''; and the LSO "Classic Rock" recordings, in the words of the orchestra's website, became hugely popular and provided handsome royalties.<ref name=lso60s/> The recordings led to "Classic Rock" tours by the orchestra, characterised by Morrison as "enormously lucrative but artistically demeaning."<ref>Morrison, p. 184</ref>

[[Claudio Abbado]], principal guest conductor since 1971, succeeded Previn as chief conductor in the orchestra's diamond jubilee year, 1979.<ref>Huckerby, Martin "Claudio Abbado to be LSO conductor", ''The Times'', 20 October 1977, p. 19</ref> In a 1988 study of the LSO in ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' magazine James Jolly wrote that Abbado was in many ways the antithesis of Previn in terms of style and repertoire, bringing to the orchestra a particular authority in the Austro-German classics as well as a commitment to the avant-garde.<ref name=jolly/> From the orchestra's point of view there were disadvantages to his appointment. His relationship with the players was distant and he was unable to impose discipline on the orchestra in rehearsals. He insisted on conducting without a score, and many times this led to barely-avoided disaster in concerts.<ref>Morrison, p. 122</ref> Abbado had considerable international prestige, but this too had its downside for the LSO: he frequently made his major recordings with the Boston or [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra|Chicago]] Symphony Orchestras or the [[Vienna Philharmonic]]. One of the LSO's principals commented, "Although we were sweating our guts playing those vast Mahler symphonies for&nbsp;... Abbado, he would go and record them with other orchestras, which made us feel like second, maybe even third choice".<ref>Murphy, Maurice, ''The Sunday Times'' magazine, 17 July 1988, ''quoted'' by Jolly.</ref>

In 1982, the LSO took up residence at the Barbican. In the first years of the residency, the orchestra came close to financial disaster, primarily because of over-ambitious programming and the poor ticket sales that resulted.<ref>Shakespeare, Nicholas. "The maze ends at the box office", ''The Times'', 2 March 1985, p. 7</ref> ''The Times'' commented that the LSO "were tempted by their own need for challenge (and a siren chorus of critics) to begin a series of more modern and adventurous music: six nights a week of [[Michael Tippett|Tippett]], [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], [[Anton Webern|Webern]], [[Karlheinz Stockhausen|Stockhausen]] designed to draw in a new public. Instead it put an old audience to flight."<ref name=james>James, Brian. "The orchestra that opened up", ''The Times'', 28 February 1987, p. 37</ref> The LSO's difficulties were compounded by the satirical magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'', which ran a series of defamatory articles about the orchestra. The articles were almost wholly untrue and the magazine was forced to pay substantial libel damages, but in the short term serious damage was done to the orchestra's reputation and morale.<ref name=james/>

[[File:Leonard Bernstein by Jack Mitchell.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Leonard Bernstein]]
In August 1984, the orchestra's managing director, [[Peter Hemmings]], resigned. For the first time since 1949, the orchestra appointed one of its players to the position.{{#tag:ref|The last internal appointee to the post had been the woodwind player John Cruft who held it from 1949 to 1959. Since then the post had been held by Fleischmann, Harold Lawrence (1968–73), John Boyden (1974–75), Michael Kaye (1975–79) and Hemmings (1980–84), whose backgrounds were in administration and management.<ref name=conductors/>|group= n}} [[Clive Gillinson]], a cellist, took over at a bad time in the LSO's fortunes, and played a central role in turning them round. He negotiated what Morrison calls "a dazzling series of mega-projects, each built around the personal enthusiasm of a 'star' conductor or soloist", producing sell-out houses.<ref>Morrison, p. 210</ref> In 1985 the orchestra mounted "Mahler, Vienna and the Twentieth Century", planned by Abbado, followed the next year by an equally successful Bernstein festival.<ref name=lso80s>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3286/1980s-and-1990s "1980s and 1990s"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 16 July 2012</ref>

During 1988 the orchestra adopted an education policy which included the establishment of "[https://lso.co.uk/lso-discovery.html LSO Discovery]", offering "people of all ages, from babies through music students to adults, an opportunity to get involved in music-making".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=London Symphony Orchestra - About LSO Discovery|url=https://lso.co.uk/lso-discovery/about-lso-discovery.html|access-date=28 September 2020|website=lso.co.uk}}</ref> The programme is still in place in 2022, benefiting more than 60,000 people every year.<ref name=":0" />

In September 1988, [[Michael Tilson Thomas]] succeeded Abbado as chief conductor.<ref>Bowen, Meirion. "Licensed to discover: Michael Tilson Thomas's fresh approach could liven up the LSO", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 19 June 1987, p. 16; and Griffiths, Paul. "Brave start", ''The Times'', 16 September 1988, p. 18</ref>

In 1989, the Royal Philharmonic Society established its Orchestra Award for "excellence in playing and playing standards"; the LSO was the first winner.<ref name=lso80s/>

===1990s to the present===
The LSO visited Japan in 1990 with Bernstein and Tilson Thomas. The conductors and players took part in the inaugural Pacific Music Festival in [[Sapporo]], teaching and giving masterclasses for 123 young musicians from 18 countries.<ref>[http://www.pmf.or.jp/en/about/history/ "History and photos"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121219114653/http://www.pmf.or.jp/en/about/history/ |date=19 December 2012 }}, Pacific Music Festival. Retrieved 17 July 2012</ref> [[Colin Matthews]] was appointed as the orchestra's associate composer in 1991, and the following year Richard McNicol became LSO Discovery's first music [[wikt: animateur|animateur]].<ref name=lso80s/> Gillison secured increased funding from the Arts Council, the [[City of London Corporation]] and commercial sponsors, enabling the orchestra to set up a system of joint principals, attracting top musicians who could play in the LSO without having to give up their solo or chamber careers.<ref>Morrison, p. 211.</ref>

In 1993, the LSO again featured in a British television series, playing in ''Concerto!'' with Tilson Thomas and [[Dudley Moore]]. Among those appearing were [[Alicia de Larrocha]], [[James Galway]], [[Steven Isserlis]], [[Barry Douglas (musician)|Barry Douglas]], [[Richard Stoltzman]] and [[Kyoko Takezawa]].<ref name=eg>Greenfield, Edward. "Concert season", ''The Guardian'', 14 August 1993, p. 22</ref> The series received an [[Emmy Award]].<ref name=lso80s/> In 1994 the orchestra and the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] (RSC), resident at the Barbican Theatre, came under threat from a new managing director of the Barbican Centre, Baroness [[Detta O'Cathain, Baroness O'Cathain|O'Cathain]], an economist with no cultural background. O'Cathain, described by Morrison as "a Thatcherite free marketeer", dismissed the LSO and RSC as "arty-farty types", and opposed public subsidy.<ref name=m219/> Such was the press and public reaction that she was obliged to seek a vote of confidence from the LSO and RSC; failing to gain it, she resigned, and was succeeded by [[John Tusa]], whom Morrison calls "steeped in culture." The danger that the concert hall would become a conference centre was averted.<ref name=m219>Morrison, pp. 219–220.</ref>

[[File:Sir Colin Davis.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sir Colin Davis]]
In 1995, Sir Colin Davis was appointed chief conductor. He had first conducted the LSO in 1959, and had been widely expected to succeed Monteux as principal conductor in 1964.<ref>Morrison, pp. 146–147</ref> Among the most conspicuous of Davis's projects with the orchestra was the LSO's most ambitious festival thus far, the "Berlioz Odyssey", in which all Berlioz's major works were given.<ref name=lso80s/> The festival continued into 2000. Many of the performances, including ''[[Les Troyens]]'', were recorded for the orchestra's new CD label, LSO Live, launched in 2000.<ref name=lso80s/><ref name=lso00s>[http://lso.co.uk/orchestra/history/chronology-alt/2000s "2000s and 2010s"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 26 January 2016</ref> ''Les Troyens'' won two [[Grammy]] awards.<ref name=lso00s/> Author [[Jilly Cooper]] spent time with the orchestra in the 1990s researching for her novel ''[[Appassionata (novel)|Appassionata]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |date=19 January 1996 |title=Sex and Chopin on the score for the symphonists |work=The Bookseller |pages=44}}</ref>''

In 2003, with backing from the banking firm UBS, the orchestra opened [[LSO St Luke's]], its music education centre, in a former church near the Barbican. The following year the orchestra celebrated its centenary, with a gala concert attended by the LSO's Patron, [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|the Queen]]. After serving as managing director for 21 years, Clive Gillinson left to become chief executive of [[Carnegie Hall]], New York. His successor was Kathryn McDowell.<ref name=lso00s/>

In 2006, [[Daniel Harding]] joined Michael Tilson Thomas as principal guest conductor.  At the end of 2006, Davis stood down as principal conductor and became president of the LSO in January 2007, its first since the death of Bernstein in 1990.  [[Valery Gergiev]] became principal conductor of the LSO on 1 January 2007.<ref name=lso00s/> In Gergiev's first season in charge a complete cycle of Mahler Symphonies was given, with the Barbican Hall sold out for every concert.<ref name=lso00s/> In 2009 Davis and the LSO celebrated 50 years of working together. In the same year the LSO took over from the Berlin Philharmonic as the resident orchestra at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, adding to a roster of international residences at venues including the [[Lincoln Center]] in New York, the [[Salle Pleyel]] in Paris and the [[Daytona Beach]] International Festival in Florida.<ref>[http://lso.co.uk/page/3139/Residencies "Residencies"], London Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 22 July 2012</ref> In 2010 the LSO visited Poland and Abu Dhabi for the first time and made its first return to India since the 1964 world tour.<ref name=lso00s/> The orchestra played at the [[2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony]], conducted by [[Sir Simon Rattle]].<ref>Rayner Gordon. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:DSTC&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=1405DE3A3B47B478&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "Parachuting in, the Queen and 007"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 28 2012</ref>

In March 2015, the LSO simultaneously announced the departure of Gergiev as principal conductor at the end of 2015, and the appointment of [[Sir Simon Rattle]] as its music director from September 2017, with an initial contract of five years.<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://lso.co.uk/more/news/392-sir-simon-rattle-appointed-music-director.html | title=Sir Simon Rattle appointed Music Director | publisher=London Symphony Orchestra | date=2015-03-03 | access-date=2021-01-11}}</ref> In February 2016, the orchestra announced that beginning with the 2016–17 season [[Gianandrea Noseda]] would be titled "Principal Guest Conductor" (joining the orchestra's other Principal Guest Conductor, [[Daniel Harding]], who held that post 2006-2017), and that [[Michael Tilson Thomas]] would be titled "Conductor Laureate" and [[Andre Previn]] would be titled "Conductor Emeritus."<ref>Midgette, Anne. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2016/02/24/noseda-gets-new-assignment/?postshare=2201456320937644&tid=ss_fb "Incoming NSO music director Noseda gets new assignment"], ''The Washington Post'', 24 February 2016</ref>  In January 2021, the LSO announced an extension of Rattle's contract as music director until the end of the 2023 season, at which time he is scheduled to stand down from the LSO and subsequently to take the title of conductor emeritus for life.<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://lso.co.uk/more/news/1625-sir-simon-rattle-announces-an-extension-of-his-contract-as-music-director-until-2023.html | title=Sir Simon Rattle announces an extension of his contract as Music Director until 2023 and accepts lifetime position of Conductor Emeritus thereafter | publisher=London Symphony Orchestra | date=2021-01-11 | access-date=2021-01-11}}</ref>

[[Sir Antonio Pappano]] first guest-conducted the LSO in 1996.  In March 2021, the LSO announced his appointment as its next chief conductor, effective in September 2024.<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://lso.co.uk/more/news/1645-london-symphony-orchestra-appoints-sir-antonio-pappano-as-chief-conductor.html | title=London Symphony Orchestra appoints Sir Antonio Pappano as Chief Conductor | publisher=London Symphony Orchestra | date=2021-03-30 | access-date=2021-03-30}}</ref> In February 2022, [[Barbara Hannigan]] was announced as "Associate Artist" for three years.<ref>{{Cite web|title=London Symphony Orchestra - London Symphony Orchestra names Barbara Hannigan as Associate Artist|url=https://lso.co.uk/more/news/1777-london-symphony-orchestra-names-barbara-hannigan-as-associate-artist.html|access-date=2022-02-25|website=lso.co.uk}}</ref>