Editing London Philharmonic Orchestra (section)

===Background===
In the 1920s, the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] (LSO) was the city's best-known concert and recording orchestra. Others were the [[Royal Albert Hall]] Orchestra, the orchestra of the [[Royal Philharmonic Society]], the [[BBC]]'s Wireless Symphony Orchestra and [[Henry Wood|Sir Henry Wood]]'s [[Queen's Hall]] Orchestra.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/917033 "The B.B.C."], ''[[The Musical Times]]'', 1 January 1928, p.&nbsp;70. {{subscription required}}; and Elkin, p.&nbsp;93.</ref> All except the last of these were essentially ''ad hoc'' ensembles, with little continuity of personnel,{{refn|Despite the efforts of Wood, Beecham and others, the deputy system remained a traditional part of the London orchestral scene. A player booked for a concert could accept a better-paid engagement and send a substitute in his stead. The treasurer of the Royal 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 shillings to stay away."<ref>Levien, John Mewburn, ''quoted'' in Reid (1961), p.&nbsp;50.</ref>|group=n}} and none approached the excellence of the best continental and American orchestras. This became obvious in 1927 when the [[Berlin Philharmonic]], under [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]], gave two concerts at the Queen's Hall.<ref>Elkin, p.&nbsp;93.</ref> The chief music critic of ''[[The Times]]'' later commented, "the British public&nbsp;... was electrified when it heard the disciplined precision of the Berlin Philharmonic&nbsp;... This apparently was how an orchestra could, and, therefore, ought to sound".<ref>''Quoted'' in Elkin, p.&nbsp;49.</ref> After the Berliners, London heard a succession of major foreign orchestras, including the [[Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra|Concertgebouw Orchestra]] of Amsterdam under [[Willem Mengelberg]] and the [[New York Philharmonic|Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York]] under [[Arturo Toscanini]].<ref name=patmore>Patmore, David. [https://www.proquest.com/docview/968184 "EMI, Sir Thomas Beecham, and the formation of the London Philharmonic Orchestra"], ''ARSC Journal'', 32(1), 2001, pp.&nbsp;11–27. {{subscription required}}</ref>

[[File:Sir-Thomas-Beecham-US-1948.jpg|thumb|left|[[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]], founding father and first conductor of the LPO]]
Among those determined that London should have a permanent orchestra of similar excellence were [[John Reith, 1st Baron Reith|Sir John Reith]], director-general of the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] (BBC), and the conductor [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]]. In 1928 they opened discussions about jointly setting up such an ensemble, but after 18 months of negotiations it became clear that the corporation and the conductor had irreconcilable priorities. Beecham demanded more personal control of the orchestra and repertoire than the BBC was willing to concede, and his priorities were the opera house and the concert hall rather than the broadcasting studio.<ref>Kenyon, Nicholas. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/961148 "Beecham and the BBC Symphony Orchestra: A Collaboration that Never Happened"], ''[[The Musical Times]]'', October 1980, pp.&nbsp;625–628. {{subscription required}}</ref> The BBC went ahead without him, and under its director of music, [[Adrian Boult]], launched the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] in October 1930, to immense acclaim.<ref>"Music", ''The Times'', 23 October 1930, p.&nbsp;12; [https://www.jstor.org/stable/914348 "London Concerts"], ''The Musical Times'', December 1930, pp.&nbsp;1124–1127. {{subscription required}}; and "Music", ''The Observer'', 26 October 1930, p.&nbsp;14.</ref>

In 1931, Beecham was approached by the rising young [[Conducting|conductor]] [[Malcolm Sargent]] with a proposal to set up a permanent, salaried orchestra with a subsidy guaranteed by Sargent's patrons, the [[Samuel Courtauld (art collector)|Courtauld]] family.<ref>Aldous, p.&nbsp;68.</ref> Originally Sargent and Beecham envisaged a reshuffled version of the LSO, but the orchestra, a self-governing body, balked 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 (1968), p.&nbsp;202.</ref> With the BBC having attracted a large number of the finest musicians from other orchestras, many in the musical world doubted that Beecham could find enough good players.<ref>Russell, p.&nbsp;16; and Jenkins, p.&nbsp;99.</ref> He was fortunate in the timing of the enterprise: the depressed economy had severely reduced the number of freelance dates available to orchestral players.<ref>Russell, p.&nbsp;17.</ref> Moreover, Beecham himself was a strong attraction to many musicians: he later commented, "I always get the players. Among other considerations, they are so good they refuse to play under anybody but me."<ref>Jenkins, p.&nbsp;99.</ref> In a study of the foundation of the LPO, David Patmore writes, "The combination of steady work, occasionally higher than usual rates, variety of performance and Beecham's own magnetic personality would make such an offering irresistible to many orchestral musicians."<ref name="patmore" />

Beecham and Sargent had financial backing from leading figures in commerce, including [[Samuel Courtauld (art collector)|Samuel Courtauld]], [[Robert Mayer (philanthropist)|Robert Mayer]] and [[Frédéric Alfred d'Erlanger|Baron Frédéric d'Erlanger]],<ref name=t1>"London Philharmonic Orchestra", ''The Times'', 9 September 1932, p.&nbsp;8.</ref> and secured profitable contracts to record for [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia]] and play for the Royal Philharmonic Society, the [[Royal Choral Society]], the Courtauld-Sargent Concerts, Mayer's concerts for children, and the international opera season at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]].<ref>Russell, p.&nbsp;19.</ref>

During his earlier negotiations with the BBC, Beecham had proposed the title "London Philharmonic Orchestra",<ref>Kenyon, pp.&nbsp;20–22</ref> which was now adopted for the new ensemble. With the aid of the impresario [[Harold Holt]] and other influential and informed contacts he recruited 106 players. They included 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.&nbsp;79.</ref> During the early years, the orchestra was led by [[Paul Beard (violinist)|Paul Beard]] and [[David McCallum, Sr.|David McCallum]], and included leading players such as James Bradshaw, [[Gwydion Brooke]], [[Geoffrey Gilbert]], [[Léon Goossens]], [[Gerald Jackson]], [[Reginald Kell]], [[Anthony Pini]] and [[Bernard Walton]].<ref>Russell, pp.&nbsp;135–141.</ref> Holt became the LPO's business manager, and the management board included the orchestra's principal benefactors: Courtauld, Mayer and d'Erlanger.<ref name="t1" />