Editing Philharmonia Orchestra (section)

===Background===
The name "Philharmonia" was adopted by the impresario and recording producer [[Walter Legge]] for a [[string quartet]] he brought together in 1941, comprising [[Henry Holst]], [[Jean Pougnet]], [[Frederick Riddle]] and [[Anthony Pini]]. The name was taken from the title page of the published score Legge used for the first work they recorded.<ref name=p21>Pettitt, p. 21</ref>{{refn|The work was [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart's]] [[String Quartet No. 17 (Mozart)|Quartet no. 17 in B flat, K 458: ''The Hunt'']], published in the Philharmonia Pocket Scores series.<ref name=p21/> The recording was issued on [[EMI Classics|EMI]]'s [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia]] label.<ref>"Quartet No. 17 in B-flat, K. 458: ''The Hunt''" {{OCLC|460084867}}</ref>|group= n}} Temporarily augmented to a [[septet]], the ensemble gave its first concert in the [[Wigmore Hall]], the main item being [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel's]] ''[[Introduction and Allegro (Ravel)|Introduction and Allegro]]''.<ref name=legge/> With several changes of personnel the quartet continued to play in concert and in the recording studio during the [[Second World War]].<ref name=p21/> In 1942 the editor of ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|The Gramophone]]'', [[Compton Mackenzie]], wrote that he had no hesitation in calling the Philharmonia the best string quartet in the country.<ref name=p21/>

During the war, Legge was in charge of the music division of the [[Entertainments National Service Association]] (ENSA), which provided entertainment for British and allied armed forces. In this role he was in close touch with many first-rate musicians in the armed services, from whom he intended to draw when creating a new orchestra after the end of the war.<ref>Pettitt, p. 24</ref> He later set out his guiding principles:
{{quote|
*There are enough first-class musicians in Britain to make one orchestra at least equal and in certain sections, superior, to the best European orchestras. All these players must be in one orchestra – the Philharmonia. 
*I would make an orchestra of such quality that the best instrumentalists would compete for privilege of playing in it. 
*No "passengers". One inferior player can mar an orchestra's ensemble and intonation. 
*An orchestra consisting only of artists distinguished in their own right can give its best only with the best conductors. 
*No permanent conductor. An orchestra working with only one conductor, no matter how gifted he may be, inevitably bears the mark of its permanent conductor's personality, his own particular sonority and his approach to music. The Philharmonia Orchestra must have style, not a style.<ref name=legge>Legge, Walter. "The birth of the Philharmonia", ''[[The Times]]'', 27 December 1975, p. 4</ref>}}

Before the war, Legge had been assistant to [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]] at the [[Royal Opera House|Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]]. Both men wrongly assumed that they would be able to resume their control of the opera house after the war, and Legge conceived of a new orchestra based there, operating on the lines of the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] – playing in the pit for the opera and also giving concerts and making records on its own account.<ref name=legge/><ref>Schwarzkopf, p. 91; and Pettitt, p. 25</ref>  The committee appointed by the British government to re-establish opera and ballet at Covent Garden abandoned the pre-war system of opera seasons, in favour of a permanent year-round company. Neither Beecham nor Legge was invited to run it.<ref>Haltrecht, pp. 51 and 57</ref> Legge nevertheless decided to go ahead with his plans to form an orchestra. Although London already had three permanent symphony orchestras – the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] (LSO), [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] (BBC SO) and [[London Philharmonic Orchestra|London Philharmonic]] (LPO), their personnel and standards had declined during the war and he was convinced he could do better.<ref name=p27>Pettitt, pp. 26–27</ref>