Editing Royal College of Music (section)

===Background===
{{main|National Training School of Music}}
The Royal College of Music was founded in 1883 to replace the short-lived and unsuccessful [[National Training School of Music]] (NTSM). The idea for the NTSM was initially proposed by the [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Consort]] decades before the school opened. Conservatoires to train young students for a musical career had been set up in major [[Europe|European]] cities, but in London the long-established [[Royal Academy of Music]] had not supplied suitable training for professional musicians: in 1870 it was estimated that fewer than ten per cent of instrumentalists in London orchestras had studied at the academy.<ref name=wright>Wright, David [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3557473 "The South Kensington Music Schools and the Development of the British Conservatoire in the Late Nineteenth Century"], ''Journal of the Royal Musical Association'', Vol. 130, No. 2 (2005), pp. 236–282 {{subscription required}}</ref> 

The NTSM opened in 1876, with [[Arthur Sullivan]] as its principal. Under Sullivan, a reluctant and ineffectual principal, the NTSM failed to provide a satisfactory alternative to the [[Royal Academy of Music|Royal Academy]] and, by 1880, a committee of examiners comprising [[Charles Hallé]], [[Julius Benedict|Sir Julius Benedict]], [[Michael Costa (conductor)|Sir Michael Costa]], [[Henry David Leslie|Henry Leslie]] and [[Otto Goldschmidt]] reported that the school lacked "executive cohesion".<ref name=wright/> The following year Sullivan resigned and was replaced by [[John Stainer]].<ref name=mt/> The original plan was to merge the Royal Academy of Music and the National Training School of Music into a single, enhanced organisation. The NTSM agreed, but after prolonged negotiations, the Royal Academy refused to enter into the proposed scheme.<ref name=mt>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3357634 "The Proposed College for Music"], ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', Vol. 23, No. 467 (January 1882), pp. 17–18 {{subscription required}}</ref>

In 1881, with [[George Grove]] as a leading instigator and with the support of the Prince of Wales, a draft charter was drawn up for a successor body to the NTSM. The Royal College of Music occupied the premises previously home to the NTSM and opened there on 7 May 1883. Grove was appointed its first director.<ref name=mt83>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3357708 "Royal College of Music"], ''The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular'', Vol. 24, No. 484 (June 1883), pp. 309–310 {{subscription required}}</ref> There were 50 scholars elected by competition and 42 fee-paying students.<ref name=grove>Rainbow, Bernarr and Anthony Kemp. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/16904pg8 "London – Educational establishments"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 4 January 2012 {{subscription required}}</ref>