Editing Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (section)

===Second World War===
After the outbreak of the Second World War there was pressure to suspend the orchestra's concerts. The chairman of the management committee, [[David Webster (opera manager)|David Webster]], strongly resisted it, insisting that music was an essential morale-booster. He set up low-priced concerts for factory workers and members of the armed forces.<ref name=haltrecht/> The pre-war rule insisting that audiences wear formal evening dress was abolished. Webster recruited [[Malcolm Sargent]] as chief conductor; though not generally loved by orchestral players Sargent was immensely popular with the paying public.<ref>Cox, p. 164</ref> Guest conductors included Sir Henry Wood and [[Charles Münch]].<ref name=haltrecht>Haltrecht, pp.. 48–49</ref>

Wartime disbanding of other orchestras - most notably that of the all-star [[BBC Orchestras and Singers#Disbanded BBC ensembles|BBC Salon Orchestra]] on 11 July 1942 after a month's notice<ref>Tunley, David. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YPiADwAAQBAJ&dq=%22bbc+salon+orchestra%22&pg=PT52 The Bel Canto Violin: The Life and Times of Alfredo Campoli]'' (2019)</ref> - enabled Webster and Sargent to recruit leading players such as [[Anthony Pini]] and [[Reginald Kell]], with the result that for a few years the Liverpool Philharmonic had a strong claim to be the finest orchestra in the country.<ref>Aldous, Richard. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=r_OUZvoJHGIC&dq=%22bbc+salon+orchestra%22&pg=PT167 Tunes of Glory: The Life of Malcolm Sargent]'' (2012), p.108</ref> During Webster's period as chairman, the orchestra increased its concerts from 32 a year to 148 and, in 1942, became a permanent body for the first time.<ref name=haltrecht/> Until then the Philharmonic was not a permanent ensemble, but comprised a nucleus of local players augmented from a pool of musicians who also played for the Hallé and latterly [[BBC Philharmonic|BBC Northern Orchestra]]. During the autumn and winter months the orchestra gave no more than one concert in a fortnight.<ref>Haltrecht, p. 48</ref> The Hallé, which operated on a similar ''ad hoc'' basis, followed Liverpool's example the following year and became a permanent ensemble for the first time, under [[John Barbirolli]].<ref>Rigby, pp. 130–132 and Kennedy (1971), p. 167</ref>

The financial situation of the society improved in 1942 when the local authority, Liverpool City Corporation, bought the freehold of the hall for £35,000; the corporation undertook to pay the society an annuity of £4,000 and to allow it free use of the hall provided that it gave an agreed number of concerts each year, and maintained a permanent orchestra.<ref>Kennedy (1982), p. 33</ref> The society agreed to promote musical education in and around Liverpool.<ref name=hm119>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=119}}</ref> In Sargent's first season, the orchestra made its first recording, its first broadcast, and gave its first school children's concert.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|pp=119–120}}</ref> Under him there was a "spectacular explosion" in the number of concerts and recording sessions performed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=125}}</ref> In 1944 the orchestra made its first appearance in London, performing at the [[Royal Albert Hall]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|pp=126, 128}}</ref>  ''The Times'' commented, "If Liverpool felt any qualms about letting its orchestra, accustomed as it is to the perfect acoustics of its own hall, try its fortunes in the rough and tumble of the Albert Hall, they will have been silenced, for what was immediately apparent was … an ensemble and congruity of tone-colouring that London in its less fortunate conditions can only envy".<ref>"Philharmonic Concert", ''The Times'', 20 November 1944, p. 8</ref> Sargent and the orchestra gave the British premieres of [[Michael Tippett|Tippett]]'s [[Symphony No. 1 (Tippett)|First Symphony]], and [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]]'s [[Concerto for Orchestra (Bartók)|Concerto for Orchestra]] and, in October 1946, the concert première of [[Benjamin Britten|Britten's]] ''[[The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra]]''.<ref>Haltrecht, p. 49 (Tippett and Bartók); and "The Liverpool Philharmonic: Plans for Coming Season", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 16 August 1946, p. 8 (Britten)</ref> Guest conductors in the immediate postwar years included Beecham, [[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]], the young [[Charles Groves]], and [[Karl Rankl]], who made so good an impression that he was appointed musical director of the [[The Royal Opera|Covent Garden Opera Company]].<ref>"The Liverpool Philharmonic: Plans for Coming Season", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 16 August 1946, p. 8; and Haltrecht, pp. 80–81</ref>