Editing Henry Wood (section)

===First World War and post-war===
On the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Newman, Wood and Speyer discussed whether the Proms should continue as planned. They had by this time become an established institution,{{refn|Although Wood himself did not generally use the term "the Proms", it was common currency by now even in the more formal newspapers. It was used in ''The Observer'' and ''The Musical Times'' in 1912. ''The Times'' and ''The Manchester Guardian'' used the term from 1918 and 1923 respectively.<ref>"Covent Garden Opera – Le Lac Des Cygnes", ''The Observer'', 28 July 1912, p. 7; "London Concerts", ''The Musical Times'', December 1912 pp. 804–07; "The Promenade Concerts – Successful Opening of the Season", ''The Times'', 12 August 1918, p. 9; and Newman, Ernest, "The Week in Music", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 2 August 1923, p. 5</ref> 

Even Wood used the term when referring to the [[The Proms#Last Night of the Proms|Last Night of the Proms]], which he called "the Last Prom of the Season".<ref name=wood192/>|group= n}} and it was agreed to go ahead. However, anti-German feeling forced Speyer to leave the country and seek refuge in the US, and there was a campaign to ban all German music from concerts.<ref>Cox, pp. 64–65</ref> Newman put out a statement declaring that German music would be played as planned: "The greatest examples of Music and Art are world possessions and unassailable even by the prejudices and passions of the hour."<ref>Cox, p. 65</ref> When Speyer left Britain, the music publishers Chappell's took on the responsibility for the Queen's Hall and its orchestra. The Proms continued throughout the war years, with fewer major new works than before, although there were nevertheless British premieres of pieces by [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]], [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] and Debussy. An historian of the Proms, Ateş Orga, wrote, "Concerts often had to be re-timed to coincide with the 'All Clear' between air raids. Falling bombs, shrapnel, anti-aircraft fire and the droning of Zeppelins were ever threatening. But [Wood] kept things on the go and in the end had a very real part to play in boosting morale."<ref>Orga, p. 88</ref>

Towards the end of the war, Wood received an offer by which he was seriously tempted: the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] invited him to become its musical director.<ref>Orga, p. 87</ref> He had been guest conductor of the [[Berlin Philharmonic|Berlin]] and New York Philharmonic Orchestras,<ref>Jacobs pp. 65, 95</ref> but he regarded the Boston orchestra as the finest in the world.<ref name=mop/> Nonetheless, as he told Boult, "it was hard to refuse, but I felt it was a patriotic duty to remain in my own country, at the present moment."<ref>Moore, p. 31</ref>
[[File:Wood-ILN-November 11, 1922; p. 769;.jpg|thumb|right|alt=drawing of a middle-aged man in evening dress, seen from his left, conducting an orchestra|Wood in 1922]]
After the war, the Proms continued much as before. The second halves of concerts still featured piano-accompanied songs rather than serious classical music. Chappell's, having taken over sponsorship of the Proms and spent £35,000 keeping the Queen's Hall going during the war, wished to promote songs published by the company. The management of Chappell's were also less enthusiastic than Wood and Newman about promoting new orchestral works, most of which were not profitable.<ref>Jacobs, p. 171</ref>

In 1921, Wood was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society, the first English conductor to receive the honour.{{refn|Wood was only the second conductor of any nationality to receive the honour, the first being [[Hans von Bülow]] in 1873. Wood received the award four years before it was given to Delius and Elgar (1925). The next conductor to receive the medal was Sir Thomas Beecham (1928).<ref>[http://www.royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/?page=awards/gold/goldmedallist.html "List of Gold Medal holders"] Royal Philharmonic Society. Retrieved 21 November 2010</ref>|group= n}} By now he was beginning to find his position as Britain's leading conductor under challenge from rising younger rivals.  [[Thomas Beecham]] had been an increasingly influential figure since about 1910. He and Wood did not like one another, and each avoided mention of the other in his memoirs.<ref>Jacobs, p. 118</ref> 

Adrian Boult, who, at Wood's recommendation, took over some of his responsibilities at Birmingham in 1923, always admired and respected Wood.<ref>Kennedy, p. 90</ref> Other younger conductors included men who had been members of Wood's orchestra, including [[Basil Cameron]] and [[Eugene Aynsley Goossens|Eugene Goossens]].<ref>Jacobs, p. 132</ref> Another protégé of Wood was [[Malcolm Sargent]], who appeared at the Proms as a composer-conductor in 1921 and 1922.<ref>Reid (1968), pp. 101, 105</ref> Wood encouraged him to abandon thoughts of a career as a pianist and to concentrate on conducting.<ref>Wood, p. 317</ref> Wood further showed his interest in the future of music by taking on the conductorship of the student orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music in 1923, rehearsing it twice a week, whenever possible, for the next twenty years. In the same year, he accepted the conductorship of the amateur Hull Philharmonic Orchestra, travelling three times a year until 1939 to rehearse and conduct its concerts.<ref name=dnb/>

In 1925, Wood was invited to conduct four concerts for the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra]] at the [[Hollywood Bowl]]. Such was their success, both artistic and financial, that Wood was invited back, and conducted again the following year. In addition to a large number of English pieces, Wood programmed works by composers as diverse as Bach and Stravinsky. He again conducted there in 1934.<ref>Jacobs, pp. 203–06</ref>