A collection of seven volumes of programmes from the Philadelphia Orchestra, 1930 to 1937. The programme represent the 31st to 37th seasons of concerts. The programmes contain analytical programme notes and lists of orchestral members. The programmes include subscriber information: there are plans of which box each subscriber filled. Some programmes have details of all the music played that season, and include details of concerts given outside of Philadelphia – though the programmes themselves are not contained in the volumes. From 1935/6 onwards, the “programmes” were entitled “The journal of the Philadelphia Orchestra”, but these carried exactly the same information as a traditional concert programme.

The concerts took place at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia. Though numerous conductors were involved in individual concerts, the Musical Director throughout the period was Leopold Stokowski. He was joined as music director by Ossip Gabrilowitsch (1930-1931) and Eugene Ormandy (1936 to 1937).

Seasons lasted from October to April, and contained between 20 and 30 concerts. Each concert was given at least twice, usually on a Friday afternoon and the subsequent Saturday evening. Some concerts were also repeated on the following Monday night (1930-1934 seasons) or Tuesday night (1934-1937 seasons).

The majority of concerts were orchestral. However, some seasons included full operas; for example, the 1934-1935 included opera performances which were conducted by Fritz Reiner.

Arrangement:
The programmes are arranged chronologically.

1930 - 1937

-

Not Specific

• Stokowski, Leopold -
• Smith, William -
• Gabrilowitsch, Ossip -
• Ormandy, Eugene -
• Philadelphia Orchestra -

• Academy of Music, Philadelphia

• 20th century - early 1900-1930
• 20th century - mid 1931-1970

• Analytical Notes
• Opera

Centre for Performance History Prince Consort Road London London SW7 2BS United Kingdom

Open Map

cph@rcm.ac.uk

020 7 589 4340

020 7 589 7740 

Mon-Fri by appointment

During the course of 2008 a new facility providing collection storage space, reader facilities and office space will created for the Centre for Performance History at College Hall, the site of the RCM's Hall of Residence in London W12. This will eventually offer improved access to researchers, and provide the collection with a secure and stable environment, all in one place. In order that the relevant parts of the collection can be packed and prepared for the move, and then re-shelved at the new facility as expeditiously as possible, all facilities and services (including photographic services and access to the programmes collection) of the Centre for Performance History are suspended until 12 January 2009. The Museum of Instruments will continue to operate a full service (including public opening during the summer vacation) throughout this period. We apologize for the inevitable inconvenience that this closure will cause to colleagues, students, researchers and members of the public, but believe that the improvements that will result will benefit the long-term preservation of the collections and will provide enhanced access to them for all users.