A collection of programmes from the Queen's Hall, London. The collection consists of 49 boxes of material, as of 2006. The collection does not include Promenade concerts held at the Queen's hall, which are described in a separate collection record.

The majority of programmes are from orchestral concerts. Various orchestras used the hall: there are numerous programmes from London Symphony Orchestra concerts as well as many programmes from the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1930s and early 1940s. There are also programmes from concerts given by the Queen's Hall Orchestra and the New Queen's Hall Orchestra, as well as a few from the Queen's Hall Choral Society. There are some programmes from chamber concerts or recitals, which often took place in the “Small hall”. Concerts were organised by various bodies and individuals, including the Philharmonic Society for instance. The hall was also used for amateur orchestras and choirs: for example, there are a number of programmes in the collection from the Stock Exchange Orchestra and Choral Society from the early years of the collection. There are programmes from a number of different festivals with concerts held at the Queen's hall: for example, there are programmes from the London Music Festival, in particular the London Music Festival held in 1939.

The collection is not complete. The collection is physically largest from 1931 to 1941, where there are 21 boxes of material. To compare, there are six boxes of material for the years 1895-1905. The collection contains a programme from a performance of Dream of Gerontius at 2:30 pm on 10/5/41, the last concert given at the hall before it was destroyed in the Blitz. The collection also contains adverts and flyers for concerts after this date, on 17th, 24th and 31st May.

Arrangement:
The collection is arranged chronologically.

1895 - 1941

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Not Specific

• London Music Festival -
• London Philharmonic Orchestra -
• London Symphony Orchestra -
• New Queen's Hall Orchestra -
• Queen's Hall Choral Society -
• Queen's Hall Orchestra 1895 - 1915
• Royal Philharmonic Society 1813 -
• Stock Exchange Orchestral Society 1883 -

• London [England]
• Queen's Hall, London
• Queen's Hall: Small Hall

• 19th century - late Victorian 1876-1899
• 20th century - early 1900-1930
• 20th century - mid 1931-1970

College Hall 220-238 Goldhawk Road London W12 9PL

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portraits@rcm.ac.uk

020 7591 4340

020 7589 7740 

Mon-Fri by appointment

The Portraits and Performance History Collection and its associated reading room is housed in a recently adapted space within the RCM's College Hall, its hall of residence for students. There is step-free access for visitors.

The Centre for Performance History (CPH) is a research centre and is also responsible for the stewardship of two well-established RCM research collections, the Museum of Instruments and the Portraits and Performance History Collection (PPHC). The latter houses a diverse collection relating to the history of performance including the RCM’s internationally famous collection of images, comprising 340 original portraits and sculptures and 25,000 prints and photographs, forming the most comprehensive archive of likenesses of musicians in the UK. The collection of 600,000 concert programmes from 1720 to the present day is of major importance for research into the history of music, society and culture.