Search

Search Help
Back

Collection Description
Collection name Beecham Sunday Concerts (1936-39)
Unique identifier d.479
Description A largely complete collection of analytical programmes for the Beecham Sunday Concerts season nos. 4 to 6, given at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden between 1936 and 1939, held as three bound volumes (one per season).

Unless otherwise stated below, these were two-part performances of late eighteenth and nineteenth-century orchestral repertory, given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted principally by Thomas Beecham. The majority of the concerts also featured one solo/concertante piece (see below).

With the exception of the wordbooks provided for the 2 performances of Handel, The Messiah (20 December 1836 and 19 December 1837), all programmes carry historical and analytical notes (by Edwin Evans) and provide a full list of the orchestral ensemble. The majority include a photograph of the conductor and many provide the same for the soloist.

All programmes carry a large number of both musical and non-musical advertisements, the former providing information regarding the ensembles and soloists at a variety of other orchestral concerts in London.

Volumes 1 and 2 of the collection include copies of the London Orchestral Concerts Guide for the months of November to March. These documents were issued jointly by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Courtauld-Sargent Concerts, Harold Holt, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, Robert Mayer Concerts for Children and the Royal Philharmonic Society and they include provisional programmes for a range of orchestral performances


Volume 1: October 1936–March 1937
4 October 1936: Richard Tauber (vocal).
11 October 1936: Leon Goossens (oboe), including Francesco Ticciati, Concerto in G for Oboe and Strings (first London performance).
8 November 1936: Grisha Goluboff (violin).
29 November 1936: David McCallum (violin).
13 December 1936: Brahms Concert, including Tragic Overture, Violin Concerto (Cecilia Hansen) and Requiem, with Elsie Suddaby and Roy Henderson (vocal) and the Royal Opera Choir.
20 December 1936: Handel, The Messiah with Ria Ginster, Muriel Brunskill, Heddle Nash and Robert Easton (vocal) and the Royal Opera Chorus.
24 January 1937: Edward Kilenyi (piano).
31 January 1937:
7 February 1937: including Debussy, Three Nocturnes, performed with the female members of the Royal Opera Choir.
14 February 1937: Guila Bustabo (violin), conducted by Fritz Zweig, including Janacek, Suite from the Opera 'A House of the Dead', arranged by Zweig (first English performance).
21 February 1937: Vera de Villiers (vocal), conducted by Malcolm Sargent.
28 February 1937: Mozart Concert featuring Geoffrey Gilbert (flute) and Louis Kentner (piano).
7 March 1937: Maggie Teyte (vocal), including Hermann Hans Wetzler, Symphonic Dance in Basque Style from the Opera 'The Basque Venus', op. 14 (conducted by the composer).
21 March 1937: Gregor Piatigorsky (cello) and the Royal Opera Choir.


Volume 2: October 1937–April 1938
17 October 1937:
24 October 1937: Guila Bustabo (violin).
31 October 1937:
7 November 1937: Wagner Concert with Herbert Janssen (baritone), conducted by Henry J. Wood.
14 November 1937: Julian Karolyi (piano), conducted by Albert Coates.
21 November 1937: Leon Goossens (oboe).
28 November 1937: Edward Kilenyi (piano).
12 December 1937: Elena Glazounow (piano).
19 December 1937: Handel, The Messiah, with Isobel Baillie, Catherine Stewart, Walter Widdop and Keith Falkner (vocal) and the Royal Opera Chorus.
30 January 1938: David McCallum (violin).
6 February 1938:
13 February 1938: Anatole Kitain (piano), conducted by Georg Schneevoight.
20 February 1938: Iso Elinson (piano), conducted by Georg Schneevoight.
27 February 1938: Eva Turner (vocal), conducted by Sidney Beer.
20 March 1938: Lili Kraus (piano) (with a handwritten annotation suggesting that, due to illness, Beecham did not conduct).
3 April 1938: Anthony Pini (violin).
No photos are included in the programmes for the concerts conducted by Georg Schneevoigt or Sidney Beer.


Volume 3: October 1938– March 1939 (missing nos. 1, 2, 7 and 8)
There is some uncertainty over the sequence of these performances: the programmes for the third to sixth concerts are bound after those for nos. 9 to 15, and the programmes for the concerts on 5 and 12 February both claim to be the tenth performance of the season.
30 October 1938: Charles Gregory (horn).
20 November 1938: Samuel Dushkin (violin).
27 November 1938:
4 December 1938: Raya Garbousova (cello).
22 January 1939:
5 February 1939:
12 February 1939: Huberman (violin), conducted by Felix Weingartner.
19 February 1939: Edna Iles (piano).
26 February 1939:
5 March 1939: Claudio Arrau (piano). An insert to this programme suggests that Mozart, Concerto No. 4 in E flat for Horn and Orchestra was performed, with Charles Gregory (horn) and conducted by H. Wynne Reeves.
12 March 1939: Ida Haendel (violin).
19 March 1939: René Le Roy (flute).
Date range 1936 - 1939
Associated People and Organisations Zweig, Fritz - Wood, Henry - Widdop, Walter - Wetzler, Hermann Hans - Weingartner, Felix - Wagner, Richard - Turner, Eva - Ticciati, Francesco - Teyte, Maggie - Tauber, Richard - Suddaby, Elsie - Stewart, Catherine - Schneevoigt, Georg - Sargent, Malcolm - Royal Opera Chorus - Pini, Anthony - Piatigorsky, Gregor - Nash, Heddle - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus - McCallum, David - London Philharmonic Orchestra - Le Roy, René - Kraus, Lili - Kitain, Anatole - Kilenyi, Edward - Kentner, Louis 1905 - 1987 Karolyi, Julian - Janssen, Herbert - Janacek, Leos - Iles, Edna - Huberman, Bronislaw - Henderson, Roy - Hansen, Cecilia - Handel, George Frideric - Haendel, Ida - Gregory, Charles - Goossens, Léon - Goluboff, Grisha - Glazounow, Elena - Ginster, Ria - Gilbert, Geoffrey - Garbousova, Raya - Falkner, Keith - Evans, Edwin - Elinson, Iso - Easton, Robert - Dushkin, Samuel - de Villiers, Vera - Coates, Albert - Bustabo, Guila - Brunskill, Muriel - Brahms, Johannes - Beer, Sidney - Beecham, Thomas - Beecham Sunday Concerts - Baillie, Isobel - Arrau, Claudio 1903 - 1991
Associated Places Royal Opera House
Associated Times 20th century - mid 1931-1970
Associated Content Photographs Annotations Analytical Notes Word books First performances Programme notes
Star Item(s)
Strength(s)
Further details
Viewing the Collection Reprographic services
See http://www.bl.uk for further details
Visiting information

Location details

British Library, Music Collections
96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB Open Map
DOMUS
Website http://www.bl.uk/music
Email
Telephone
Fax
Building Information
Collections Overview See: http://www.bl.uk/music
Display Overview
Star Objects
For details of other collections held at the same location: See the location record

Additional Collection Information
Accrual Status closed
Legal Status
Custodial History
Related Publications
Management Information (Type)
Collection Owner(s)
Collection Creator(s)
Collection Custodians(s)