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Collection Description
Collection name
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1953-75)
Unique identifier
Cup.918/17
Description
A collection of prospectuses for the concerts given at the Town Hall, Birmingham by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from its 33rd to its 55th season (1953–75), missing those for the 41st (1960–61), 44th (1963–64), 51st (1970–71) and 52nd seasons (1972–73).
Each item begins with an Introduction and an article concerning the music to be performed during the season (variously entitled ‘Foreword’ or ‘Highlights of the Season’). There are also lists (with photographs) of the principal and guest conductors and records of the concerts to be given by the orchestra outside of Birmingham.
All prospectuses contain programmes for the Thursday Symphony Concert series, given across this period. Additional concerts were as follows:
Tuesday Celebrity Concerts: to end of 1959–60 season (not 1953–54).
Saturday Popular Concerts: to end of the 1956–57 season and from 1971–72 to 1974–75.
Sunday Evening Concerts: to end of 1965–66 season.
Lunch Hour Concerts: to end of 1956–57 season.
‘Music You Love Concerts’: to end of 1968–69 season.
Wednesday Pops: 1967–68 season to the end of 1969–70.
All programmes contain photographs of the principal performers. Those for the Tuesday Celebrity Concerts also provide a list of soloists and give brief biographical notes.
During the 1965–66 season, the Thursday concerts incorporated performances of the complete set of Sibelius Symphonies whilst the Sunday concerts included all nine of Beethoven’s works in the same genre.
The principal conductors of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for these years were as follows: Rudolf Schwarz (to the end of 1956–57 season), Andrzej Panufnik (1957–58 and 1958–59), Sir Adrian Boult (1959–60), Hugo Rignold (1961–62 season to end of 1967–68) and Louis Frémaux (1969–70 season to end of 1974–75).
All brochures include information regarding tickets for the concerts (with seating plans) and there is a large amount of documentation concerning the various committee members of the orchestra, including, from 1964-65, a list of the members of the CBSO Society.
The brochures for the seasons 1964-65, 1966-67 and 1967-68 include reproductions of press comments.
Date range
1953 - 1975
Associated People and Organisations
Sibelius, Jean -
Schwarz, Rudolf -
Rignold, Hugo -
Panufnik, Andrzej -
Fremaux, Louis -
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra -
Boult, Adrian -
Beethoven, Ludwig van -
Associated Places
Birmingham Coliseum (afterwards Gaiety)
Associated Times
20th century - late 1971-1999
20th century - mid 1931-1970
Associated Content
Brochures
Photographs
Star Item(s)
Strength(s)
Further details
Viewing the Collection
Internet 24/7
Visiting information
Location details
British Library
The British Library
St Pancras
,96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB Open Map
DOMUS
Website
http://www.bl.uk/
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)
