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DAVID PATMORE
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The study examines the state of musical life in England between 1928 and 1932, in terms of concert giving and concurrent recording activity. The twin moves by the British Broadcasting Corporation and Sir Thomas Beecham to form permanent orchestras, with the objective of improving standards of orchestral performance in the face of increasing evidence of higher standards from foreign orchestras and gramophone recordings are examined .
The strategy developed by Sir Thomas Beecham to draw together a sufficiently large portfolio of musical activity to sustain a permanent orchestra, with the objective of improving standards and attracting the best orchestral musicians, is described and analysed .
The negotiations between Beecham and the newly formed corporation, Electric and Musical Industries Ltd, in the autumn of 1931 are considered in detail. The role played by EMI's Fred Gaisberg is considered in depth. Evidence drawn from the negotiations clearly indicates that Beecham was aware of the potential importance of an alliance with EMI in assisting in the creation of a permanent orchestra, and that he understood fully the role and technology of the growing recording industry .
The positive conclusion of these negotiations is seen to be a key factor in the formation of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which in turn became a key component of EMI's catalogue of recordings of classical music from 1932 until 1940. Beecham's strategy for the formation of a permanent orchestra, attaining hitherto unrealized high standards of performance in the United Kingdom, and assisted by the involvement of the recording industry had proved to be successful .
An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the annual conference of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections, at the University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on 3 June 2000 .
The formation of the London Philharmonic Orchestra by Sir Thomas Beecham in the summer of 1932 has often been seen as an impulsive and essentially short-term reaction on the part of Beecham to the failure of negotiations with the London Symphony Orchestra [LSO]. At this time he had been in discussion with the Orchestra since November 1931, with the objective of the Orchestra in some form or other constituting the core of a new orchestra to be led artistically by himself. The...