SearchGetRecordCourtauld-Sargent Concerts (1934-40)
Collection Summary
Collection Title
Courtauld-Sargent Concerts (1934-40)
Unique Identifier
7900.d.31
Description
A miscellaneous collection of 20 analytical programmes from the 5th to 11th series of the Courtauld-Sargent Concerts, given at the Queen's Hall, London between 1934 and 1940, held as three bound volumes.
Also, issues of the London Orchestral Concerts Guide for November 1937, October 1939 and February and March 1939, held in volume 3. These documents were issued jointly by the British Broadcasting Corporation, Courtauld-Sargent Concerts, Harold Hold, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, Robert Mayer Concerts for Children and the Royal Philharmonic Society and they contain a large number of preliminary programmes.
The Courtauld-Sargent series consisted of two-part concerts of predominantly nineteenth-century orchestral repertory, including some solo/concertante items and a number of first performances.
All programmes begin with an introductory statement regarding the Concert Club, which claims that: ‘The object of the Club is to stimulate and foster interest in music, and to obtain a wide and stable audience, drawn from lovers of music for whom the usual prices have been too high to enable them to subscribe regularly to concerts’.
Each programme also provides a number of preliminary programmes for other concerts in this series, a list of ‘Firms and Organizations who are Members of the Concert Club’, and numerous advertisements for other concerts.
With the exception of the chamber concerts (noted below), all performances featured the London Philharmonic Orchestra and all programmes print a complete list of the members of this ensemble. Where no other indication is given below, the orchestra was led by Paul Beard (seasons 5-8)/David McCallum (seasons 9-11) and conducted by Malcolm Sargent.
All programmes carry historical and analytical notes by Edwin Evans. From the seventh season onwards, the majority of these incorporate musical examples. Many also include biographical notes on the soloist and/or conductor, often with photographs: the names of the musicians subject to such notes are given in brackets below.
There is no direct record of the venue for these performances but all the information regarding tickets would appear to confirm that they took place at the Queen’s Hall, Langham Place.
Volume 1 (single programme)
15/16 January 1934 (fifth season): conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, including the first performance of Arnold Bax, Symphony No. 5 (Thomas Beecham, with photograph).
Volume 2 (11 programmes)
Fifth series
5/6 February 1934: Mozart concert, conducted by Julius Harrison with Artur Schnabel (piano) (Harrison and Schnabel). This document carries some very brief handwritten annotations commenting on the performance.
Sixth series
15/16 October 1934: Mary Jarred (vocal), conducted by Georg Szell (Szell and Jarred, with photographs).
12/13 November 1934: Edwin Fischer (piano) and Lionel Tertis (viola), including the first performance of R. Vaughan Williams, Suite for Viola and Orchestra (Fischer and Tertis, with photos).
11/12 March 1935: Chamber Concert given by Dorothy Silk (vocal) and the Brosa String Quartet (Antonio Brosa, Norman Chapple, Leonard Rubens and Livio Mannucci), with George Reeves (piano), Reginald Kell (clarinet), John Alexander (bassoon), Charles Gregory (horn), Victor Watson (double bass), Leon Goossens (oboe) and Malcolm Sargent (piano) (Dorothy Silk and the Brosa String Quartet, with photographs).
Seventh series
11/12 November 1935: Pau Casals (cello) (Casals).
9/10 December 1935: Reginald Kell (clarinet) and Paul Beard (violin).
10/11 February 1936: conducted by Fritz Stiedry (Stiedry).
9/10 March 1936: including Berlioz, The Childhood of Christ, with Isobel Baillie, William Parsons, Roy Henderson, Harold Williams, Richard Kyle and Steuart Wilson (vocal).
30/31 March 1936: Rachmaninov (piano) (Rachmaninov, reprinted from Musical Opinion).
Eighth series
9/10 November 1936: Chamber Concert, with the Pro Arte Quartet (Messrs A. Onnou, L. Halleux, G. Prévost and R. Maas) and Griller String Quartet (Sidney Griller, Jack O’Brien, Philip Burton and Colin Hampton) (Pro Arte Quartet and Griller String Quartet).
5/6 April 1937: Gaspar Cassado (cello), led by David McCallum (Cassado).
Volume 3 (9 programmes)
The programmes for 7/8 March 1938 and 21 October 1839 do not include musical examples as part of the programme notes.
9th season
18/19 October 1937: including the first English performance of Stravinsky, Ballet: Jeu de Cartes, conducted by the composer.
8/9 November 1937: Artur Schnabel (piano) (Schnabel).
7/8 February 1938: Jean Françaix (piano), including the first English performance of Françaix, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Anglo-French Art and Travel Society).
7/8 March 1938: Pierre Bernac (tenor), Reginald Kell (clarinet), Victor Watson (double bass) and Malcolm Sargent (piano), accompanied by the Kutcher String Quartet (Samuel Kutcher, Max Saalpeter, Raymond Jeremy and Douglas Cameron) and Gerald Moore (piano) (Pierre Bernac and the Kutcher String Quartet). The notes for this performance include the words for the vocal pieces.
10th series
10/11 October 1938: conducted by Carl Schuricht (Schuricht).
6/7 Feb 1939: Emanuel Feuermann (cello), including the first English performance of Jean Françaix, Suite: Le Jugement du Fou (Feuermann).
27/28 March 1939: John Hunt (piano) (Hunt).
11th series
21 October 1939: conducted by Adrian Boult.
16 March 1940: led by Thomas Matthews, with Moiseiwitsch (piano), including the first English performance of Prokofiev, Symphonic Suite: Nuits d’Egypte, op. 61.
Also, issues of the London Orchestral Concerts Guide for November 1937, October 1939 and February and March 1939, held in volume 3. These documents were issued jointly by the British Broadcasting Corporation, Courtauld-Sargent Concerts, Harold Hold, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, Robert Mayer Concerts for Children and the Royal Philharmonic Society and they contain a large number of preliminary programmes.
The Courtauld-Sargent series consisted of two-part concerts of predominantly nineteenth-century orchestral repertory, including some solo/concertante items and a number of first performances.
All programmes begin with an introductory statement regarding the Concert Club, which claims that: ‘The object of the Club is to stimulate and foster interest in music, and to obtain a wide and stable audience, drawn from lovers of music for whom the usual prices have been too high to enable them to subscribe regularly to concerts’.
Each programme also provides a number of preliminary programmes for other concerts in this series, a list of ‘Firms and Organizations who are Members of the Concert Club’, and numerous advertisements for other concerts.
With the exception of the chamber concerts (noted below), all performances featured the London Philharmonic Orchestra and all programmes print a complete list of the members of this ensemble. Where no other indication is given below, the orchestra was led by Paul Beard (seasons 5-8)/David McCallum (seasons 9-11) and conducted by Malcolm Sargent.
All programmes carry historical and analytical notes by Edwin Evans. From the seventh season onwards, the majority of these incorporate musical examples. Many also include biographical notes on the soloist and/or conductor, often with photographs: the names of the musicians subject to such notes are given in brackets below.
There is no direct record of the venue for these performances but all the information regarding tickets would appear to confirm that they took place at the Queen’s Hall, Langham Place.
Volume 1 (single programme)
15/16 January 1934 (fifth season): conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, including the first performance of Arnold Bax, Symphony No. 5 (Thomas Beecham, with photograph).
Volume 2 (11 programmes)
Fifth series
5/6 February 1934: Mozart concert, conducted by Julius Harrison with Artur Schnabel (piano) (Harrison and Schnabel). This document carries some very brief handwritten annotations commenting on the performance.
Sixth series
15/16 October 1934: Mary Jarred (vocal), conducted by Georg Szell (Szell and Jarred, with photographs).
12/13 November 1934: Edwin Fischer (piano) and Lionel Tertis (viola), including the first performance of R. Vaughan Williams, Suite for Viola and Orchestra (Fischer and Tertis, with photos).
11/12 March 1935: Chamber Concert given by Dorothy Silk (vocal) and the Brosa String Quartet (Antonio Brosa, Norman Chapple, Leonard Rubens and Livio Mannucci), with George Reeves (piano), Reginald Kell (clarinet), John Alexander (bassoon), Charles Gregory (horn), Victor Watson (double bass), Leon Goossens (oboe) and Malcolm Sargent (piano) (Dorothy Silk and the Brosa String Quartet, with photographs).
Seventh series
11/12 November 1935: Pau Casals (cello) (Casals).
9/10 December 1935: Reginald Kell (clarinet) and Paul Beard (violin).
10/11 February 1936: conducted by Fritz Stiedry (Stiedry).
9/10 March 1936: including Berlioz, The Childhood of Christ, with Isobel Baillie, William Parsons, Roy Henderson, Harold Williams, Richard Kyle and Steuart Wilson (vocal).
30/31 March 1936: Rachmaninov (piano) (Rachmaninov, reprinted from Musical Opinion).
Eighth series
9/10 November 1936: Chamber Concert, with the Pro Arte Quartet (Messrs A. Onnou, L. Halleux, G. Prévost and R. Maas) and Griller String Quartet (Sidney Griller, Jack O’Brien, Philip Burton and Colin Hampton) (Pro Arte Quartet and Griller String Quartet).
5/6 April 1937: Gaspar Cassado (cello), led by David McCallum (Cassado).
Volume 3 (9 programmes)
The programmes for 7/8 March 1938 and 21 October 1839 do not include musical examples as part of the programme notes.
9th season
18/19 October 1937: including the first English performance of Stravinsky, Ballet: Jeu de Cartes, conducted by the composer.
8/9 November 1937: Artur Schnabel (piano) (Schnabel).
7/8 February 1938: Jean Françaix (piano), including the first English performance of Françaix, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Anglo-French Art and Travel Society).
7/8 March 1938: Pierre Bernac (tenor), Reginald Kell (clarinet), Victor Watson (double bass) and Malcolm Sargent (piano), accompanied by the Kutcher String Quartet (Samuel Kutcher, Max Saalpeter, Raymond Jeremy and Douglas Cameron) and Gerald Moore (piano) (Pierre Bernac and the Kutcher String Quartet). The notes for this performance include the words for the vocal pieces.
10th series
10/11 October 1938: conducted by Carl Schuricht (Schuricht).
6/7 Feb 1939: Emanuel Feuermann (cello), including the first English performance of Jean Françaix, Suite: Le Jugement du Fou (Feuermann).
27/28 March 1939: John Hunt (piano) (Hunt).
11th series
21 October 1939: conducted by Adrian Boult.
16 March 1940: led by Thomas Matthews, with Moiseiwitsch (piano), including the first English performance of Prokofiev, Symphonic Suite: Nuits d’Egypte, op. 61.
Format
Date range of collection
1934 - 1940
Accumulation Dates
-
Suggested Audience
Not Specific
Associated People or Organisations
- Wilson, Steuart -
- Williams, Harold -
- Watson, Victor -
- Vaughan Williams, Ralph -
- Tertis, Lionel -
- Szell, Georg -
- Stravinsky, Igor -
- Stiedry, Fritz -
- Silk, Dorothy -
- Schuricht, Carl -
- Schnabel, Artur -
- Sargent, Malcolm -
- Saalpeter, Max -
- Rubens, Leonard -
- Royal Philharmonic Society 1813 -
- Robert Mayer Concerts for Children -
- Reeves, George -
- Rachmaninoff, Sergey -
- Prokofiev, Oleg -
- Pro Arte String Quartet -
- Parsons, William -
- O'Brien, Jack -
- Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus -
- Moore, Gerald -
- Moiseiwitsch, Benno -
- McCallum, David -
- Matthews, Thomas -
- Mannucci, Livio -
- London Symphony Orchestra -
- London Philharmonic Orchestra 1932 -
- London Orchestral Concerts Guide -
- Kyle, Richard -
- Kutcher, Samuel -
- Kutcher String Quartet -
- Kell, Reginald -
- Jeremy, Raymond -
- Jarred, Mary 1899 - 1993
- Jarred, Mary -
- Hunt, John -
- Holt, Harold -
- Henderson, Roy -
- Harrison, Julius -
- Hampton, Colin -
- Griller, Sydney -
- Griller String Quartet -
- Gregory, Charles -
- Goossens, Léon -
- Françaix, Jean -
- Fischer, Edwin -
- Feuermann, Emanuel -
- Evans, Edwin -
- Courtauld-Sargent Concerts -
- Concert Club -
- Chapple, Norman -
- Cassado, Gaspar -
- Casals, Pablo -
- Cameron, Douglas -
- Burton, Philip -
- Brosa, Antonio -
- Brosa String Quartet -
- British Broadcasting Corporation -
- Boult, Adrian -
- Bernac, Pierre 1899 - 1979
- Berlioz, Hector -
- Beecham, Thomas -
- Beard, Paul -
- Bax, Arnold -
- Baillie, Isobel -
- Anglo-French Art and Travel Society -
- Alexander, John -
Associated Places
Associated Times
This collection is about
Location Details
British Library
The British Library
St Pancras
,96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB United Kingdom Open Map
Website
Email
reader-admissions@bl.uk
Telephone
+44 (0)870 444 1500
Visiting Information
Internet 24/7
For opening hours see http://www.bl.uk/about/opening.html#reading
Inspire form.
For disability access see http://www.bl.uk/services/reading/rraccess-guide.html
Collections Overview
The Library's collection of song and piano sheet music is one of the most comprehensive of its kind, providing a valuable insight into Victorian society and culture as well as the music itself.
For details of other collections held at the same location: See the location record
Additional Collection Information
Accrual Status
closed
Related Publications
Management Information (Type)
Collection Owner(s)
Collection Creator(s)
Collection Collector(s)
Collection Custodians(s)
Associated Collection(s)
