Columbia Symphony Orchestra

The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra formed by Columbia Records strictly for the purpose of making recordings. In the 1950s, it provided a vehicle for some of Columbia's better known conductors and recording artists to record using only company resources.[1] The musicians in the orchestra were contracted as needed for individual sessions and consisted of free-lance artists and often members of either the New York Philharmonic or the Los Angeles Philharmonic, depending on whether the recording was being made in Columbia's East Coast or West Coast studios.

This article is about the CBS Symphony Orchestra, which performed classical music. For the CBS Orchestra, a band led by Paul Shaffer, see Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band.

Early history

Some of the first recordings featuring the Columbia Symphony Orchestra were made in New York in February 1913.[lower-alpha 1] Felix Weingartner made five acoustic sides in New York with the soprano Lucille Marcel (the third of his five marriages)[3] Only one take was subsequently issued, "Ave Maria" from Verdi's Otello on Columbia US A-5482, matrix number 36622. The other unissued takes included two of Weingartner's own songs, "Vergangenheit" and "Welke Rose", Schumann's "Die Lotosblume", op. 25, no. 7 and Olga von Radecki's "Frisches Grun".[4][5]

Frank Bridge made a single (unissued) take of Grieg's Shepherd Boy, op. 54 with the orchestra for Columbia UK on matrix AX 268, in London on 14 December 1923.[6][lower-alpha 2]

The composer and conductor Robert Hood Bowers made around 15 double-sided 78 rpm recordings with the orchestra in September 1927.[8]

During a recording session in March 1932 with Weingartner and the British Symphony Orchestra in London's Westminster Central Hall, a single unissued take was made of the Waltz from Leo Delibes' ballet Naila, although the conductor is unnamed.[10]

Howard D. Barlow (May 1, 1892 – January 31, 1972)[11] made a recording of Deems Taylor's suite Through the Looking Glass[12] with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in New York in November 1938. Released on Columbia Masterworks set M-350.[13]

Conductors

Over the decades, several noted conductors and soloists collaborated with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra including:[14][15]

Alfredo Antonini
External audio
audio icon You may hear the Columbia Concert Orchestra with Alfredo Antonini and Richard Tucker in:
Ernesto De Curtis's Torna A Sorriento (Come Back to Sorrento) in 1950
Here on archive.org

From 1941 until 1971 Alfredo Antonini also served as a principal conductor of the CBS Symphony Orchestra while collaborating with noted soloists including Richard Tucker. In 1972 he was cited with an Emmy Award for conducting the orchestra in the television premier of Ezra Laderman's opera And David Wept. [16] [17]

Howard Barlow

in the later part of the 1930's, Howard Barlow joined forces with the orchestra which was known at the time as the CBS Symphony Orchestra within the Columbia Broadcasting System.[18][19] Together, they recorded Deems Taylor's "Through the Looking Glass Suite", Op. 12.[20] By 1940, they joined forces once again in a recording of Bach's Air on the G String from the Suite No. 3 for Orchestra and the Bouree from Bach's Suite No. 3 for Unaccompanied Cello.[21] Additional recordings with the orchestra included: Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, D. 125 and selections from Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel Suite.[22]

Thomas Beecham

In 1949, Sir Thomas Beecham made a series of recordings in Columbia Records' 30th Street Studios in New York City with a completely different pickup group, which was also called the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Later reissued by Sony on CD, the recordings include Dance of the Hours from the opera La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli, the overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor by Otto Nicolai, Carmen Suite by Georges Bizet, and Capriccio Italien by Peter Tchaikovsky.[23]

Leonard Bernstein
External audio
audio icon You may hear the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and Glenn Gould in:
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.2 in B Flat Major, Op. 19 in 1957
Here on archive.org

Leonard Bernstein conducted the orchestra, and also played the piano solos, in Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. These were released by Columbia in stereo on LP and later reissued by Sony on CD. In addition, Bernstein also joined forces with the orchestra in collaboration with Glenn Gould in a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 19 and Johann Sebastian Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052 for Columbia Masterworks in 1957[24]

Fausto Cleva

During his tenure at the Metropolitan Opera in 1959, Fausto Cleva led the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and the noted tenor Richard Tucker in a recording of several popular arias by Giacomo Puccini.[25]

Aaron Copland
External audio
audio icon You may hear Aaron Copland and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra with Benny Goodman and William Warfield in:
Clarinet Concerto
"Old American Songs"
in 1963 Here on Archive.org

In the early 1960s, the composer Aaron Copland joined forces with the swing clarinetist Benny Goodman and the concert bass-baritone William Warfield to record his Clarinet Concerto along with his arrangement of "Old American Songs" in collaboration with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.[26]

Robert Craft

From 1955 onwards, he made many recordings with the CSO, in CBS-projects that were intended to record the Second Viennese School for the first time integrally. In this period, Craft also produced most of the Varèse works with the Columbia Ensemble.

Vladimir Golschmann
External audio
audio icon You may hear the Columbia Symphony Orchestra with Vladimir Golschmann and Glenn Gould in:
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op. 15
Johann Sebastian Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056
in 1958
Here on archive.org

Vladimir Golschmann also collaborated with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in several historic recordings with the young pianist Glenn Gould. Included among their collaborations were recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's Keyboard Concerti: No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 & No. 7, as well as the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 during the 1950's.[27]

Alexander Schneider
External audio
audio icon You may hear the Columbia Symphony Orchestra with Alexander Schneider and Rudolf Serkin in:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's:
Piano Concerto No.21 in C major, k. 467
Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595
in 1957
Here on archive.org

Alexander Schneider paired with Rudolf Serkin and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra during the 1950's in a recording of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467 and Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595.[28]

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky made many recordings of his own compositions with an incarnation of this orchestra, mainly musicians from the Los Angeles Festival Orchestra founded by Franz Waxman.[29] Among the works in which Stravinsky conducted the orchestra are Apollon musagète; Le baiser de la fée; The Firebird – suite and complete ballet; Mass; Mavra; Les noces; Orpheus; Perséphone; Petrushka – suite and complete ballet; Pulcinella – suite and complete ballet; The Rake's Progress; The Rite of Spring; the Symphony in E flat; the Symphony in Three Movements and the Violin Concerto; as well as several shorter pieces.[30]

In 1977, a recording of the Columbia Symphony Orchestra playing the "Sacrificial Dance" from The Rite of Spring, conducted by Stravinsky, was selected by NASA to be included on the Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated copper record that was sent into space on the Voyager space craft. The record contained sounds and images which had been selected as examples of the diversity of life and culture on Earth.[31][32][33]

George Szell
External audio
audio icon You may hear the Columbia Symphony Orchestra with George Szell and Robert Casadesus in:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's:
Piano Concerto No.22 in E flat major, k.482
Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K. 488
in 1960
Here on archive.org

In the 1960's George Szell also joined forces with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and Robert Casadesus for a recording of several piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart including: Concerto No. 22 in E flat major, K. 482 and Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 for Columbia Masterworks (ML5594, 1960).[34]

Bruno Walter

Perhaps the most important recordings the orchestra made were with conductor Bruno Walter, who recorded highly regarded interpretations of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler and Mozart symphonies. With this orchestra, Walter made his only stereo recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 9, which he had conducted at its world premiere.[23]

Other recordings

The term Columbia Symphony Orchestra was also used when, for contractual reasons, another orchestra could not appear under its own name. Many Los Angeles Philharmonic musicians also played under the Columbia Symphony name, and some reports mention that the entire Philharmonic frequently played as the Columbia Symphony when recorded on the west coast.

CBS Symphony Orchestra

There was also the Columbia Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, sometimes called the CBS Symphony Orchestra. This group was formed to perform on CBS Radio broadcasts and also made 78-rpm recordings for Columbia Records during the 1940s. It was frequently conducted by Howard Barlow, who later became the music director of "The Voice of Firestone" radio and television programs.[11] One of the Columbia Records releases by the CBS Symphony with Barlow conducting was the "Indian Suites" by Edward MacDowell, recorded on May 15, 1939; this recording can be heard on YouTube.[35] The composer Bernard Herrmann conducted the orchestra for some broadcasts, especially The Mercury Theatre on the Air and The Campbell Playhouse programs presented by Orson Welles.[36]

Columbia Concert Orchestra
External audio
audio icon You may hear the Columbia Concert Orchestra with Emanuel Balaban and Paul Robeson performing "Ol' Man River" from the musical "Show Boat" in 1947
Here on archive.org
audio icon The CBS Symphony Orchestra with Lily Pons & Bruno Walter performing Mozart's:
"Queen of the Night Aria" - The Magic Flute
"Alleluia" from "Exsultate, jubilate"
Here on Archive.org

In addition, CBS' Columbia Concert Orchestra recorded both classical and popular music for Columbia Masterworks in the 1920s-1950s.[37] Live concerts by the orchestra were also broadcast throughout the United States and to South America via shortwave radio over the International Radio Station WCBX in New York City and the International Radio Station WCAB in Philadelphia from 1939-1940 during World War II.[38] Included among the noted collaborators were such operatic luminaries as: Eileen Farrell, Lily Pons, Paul Robeson and Richard Tucker under the direction of several conductors including: Alfredo Antonini, Emanuel Balaban, Howard Barlow, Bernard Herrmann, Andre Kostelanetz, Charles Lichter and Alexander Semmler.[39][40]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Columbia Symphony Orchestra.
Notes
  1. The recording information in this section derives from Michael Gray's database available on CHARM.[2] For more information, see British Symphony Orchestra discography
  2. The US operation of Columbia had been taken over by its UK subsidiary, the Columbia Graphophone Company in December 1922.[7]
Citations
  1. Bruce, Eder. "Columbia Symphony Orchestra". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. "Discography Introduction: Gray data". Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  3. Arakelyan, Ashot (8 September 2014). "Lucille Marcel (Soprano) (New York 1877 - Vienna 1921)". Forgotten Opera Singers. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. "In Springtime (Radecki, Olga von)". IMSLP. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  5. Advanced search on CHARM (all lower case only) for Performer: weingartner, and Pperformer: columbia symphony orchestra.
  6. Advanced search on CHARM (all lower case only) for Performer: bridge, and Performer: columbia symphony orchestra.
  7. Brooks, Tim (ed.), Columbia Corporate History: The Early 1920s, Columbia Master Book Discography, Volume 1 (Online ed.), Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) See also Notes section.
  8. Advanced search on CHARM (all lower case only) for Performer: bowers, and Performer: columbia symphony orchestra.
  9. Advanced search on CHARM (all lower case only) for Composer: délibes [NB with accent, although this is technically wrong], and Performer: columbia symphony orchestra.
  10. Columbia's contemporary matrix logs state "Columbia Symphony Orchestra", possibly to circumvent a recording contract.[9]
  11. Eriksson, Erik. "Howard Barlow". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  12. France, John (25 October 2012). "Deems Taylor: Suite, Through the Looking Glass". British Classical Music: The Land of Lost Content. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  13. Advanced search on CHARM (all lower case only) for Performer: howard barlow, Sort Results by: Date. [NB This search also returns Barlow's recordings with the CBS Symphony Orchestra mentioned below.]
  14. University of California: Santa Barbara - Discography of American Historical Recordings - Columbia Symphony Orchestra on ucsb.edu
  15. Columbia Symphony Orchestra on archive.org
  16. The New York Times - Obiturary - Alfredo Antonini - Conductor of the CBS Symphony for 30 years on nytimes.com
  17. Fritz Reiner: A Biography . Hart, Philip. 1997, p. 119 Alfredo Antonini conductor of the CBS Symphony on Google Books
  18. Obituary Howard Barlow Feb. 2, 1972 on NYTIMES archive
  19. The Howard Dunham Barlow Collection - Biography of Howard Barlow archived at Western Connecticut State University
  20. Audio recording by Howard Barlow & CBS Symphony Orchestra & Deems Taylor in 1938 on archive.org
  21. Audio recording Howard Barlow & Columbia Broadcasting Symphony performing Bach's Air 2. Bouree on archive.org
  22. Audio recording by Howard Barlow & the Columbia Broadcasting Symphony on archive.org
  23. "Ludwig van Beethoven, Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra - Bruno Walter & the Columbia Symphony Orchestra Perform Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, 'Eroica, ' & the 'Coriolan' Overture (Stereo CD) - Amazon.com Music". Amazon. Archived from the original on 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  24. Leonard Bernstein & Glenn Gould with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra audio recording on Columbia Masterworks (1957) on Archive.org
  25. Audio recording: Fausto Cleva Richard Tucker and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra on archive.org
  26. Audio Recording: Aaron Copeland conducts the Columbia Symphony Orchestra with Benny Goodmand and William Warfield in 1963 on archive.org
  27. Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann, Glenn Gould on archive.org
  28. Columbia Symphony Orchestra & Alexander Schneider & Rudolf Serkin in 1957 on archive.org
  29. "Los Angeles Festival Orchestra". Naxos. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  30. Notes to Sony Classical CD set 074646413623 (2000) OCLC 73722695
  31. "Voyager - Music on the Golden Record". voyager.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  32. "Late Junction: The songs they sent to space". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC Radio 3. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  33. Sagan, Carl (2 April 2013). Murmurs of Earth. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-80202-6.
  34. Columbia Symphony Orchestra, George Szell and Mozart on archive.org
  35. "MacDowell: "Indian" Suite (Howard Barlow, 1939)". YouTube. 16 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-11. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  36. "Amazon.com: Howard barlow columbia". www.amazon.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  37. Audio recordings by the Columbia Concert Orchestra on Archive.org
  38. "Report of the Committee of the Conference on Inter-American Relations in the Field of Music" William Berrien, Chairman. September 3, 1940, Washington D.C. p. 54-61 Columbia Concert Orchestra on Google Books.com
  39. "Report of the Committee of the Conference on Inter-American Relations in the Field of Music" William Berrien, Chairman. September 3, 1940, Washington D.C. p. 54-61 Columbia Concert Orchestra on Google Books.com
  40. Audio recordings by the Columbia Concert Orchestra on Archive.org
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