On This Day in History

There is a rather nice historical anniversary today. In 1813 a group of professional musicians including Muzio Clementi formed the Philharmonic Society, one of the first permanent orchestras. The Prince Regent was its patron. The Philharmonic Society gave its first concert at the Argyll Rooms, Little Argyll Street on 8th March, performing symphonies by Haydn and Beethoven. You can read about Royal Philharmonic Society history here. It was this society that commissioned Beethoven to write his 9th Symphony and worked with many famous composers of the 19th century. When it was founded it’s aim was “to promote the performance in the most perfect manner possible of the best and most approved instrumental music” and to encourage public appreciation of that music.

It had not occurred to me until recently that in the Regency period you would probably not hear your favourite piece of music more than a few times in your lifetime and indeed until 1813 there was no permanent symphony orchestra that played public performances. I find so much classical music so inspiring that I’m not sure how I would have managed without my regular fix of Beethoven!

©2013 Nicola Cornick. All Rights Reserved.

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