TheColumbia Symphony Orchestra was anorchestra formed byColumbia Records 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 theNew York Philharmonic or theLos Angeles Philharmonic, depending on whether the recording was being made in Columbia's East Coast or West Coast studios.
Some of the first recordings featuring the Columbia Symphony Orchestra were made in New York in February 1913.[a]Felix Weingartner made fiveacoustic sides in New York with the soprano Lucille Marcel.[3] Only one take was subsequently issued, "Ave Maria" fromVerdi'sOtello 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 ofGrieg'sShepherd Boy, op. 54 with the orchestra for Columbia UK on matrix AX 268, in London on 14 December 1923.[6][b]
The composer and conductorRobert Hood Bowers made around 15 double-sided78 rpm recordings with the orchestra in September 1927.[8]
During a recording session in March 1932 with Weingartner and theBritish Symphony Orchestra in London'sWestminster Central Hall, asingle unissued take was made of the Waltz fromLeo Delibes' balletNaïla, although the conductor is unnamed.[10]
Howard D. Barlow (May 1, 1892 – January 31, 1972)[11] made a recording ofDeems Taylor's suiteThrough the Looking Glass[12] with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in New York in November 1938. Released on Columbia Masterworks set M-350.[13]
Over the decades, several noted conductors and soloists collaborated with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra including:[14][15]
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 You may hear the Columbia Concert Orchestra withAlfredo Antonini andRichard Tucker in:Ernesto De Curtis'sTorna 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 includingRichard Tucker. In 1972 he was cited with anEmmy Award for conducting the orchestra in the television premier ofEzra Laderman's operaAnd David Wept.[16][17]
in the later part of the 1930s,Howard Barlow joined forces with the orchestra which was known at the time as the CBS Symphony Orchestra within theColumbia Broadcasting System.[18][19] Together, they recordedDeems Taylor's "Through the Looking Glass Suite", Op. 12.[20] By 1940, they joined forces once again in a recording of Bach'sAir on the G String from theSuite No. 3 for Orchestra and the Bouree fromBach'sSuite No. 3 for Unaccompanied Cello.[21] Additional recordings with the orchestra included:Franz Schubert'sSymphony No. 2 in B flat major, D. 125 and selections fromEngelbert Humperdinck'sHansel und Gretel Suite.[22]
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 bySony on CD, the recordings includeDance of the Hours from the operaLa Gioconda byAmilcare Ponchielli, the overture toThe Merry Wives of Windsor byOtto Nicolai,Carmen Suite byGeorges Bizet, andCapriccio Italien byPeter Tchaikovsky.[23]
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| You may hear the Columbia Symphony Orchestra andGlenn Gould in: Ludwig van Beethoven'sPiano 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, inMaurice Ravel'sPiano Concerto in G andGeorge Gershwin'sRhapsody 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 withGlenn Gould in a performance ofLudwig van Beethoven'sPiano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 19 andJohann Sebastian Bach'sKeyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052 for Columbia Masterworks in 1957[24]
During his tenure at theMetropolitan Opera in 1959,Fausto Cleva led the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and the noted tenorRichard Tucker in a recording of several popular arias byGiacomo Puccini.[25]
In the early 1960s, the composerAaron Copland joined forces with theswing clarinetistBenny Goodman and the concert bass-baritoneWilliam Warfield to record hisClarinet Concerto along with his arrangement of "Old American Songs" in collaboration with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra.[26]
From 1955 onwards, he made many recordings with the CSO, in CBS-projects that were intended to record theSecond Viennese School for the first time integrally. In this period,Robert Craft also produced most of theVarèse works with the Columbia Ensemble.
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| You may hear the Columbia Symphony Orchestra withVladimir Golschmann andGlenn Gould in: Ludwig van Beethoven'sPiano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op. 15 Johann Sebastian Bach'sKeyboard 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 pianistGlenn Gould. Included among their collaborations were recordings ofJohann Sebastian Bach'sKeyboard Concerti: No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 & No. 7, as well as theBeethovenPiano Concerto No. 1 during the 1950s.[27]
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| You may hear the Columbia Symphony Orchestra withAlexander Schneider andRudolf 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 withRudolf Serkin and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra during the 1950s in a recording ofWolfgang Amadeus Mozart's:Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467 andPiano Concerto No. 27 in B flat major, K. 595.[28]
Igor Stravinsky made many recordings of his own compositions with an incarnation of this orchestra, mainly musicians from the Los Angeles Festival Orchestra founded byFranz Waxman.[29] Among the works in which Stravinsky conducted the orchestra areApollon 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; theSymphony in E flat; theSymphony in Three Movements and theViolin Concerto; as well as several shorter pieces.[30]
In 1977, a recording of the Columbia Symphony Orchestra playing the "Sacrificial Dance" fromThe Rite of Spring, conducted by Stravinsky, was selected byNASA to be included on theVoyager Golden Record, a gold-plated copper record that was sent into space on theVoyager 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]
In the 1960s,George Szell also joined forces with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra andRobert Casadesus for a recording of several piano concertos byWolfgang Amadeus Mozart including:Concerto No. 22 in E flat major, K. 482 andConcerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 for Columbia Masterworks (ML5594, 1960).[34]
Among the best-known recordings the orchestra made were with theconductorBruno Walter, who recorded interpretations ofBeethoven,Brahms,Bruckner,Mahler andMozart symphonies. With this orchestra, Walter made his onlystereo recording of Mahler'sSymphony No. 9, which he had conducted at its world premiere.[23]
The term Columbia Symphony Orchestra was also used when, for contractual reasons, another orchestra could not appear under its own name. ManyLos 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.
There was also the Columbia Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, sometimes called theCBS Symphony Orchestra. This group was formed to perform onCBS 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" byEdward MacDowell, recorded on May 15, 1939; this recording can be heard onYouTube.[35] The composerBernard Herrmann conducted the orchestra for some broadcasts, especiallyThe Mercury Theatre on the Air andThe Campbell Playhouse programs presented byOrson Welles.[36]
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 andRichard 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]
Performer: weingartner, andPperformer: columbia symphony orchestra.Performer: bridge, andPerformer: columbia symphony orchestra.Performer: bowers, andPerformer: columbia symphony orchestra.Composer: délibes [NB with accent, although this is technically wrong], andPerformer: columbia symphony orchestra.Performer: howard barlow,Sort Results by: Date. [NB This search also returns Barlow's recordings with the CBS Symphony Orchestra mentioned below.]
