1842, FIRST CONCERT OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

Today, The Grandma has been reading about The New York Philharmonic, the symphony orchestra based in New York City, that was founded by Ureli Corelli Hill in 1842.

The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the Big Five. The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Founded in 1842, the orchestra is one of the oldest musical institutions in the United States and the oldest of the Big Five orchestras. Its record-setting 14,000th concert was given in December 2004.

The New York Philharmonic was founded in 1842 by the American conductor Ureli Corelli Hill, with the aid of the Irish composer William Vincent Wallace. The orchestra was then called the Philharmonic Society of New York.

It was the third Philharmonic on American soil since 1799, and had as its intended purpose, the advancement of instrumental music. The first concert of the Philharmonic Society took place on December 7, 1842, in the Apollo Rooms on lower Broadway before an audience of 600.

The concert opened with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, led by Hill himself. Two other conductors, German-born Henry Christian Timm and French-born Denis Etienne, led parts of the eclectic, three-hour program, which included chamber music and several operatic selections with a leading singer of the day, as was the custom. The musicians operated as a cooperative society, deciding by a majority vote such issues as who would become a member, which music would be performed and who among them would conduct. At the end of the season, the players would divide any proceeds among themselves.

After only a dozen public performances and barely four years old, the Philharmonic organized a concert to raise funds to build a new music hall. The centerpiece was the American premiere of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, to take place at Castle Garden on the southern tip of Manhattan. About 400 instrumental and vocal performers gathered for this premiere, which was conducted by George Loder. The chorals were translated into what would be the first English performance anywhere in the world. However, with the expensive US$2.00 ticket price and a war rally uptown, the hoped-for audience was kept away and the new hall would have to wait. Although judged by some as an odd work with all those singers kept at bay until the end, the Ninth soon became the work performed most often when a grand gesture was required.

In November 2022, the orchestra was made up of a majority of women -45 women and 44 men- for the first time in its history.

More information: NY Phil

The sound of the orchestra is one
of the most magnificent musical sounds
that has ever existed.

Chick Corea