HENSCHEL'S LONDON SYMPHONY CONCERTS

George Henschel (1850–1934) was a celebrated baritone on the concert platform and a close friend of Brahms in Vienna during the 1870s. He moved to London in 1877, but his career took a different direction as a result of a visit to Boston three years later. Attracting attention on the rostrum, he was (somewhat controversially) appointed first conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he maintained for three seasons.

Returning to London, in 1886 he initiated his own series of orchestral concerts at St James’s Hall, with an impressive roster of patrons proudly listed in his memoirs. The series was designated the London Symphony Concerts, and later advertisements reference a London Symphony Orchestra, but there was no direct connection with the present LSO, founded in 1904.

Indeed, as with other series of the time – the Richter Concerts, the Philharmonic Society  – this was by no means a full-time orchestra, with some eight or nine concerts spanning the winter months. Programmes concentrated on the core Austro-German repertoire that reflected Henschel’s background – extending to Wagner, but only rarely touching British or other nationalities.

Although overshadowed by other initiatives and by more illustrious conductors, Henschel should be recognised for his role in establishing symphony concerts at the heart of London’s musical calendar. The series ended with the eleventh season in 1897, presumably reflecting the new wave of concerts at the modern Queen’s Hall, where Henry Wood conducted the first series of innovative Saturday concerts that very same year.

For programmes of the concerts 1892–1897, download the Calendar of London Concerts 1893–1914, press the Search Series tab at the bottom of the page, and select Henschel London Symphony Concerts.

Further reading

George Henschel, Musings and Memories of a Musician (London, 1918)