Bradford Permanent Orchestra

The Bradford Permanent Orchestra was a symphony orchestra founded at Bradford, West Yorkshire, England in 1892.

History

When the orchestra was founded it followed decades of development, the efforts of local societies, ensembles, amateur and professional musicians; most recently led by W. B. Sewell to create a permanent orchestral ensemble in Bradford. Sewell first organized an orchestra at Bradford in 1882, and when he instituted the Bradford Popular Concerts for the 1886-1887 season, the press described it as "a movement of greater promise for musical culture and entertainment than any that has been attempted since the establishment of the Bradford Festival Choral Society." Sewell programmed nine concerts and nineteen rehearsals at St George's Hall, with repertoire including first Bradford performances of Haydn's Largo for strings; Barnett’s Elfland (Op.36); Cowen’s Language of the Flowers, and Scandinavian symphony; Prout’s March from Hereward (Op.12), and Birmingham symphony; Sérénade hongroise by Joncières; ballet music from Coppélia and Sylvia by Léo Delibes; overtures from La Gioconda by Ponchielli, La reine de Saba by Gounod, and Rosamunde by Reinecke; Sullivan’s Overture di Ballo and Henry VIII incidental music; and the overture from Mackenzie's Colomba. Guest artists included Leonard Emil Bach, Clara Samuell, John Dunn, Herbert Sharpe, Jules-Bernard Lasserre, Nettie Carpenter, Robert Watkin-Mills. Sewell's concerts sought to "establish a permanent Bradford orchestra and systematically keep the finest orchestral music before the public."

Not long into the first season the press observed,The third of Mr W. B. Sewell's Saturday concerts in St. George's Hall, Bradford, clearly proved two things,— that the concerts are misnamed, as they show no evidence of popularity, and that by rapid consolidation and the excellence of its performances this orchestra has exceeded the most sanguine expectations. The empty galleries on Saturday night must have been very disheartening to the promoter, and it is evident that if there is a desire to please the people more familiar music must be provided without trenching too much upon the claims of the subscribers, who muster in fair strength in the area and stalls. That the people of Bradford had every sympathy with the movement was abundantly seen in the remarkable demonstration at the opening concert. They attended in numbers, they cheered and cheered again for conductor and band, and afterwards their enthusiasm evaporated because it could not live on purely “classical” music, although admittedly played in first-class style. The first concert proved that there is an audience to be obtained, and the third one as clearly showed that the people will only attend to hear what they can understand and thoroughly appreciate.The issues faced in the first season persisted; eventually leading to the concerts being discontinued midway through their third season in January 1889.