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Belfast lacked a pool of homegrown professional players at the turn of the 20th century, yet orchestral music was enjoyed throughout the city.
The Belfast Philharmonic Society, founded in 1874, assembled its own orchestra of local amateur players to perform oratorios such as Handel’s Messiah each year, as well as opera and symphonic concerts. Theatres and picture houses had resident orchestras which drew large, enthusiastic crowds, and played music from popular composers, as well as incidental music to accompany pictures.
‘Commencing Monday February 21st
Grand Symphony Orchestra
40 performers
Under the conductorship of the famous young Italian conductor, Signor ENRICO Cinganelli
In recognition of the wonderful growth of Musical sentiment and the demand for better music, a new experiment, bold in conception and of far reaching importance, will be inaugurated at the Picture House on Monday.
From 3 to 5pm and again in the evening, a Grand Symphony Orchestra of 40 Performers under the conductorship of Signor Enrico Cinganelli will give a series of Orchestral Selections chosen from the works of the best known composers. The augmented Orchestra will also play incidental music to the pictures.’
Cinganelli’s orchestral contributions were praised in the Northern Whig in April 1916: ‘The programmes by the symphony orchestra, under the skilled direction of Signor Enrico Cinganelli, are esteemed by the visitors as a particularly attractive feature of the entertainment.’
‘An outstanding feature of the programme at The Picture House, Royal Avenue, is the Grand Symphony Orchestra of forty performers, which will form a permanent attraction at this popular place of entertainment. Under the skilled conductorship of Signor Enrico Cinganelli, the orchestra delighted the large audiences yesterday afternoon with its dainty rendering of three dances from ‘Nell Gwynn’ (German), Tschaikowsky’s impressive ‘1812’ overture, and Macbeth’s intermezzo ‘Forget-Me-Not.’ Encores were enthusiastically demanded and responded to. The attractiveness of the pictures is considerably enhanced by the selections rendered during their exhibition. The first impression that an orchestra of forty performers would prove too heavy for the size of the building is soon dispelled by the splendid judgement and taste exercised by the conductor, and his combination, the performers having adapted themselves to the existing conditions with remarkable insight and praiseworthy effect. The majority of the members were formerly associated with the Scottish Symphony Orchestra.’
In 1912, Edward Godfrey Brown was appointed Conductor of the Belfast Philharmonic Society and became a leading advocate for the establishment of a symphonic orchestra for Belfast, which could perform major orchestral works and extend the Society’s repertoire.
Brown made the case for the formation of a permanent orchestra in a letter to Sir Charles Brett in 1920:
‘The Philharmonic Society would benefit enormously by having a qualified orchestra at hand (…) The city’s prestige would be greatly enhanced, & it would soon be looked upon, amongst its many greatnesses, as a musical centre, one of the few, in fact, with a Permanent Orchestra.’ (PRONI, D970/20)
1924: BBC Northern Ireland created
The creation of BBC Northern Ireland in 1924 would prove transformative in furthering Brown’s ambition. With the arrival of 2BE, the BBC’s radio station, a regional orchestra could now be formed, and Brown was appointed as the station’s first Director of Music. 17 professional players were recruited from England to form the BBC Wireless Orchestra, which numbered 35 players by 1939.
BBC Players also joined in Belfast Philharmonic productions, raising the standard of playing and allowing orchestral music to grow and flourish through the 1920s and 1930s. In 1932, the Belfast Philharmonic Society pulled off something of a coup when it welcomed Sir Edward Elgar, Master of the King’s Musick, to Belfast to conduct his Dream of Gerontius.
The outbreak of war in 1939 brought challenges as members of the BBC orchestra were called up to join the armed forces. Orchestral music continued in a somewhat reduced format during the war years, largely sustained by David Curry’s Irish Rhythms Orchestra.
In the post-war years, visiting orchestras regularly graced the Belfast stage, including the Liverpool Philharmonic, London Philharmonic and Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra. In August 1946, John Barbirolli brought his 80-strong Hallé Orchestra to the King’s Hall, Balmoral for three nights of music then branded ‘the greatest musical event in the history of Ireland’. The Hallé played to a large audience of over 5000 on their first night in Belfast, and Barbirolli, conductor of the Hallé, was fulsome in his praise for the King’s Hall.
‘It is as good, if not better, acoustically, as the Royal Albert Hall in London.’
New orchestral groups also emerged at this time. The Studio Strings Orchestra was set up by Havelock Nelson in 1947 to give amateurs an opportunity to perform orchestral works, whilst in November 1949, the BBC’s Northern Ireland Light Orchestra was formed under the stewardship of David Curry.
In 1950, the City of Belfast Orchestra, a new municipal, semi-professional part-time orchestra, was created by the Corporation of Belfast and CEMA. BBC players, as well as bandsmen from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, played with the CBO, but when in 1965, BBC players were offered full-time contracts, the CBO found it could no longer rely on these players, jeopardising its future.
Captain Peter Montgomery, President of the Arts Council NI, and Michael Whewell, ACNI’s Director, were now keen to create a full-time orchestra which would allow for regional and schools concerts to be held across Northern Ireland. This was made possible when the government doubled its grant to ACNI to £100,000 to help fund a new orchestra. The stage was now set…
