Biography
Since its establishment many decades ago, the Scottish National Orchestra has built a distinguished profile through an ambitious roster of performances, an expansive selection of works, and a substantial presence in the recording catalogue. The ensemble traces its lineage directly to the Scottish Orchestra, which originated in Glasgow in 1890; the creation of the Scottish National Orchestra Society in 1950, supported by civic funds from Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Dundee, transformed the group into a year-round organization. For its opening forty seasons the Scottish Orchestra lacked a resident principal conductor and instead engaged a succession of prominent visiting maestros. John Barbirolli took the principal post in 1933, after which the podium was occupied successively by George Szell, Warwick Braithwaite, Walter Süsskind, Karl Rankl, Hans Swarowsky, Alexander Gibson—the first Scot to direct the ensemble—Neeme Järvi, Bryden Thomson, Walter Weller, and, beginning in 1997, Alexander Lazarev.
In its formative period the orchestra presented its Glasgow programs in the acoustically distinguished St. Andrew’s Hall. After that auditorium was lost to fire in 1962, the players appeared in a succession of spaces whose acoustic qualities varied considerably. Permanent residency was finally secured in 1979 when the former Trinity Church on Claremont Street was renovated to house the SNO Centre and Henry Wood Hall.
Among the milestones that mark the orchestra’s development are the inauguration of the Promenade concerts under Rankl, the enduring collaboration with Scottish Opera, the growth of the roster to ninety-six (subsequently reduced to eighty-nine) full-time musicians, the first overseas tour in 1967 and the first American tour in 1975, both led by Gibson, and the bestowal of the designation “Royal Scottish National Orchestra” by Queen Elizabeth II while Thomson held the post. Although the ensemble maintains a broad repertory, its discography has drawn particular notice for accounts of Bruckner, Barber, and twentieth-century British composers including Bax, MacMillan, and Holst, as well as for its widely recognized recordings of film scores such as Vertigo, Titanic, Superman, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
In its formative period the orchestra presented its Glasgow programs in the acoustically distinguished St. Andrew’s Hall. After that auditorium was lost to fire in 1962, the players appeared in a succession of spaces whose acoustic qualities varied considerably. Permanent residency was finally secured in 1979 when the former Trinity Church on Claremont Street was renovated to house the SNO Centre and Henry Wood Hall.
Among the milestones that mark the orchestra’s development are the inauguration of the Promenade concerts under Rankl, the enduring collaboration with Scottish Opera, the growth of the roster to ninety-six (subsequently reduced to eighty-nine) full-time musicians, the first overseas tour in 1967 and the first American tour in 1975, both led by Gibson, and the bestowal of the designation “Royal Scottish National Orchestra” by Queen Elizabeth II while Thomson held the post. Although the ensemble maintains a broad repertory, its discography has drawn particular notice for accounts of Bruckner, Barber, and twentieth-century British composers including Bax, MacMillan, and Holst, as well as for its widely recognized recordings of film scores such as Vertigo, Titanic, Superman, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.