WHEREAS, On November 16, 1900, Fritz Scheel led 85 musicians in the first concert of the newly-formed Philadelphia Orchestra. Over the next 100 years, the Orchestra established itself as one of the world’s great musical forces, consistently maintaining the highest standards of symphonic performance while being at the forefront of new repertories and advanced technologies; and
WHEREAS, On October 24, 1917, Leopold Stokowski led nearly 100 members of the 17-year-old Philadelphia Orchestra to the Auditorium of the Victor Talking Machine Company’s headquarters in Camden, New Jersey. There they made the Orchestra’s first recording, a rendition of Brahms’ Fifth Hungarian Dance; and
WHEREAS, The legacy of The Philadelphia Orchestra includes a remarkable list of technological “firsts” including: The Philadelphia Orchestra was the first to use the electrical method to make a commercial recording (in 1925), the first to perform its own commercially sponsored radio broadcast (in 1929, on NBC), the first to perform on the soundtrack of a featured film (
The Big Broadcast
of 1937), the first to appear on a national television broadcast (in 1948, on CBS), the first American orchestra to record the complete Beethoven symphonies on compact disc (in 1988), and the first major orchestra to give a live cybercast on the Internet (in 1997); and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Orchestra has also succeeded in expanding the symphonic repertoire with various diverse and respected composers having written music specifically for the Philadelphians and had their works receive world or United States premieres by the Philadelphia Orchestra; and
WHEREAS, In recognition of the Orchestra’s century-long dedication to the promotion of symphonic music in the United States and the world, Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch writes: “What is it that forms the essence of the Orchestra’s greatness? First is the unbelievable breadth of styles, the ability to grasp with lightning speed any new approach to playing. Second is the enormous intensity of sound: without a lot of talk, one can expect all of the required shadings and color, from the most delicate pianissimos to the most powerful explosions of sonority. But most important of all is this Orchestra’s eagerness to play, its sheer joy in performing.”; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor and congratulate
the Philadelphia Orchestra upon celebrating its 100th Anniversary.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the Philadelphia Orchestra as evidence of the sincere admiration of this legislative body.
End