The Blüthner Orchestra was a German

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

based in Berlin. Founded in 1907, it operated until 1925 when it was absorbed into the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra specialised in engaging young players. Its first leader (concertmaster) was the 21-year-old

Louis Persinger Louis Persinger (11 February 1887, Rochester, Illinois31 December 1966, New York, New York) was an American violinist, pianist and professor of violin. Persinger had early lessons in Colorado, appearing in public by the age of 12. His main studies ...

, afterwards one of

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

's teachers, and some years later the future conductor

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association wit ...

(then known as Jenö Blau) held the same post at the age of 18; in 1917 he appeared with the orchestra as conductor on a tour in Hungary. Another conductor, the contemporary-music specialist

Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor. Life Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...

, played among the

violas ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

of the orchestra while still in his teens. The orchestra's other conductors included at various times

Max von Schillings Max von Schillings (April 19, 1868 – July 24, 1933 in Berlin) was a German conductor, composer and theatre director. He was chief conductor at the Berlin State Opera from 1919 to 1925. Schillings' opera ''Mona Lisa'' (1915) was internationally ...

Siegmund von Hausegger Siegmund von Hausegger (16 August 1872 – 10 October 1948) was an Austrian composer and conductor. Early life Siegmund was born in Graz, the son of Friedrich von Hausegger (1837-1899), a lawyer and writer on music. According to Siegmund's ow ...

and . In 1913 the orchestra gave the first performance of

Sergei Bortkiewicz Sergei Bortkiewicz (russian: Сергей Эдуардович Борткевич; – 25 October 1952) was a Russian-born Austrian Romantic composer and pianist. He moved to Vienna in 1922 and became a naturalized Austrian citizen in 1926. Li ...

's first piano concerto, with Hugo van Dalen as soloist. In the same year the orchestra was engaged by the Anker record company for the first-ever recording of a substantial extract from

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

'', namely about three-quarters of the first act of ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...

''. The conductor was Edmund von Strauss, the orchestra's business manager, and the principals were Jacques Decker (Siegmund) and Erna Denera (Sieglinde). The orchestra came under strong criticism in 1919 for playing at a memorial ceremony for the revolutionary activists

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag from ...

and

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...

; its then musical director,

Paul Scheinpflug Paul Scheinpflug (10 September 1875 near Dresden – 11 March 1937) was a German conductor and composer. Born in Loschwitz, Scheinpflug studied at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden from 1890 to 1894, among others with Fel ...

, had to issue a public apology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluthner Orchestra 1907 establishments in Germany 1925 disestablishments in Germany German symphony orchestras Disbanded orchestras Musical groups established in 1907 Musical groups disestablished in 1925