The City Music Society was formed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom, in 1943. It was influenced by lunchtime concerts organised by

Hilda Bor Hilda Bor (7 May 1910 – 19 December 1993) was a British classical pianist of Russian-Jewish descent. Career A child prodigy, Bor was a recitalist during the 1920s and 1930s. She performed with the Griller Quartet, the Amadeus and the Ka ...

at the Royal Exchange and by

Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 1890 to a Jew ...

at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

. The driving force in the Society's foundation was Ivan Sutton, with help and encouragement by Bor, who became its Vice-President, and from

Edric Cundell Edric Cundell (29 January 1893 – 19 March 1961) was a British music teacher, composer and conductor. Early life and academic career Born in London, Edric Cundell came from a musical family: his grandmother worked in Paris as an opera singer an ...

, Principal of the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, who served as its first President. It was described in an obituary of Sutton as "one of the City of London's most remarkable institutions".Obituary: Ivan Sutton
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', June 28, 1996 The first event, a lecture by Cundell, took place in December 1943 at the Guildhall School, shortly followed by the first concert, a performance by the

Morley College Choir Morley College Choir was founded by Gustav Holst, during the period he was teaching music at Morley College. The choir was led for many years by Michael Tippett, who conducted the ensemble for the first-ever recording of Thomas Tallis' Spem in Aliu ...

, in January 1944. After subsequent Society concerts at the

Chartered Insurance Institute The Chartered Insurance Institute (also known as the CII) is a professional body dedicated to building public trust in the insurance and financial planning profession. The CII's purpose, as set out in its 1912 royal charter, is to 'Secure an ...

and the Royal Exchange, Sutton succeeded in convincing the

Goldsmiths' Company The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

to allow the use of its hall for a series of three evening concerts in the autumn of 1946. In the autumn of 1947 the lunchtime concerts moved from the Guildhall School to the

Bishopsgate Institute Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural institute in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London, located near Liverpool Street station and Spitalfields market. The institute was established in 1895. It offers a cultural events programme, c ...

where the opening concert by

Louis Kentner Louis Philip Kentner (19 July 190523 September 1987) was a Hungarian, later British, pianist who excelled in the works of Chopin and Liszt, as well as the Hungarian repertoire. Life and career He was born Lajos Kentner in Karwin in Austrian S ...

attracted a capacity audience. Since then evening concerts at Goldsmith's Hall and Tuesday lunchtime concerts at

have provided the regular framework within which the work of the Society has evolved. The Society, at present, stages around 26 concerts per year and has over 2000 lunchtime and early evening concerts to its credit. It completed its 60th-anniversary season in April 2004. As well as featuring well-established musicians, the Society's policy has always attempted to invite outstanding young professional artists who are at the beginning of their careers to perform at its concerts, many of whom have since attained international status. Furthermore, over the years the Society has commissioned many new works - on average one every three years - from a wide and diverse range of British composers, including

Roger Smalley John Roger Smalley (26 July 1943 – 18 August 2015) was an Anglo-Australian composer, pianist and conductor. Professor Smalley was a senior honorary research fellow at the School of Music, University of Western Australia in Perth and honorary ...

Nicholas Maw John Nicholas Maw (5 November 1935 – 19 May 2009) was a British composer. Among his works are the operas '' The Rising of the Moon'' (1970) and ''Sophie's Choice'' (2002). Biography Born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Maw was the son of Clarence ...

Diana Burrell Diana Elizabeth Jane Burrell (born 25 October 1948) is an English composer and viola player. Life and career Burrell was born on 25 October 1948 in Norwich, England. Her parents were Bernard Burrell, a schoolteacher by profession who served as ...

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer of film, TV and concert music, and also a jazz pianist and occasional vocalist. He was based in New York City from 1979 until his death there in 2012.Zachary Woo ...

Elizabeth Maconchy Dame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy LeFanu (; 19 March 1907 – 11 November 1994) was an Irish-English composer. She is considered to be one of the finest composers Great Britain and Ireland have produced. Biography Elizabeth Violet Maconchy was b ...

Phyllis Tate Phyllis Tate (6 April 1911 – 29 May 1987) was an English composer known for forming unusual instrumental combinations in her output. Much of her work was written for the use of amateur performers and children. Biography Phyllis Margaret Duncan ...

Robin Holloway Robin Greville Holloway (born 19 October 1943) is an English composer, academic and writer. Early life Holloway was born in Leamington Spa. From 1953 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and was educated at King's College School, ...

John McCabe John McCabe may refer to: *John McCabe (composer) (1939–2015), British composer and classical pianist *John McCabe (writer) (1920–2005), Shakespearean scholar and biographer *Christopher John McCabe Christopher John McCabe (born 20 Oc ...

Geoffrey Burgon Geoffrey Alan Burgon (15 July 194121 September 2010) was an English composer best known for his television and film scores. Among his most recognisable works are ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' for film, and ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and '' ...

, Peter-Paul Nash,

Kevin Volans Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a South African born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the ''Neue Einfacheit'' (New Simplicity) mo ...

and

Michael Berkeley Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton, (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer, broadcaster on music and member of the House of Lords. Early life Berkeley is the eldest of the three sons of Elizabeth Freda (née Bernstein ...

References

External links

Official website

Collection Description
of the City Music Society archive, held at the Bishopsgate Institute, London. {{authority control Regional and local learned societies of the United Kingdom 1943 establishments in the United Kingdom Arts organizations established in 1943 Arts organisations based in the United Kingdom