The National Philharmonic Orchestra was a British

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, c ...

created exclusively for recording purposes. It was founded by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

producer and conductor Charles Gerhardt and orchestra leader and contractor Sidney Sax. The orchestra was created partly due to the requirements of an extensive recording project for the ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

''.

History

Before settling on this name, the orchestra began operation in 1964 using a variety of names including RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra and the London Promenade (the latter consisting largely of

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symp ...

personnel). It was incorporated as the National Philharmonic Orchestra in 1971 by Sidney Sax. Musicians from London's huge talent pool were contracted by Gerhardt and Sax. By way of example, the violin section would routinely be peppered with leaders / concertmasters of all the major London orchestras, past and present, such as John Ronayne, Bela Dekany, Lionel Bentley, John Ludlow, John Brown, Donald Weekes, Irvine Arditti, Charles Meinardi, Hans Geiger, etc. The orchestra ceased to record exclusively for RCA Records in 1974.

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

began recording the orchestra in March 1974. This was for a

Phase 4 Stereo Phase 4 Stereo was a recording process created by the U.K. Decca Records label in 1961. The process was used on U.K. Decca recordings and also those of its American subsidiary London Records during the 1960s. Phase 4 Stereo recordings were cre ...

recording of the ''

Yellow River Piano Concerto The ''Yellow River Piano Concerto'' () is a piano concerto arranged by a collaboration between Chinese composers, including Yin Chengzong and Chu Wanghua, and based on the '' Yellow River Cantata'' by composer Xian Xinghai. It was originally dire ...

'' conducted by

Elgar Howarth Elgar Howarth (born 4 November 1935), is an English conductor, composer and trumpeter. Biography Howarth was born at Cannock, Staffordshire. He was educated in the 1950s at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music (the ...

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

began using the orchestra in 1975. Conductors such as

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positio ...

Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge ( ) (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist. He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. Bonynge conducted virtually all of Sutherland's operatic performance ...

, Charles Gerhardt,

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was bor ...

Carlos Païta Carlos Païta (10 March 1932 – 19 December 2015) was an Argentine conductor. He was born in Buenos Aires. His father was originally from Hungary, his mother was a singer from Italy. At a young age, Païta attended rehearsals by Wilhelm Furtwä ...

and

Loris Tjeknavorian Loris Haykasi Tjeknavorian ( hy, Լորիս Ճգնավորյան; fa, لوریس چکناواریان; born 13 October 1937) is an Iranian Armenian composer and conductor. He has appeared internationally as a conductor, serving as the principal ...

have made recordings with the orchestra. Bonynge recorded all three of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

s with it for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

, Gerhardt made a series of

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

recordings of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

with it for

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and Kamen recorded

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

's orchestral sessions from the ''

24 Nights ''24 Nights'' is the fifth live album by Eric Clapton, compiled from 42 concerts performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, in 1990 and 1991. It was released on 8 October 1991. The cover illustration is by Peter Blake. Backgrou ...

'' concerts at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in 1990 and 1991 for Duck Records. Carlos Païta recorded

's Symphony No. 6 (''Pathétique Symphony''),

Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

, Glinka, and

Borodin Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...

for Lodia. Tjeknavorian recorded

's Symphony No. 2, '' In the Steppes of Central Asia'', and opera '' Prince Igor'' (including

Polovtsian Dances The Polovtsian Dances, or Polovetsian Dances ( rus, Половецкие пляски, Polovetskie plyaski from the Russian "Polovtsy"—the name given to the Kipchaks and Cumans by the Rus' people) form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Alex ...

) in 1977 for RCA. The orchestra has been featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

of many

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

s (particularly those scored by

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franc ...

and

Robert O. Ragland Robert Oliver Ragland (July 3, 1931 – April 18, 2012) was an American film score composer, best known for his soundtracks to numerous genre films ranging from blaxploitation ( ''Abby''), to horror ('' Mansion of the Doomed'', ''The Supernat ...

) as well as a selection of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' suites from the

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

catalogue.

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely r ...

regularly used the orchestra for recordings of his film work.

Kenneth Schermerhorn Kenneth Dewitt Schermerhorn ( ; November 20, 1929 – April 18, 2005) was an American composer and orchestra conductor. He was the music director of the Nashville Symphony from 1983 to 2005. Early life Schermerhorn was born on November 20, 1 ...

conducted the orchestra on the soundtrack of Baryshnikov's production ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaik ...

'', a staging of Tchaikovsky's ballet which became a television classic, after being presented live onstage. The orchestra also provided the music for the stage production. The National Philharmonic Orchestra has since been disbanded.

Film music

Some of the film scores recorded in England and performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra: * ''

The Blue Max ''The Blue Max'' is a 1966 British war film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and filmed in CinemaScope. The plot i ...

'' (1966) * '' Justine'' (1969) album re-recording; not the film recording. * '' The Last Run'' (1971) * ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 The Exorcist (novel), novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, ...

'' (1973) * ''

Ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''re ...

'' (1974) * '' High Velocity'' (1974) * ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel '' The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Le ...

'' (1975) * '' The Man Who Would Be King'' (1975) * ''

Paper Tiger "Paper tiger" is a literal English translation of the Chinese phrase ''zhǐlǎohǔ'' ( zh, s=纸老虎, t=紙老虎). The term refers to something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful or threatening, but is actually ineffectual and ...

'' (1975) * ''

Take a Hard Ride ''Take a Hard Ride'' is a 1975 Italian-American Spaghetti Western film directed by Anthony Dawson and starring Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef, Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly. This was the second of three films Brown, Williamson, and Kelly would star in ...

'' (1975) * ''

Grizzly The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

'' (1976) * '' Obsession'' (1976) * ''

Pony Express Rider ''Pony Express Rider'' is a 1976 American Western film directed by Robert Totten and starring Henry Wilcoxon, Maureen McCormick and Joan Caulfield. In 1860 young Jimmie Richardson joins the Pony Express to help find the man he believes kille ...

'' (1976) * ''

The Pink Panther Strikes Again ''The Pink Panther Strikes Again'' is a 1976 comedy film. The fifth film in ''The Pink Panther'' series, its plot picks up three years after '' The Return of the Pink Panther'', with former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) about t ...

'' (1976) * ''

The Omen ''The Omen'' is a 1976 supernatural horror film directed by Richard Donner and written by David Seltzer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, it stars Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Harvey Spen ...

'' trilogy (1976–81) * ''

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

'' (1977) * ''

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

'' (1977 mini-series) * '' March or Die'' (1977) * '' Valentino'' (1977) * ''

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

'' (1978 mini-series) * ''

The Wild Geese ''The Wild Geese'' is a 1978 war film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger. The screenplay concerns a group of mercenaries in Africa. It was the result of a long-held ambit ...

'' (1978) * ''

Revenge of the Pink Panther ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' is a 1978 comedy film. It is the sixth film in '' The Pink Panther'' comedy film series. Released in 1978, it is the final on-set performance of Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. It was al ...

'' (1978) * '' The Boys from Brazil'' (1978) * ''

Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? ''Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?'' (released in the UK as ''Too Many Chefs'') is a 1978 black comedy mystery film directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Morley. It is based on the 1976 novel '' ...

'' (1978) * '' The One Man Jury'' (1978) * '' The Great Train Robbery'' (1978) * ''

Jaguar Lives! ''Jaguar Lives!'' is a 1979 American action film directed by Ernest Pintoff and starring Joe Lewis, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasence and Barbara Bach. Its plot follows a secret agent who battles an international drugs ring. Plot Cast * J ...

'' (1979) * ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'' (1979) * '' Mountain Family Robinson'' (1979) * '' Caboblanco'' (1980) * '' The Changeling'' (1980) * ''

Mama Dracula ''Mama Dracula'' is a 1980 Belgian comedy horror film co-written, produced and directed by Boris Szulzinger. The story relates how Mama Dracula (a character based on the life story of Countess Bathory),The Sea Wolves ''The Sea Wolves'' is a 1980 war film starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and David Niven. The film, which is based on the 1978 book ''Boarding Party'' by James Leasor, is a fictionalised account of Operation Creek during the Second World War. In ...

'' (1980) * '' The Elephant Man'' (1980) * '' Outland'' (1981) * '' Roar'' (1981) * ''

Night Crossing ''Night Crossing'' is a 1982 British-American drama film starring John Hurt, Jane Alexander and Beau Bridges. The film is based on the true story of the Strelzyk and Wetzel families, who on September 16, 1979, attempted to escape from East Germa ...

'' (1982) * '' Pink Floyd – The Wall'' (1982, Outside the Wall) * ''

The Secret of NIMH ''The Secret of NIMH'' is a 1982 American animated fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's novel, '' Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH''. The film features the voices ...

'' (1982) * ''

First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's ment ...

'' (1982) * '' Trail of the Pink Panther'' (1982) * ''

The Wicked Lady ''The Wicked Lady'' is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who becomes a highwayman for the excitement. The film had one of the top audiences for a f ...

'' (1983) * '' The Dead Zone'' (1983) * ''

The House on Sorority Row ''The House on Sorority Row'' (also known as ''House of Evil'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1982 American slasher film written and directed by Mark Rosman, produced by John G. Clark, and starring Eileen Davidson and Kathryn McNeil. The plot follo ...

'' (1983) * ''

Mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

'' (1984) * ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' (1984) * '' The Philadelphia Experiment'' (1984) * '' Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985) * '' Pee-wee's Big Adventure'' (1985)

Varese Sarabande Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label=Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the ca ...

album re-recording; not the film recording. * ''

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

'' (1985) * '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985) * ''

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

'' (1985) * ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' (1985) * '' Link'' (1986) * '' Sky Bandits'' (1986) * ''

Highlander Highlander may refer to: Regional cultures * Gorals (lit. ''Highlanders''), a culture in southern Poland and northern Slovakia * Hill people, who live in hills and mountains * Merina people, an ethnic group from the central plateau of Madagasca ...

'' (1986) * '' Superman IV: The Quest for Peace'' (1987) * ''

Suspect In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated ...

'' (1987) * ''

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' is a 1988 adventure fantasy film co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, and starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Robin Williams and Uma Thurman. An interna ...

'' (1988) * ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond. It sees Bond suspended from MI6 as he pursu ...

'' (1989) * '' Total Recall'' (1990) * '' Not Without My Daughter'' (1991) * ''

Medicine Man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...

'' (1992) * ''

Basic Instinct ''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wea ...

'' (1992) * '' Mom and Dad Save the World'' (1992) * '' The Public Eye'' (1992) (rejected score) * '' Tom and Jerry: The Movie'' (1992) * '' Matinee'' (1993) * '' Malice'' (1993) * ''

Son of the Pink Panther ''Son of the Pink Panther'' is a 1993 comedy film. It is the ninth and final installment of the original '' The Pink Panther'' film series starting from the 1963 film. Directed by Blake Edwards, it stars Roberto Benigni as Inspector Clouseau's ...

'' (1993) * ''

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

'' (1993) * '' Bad Girls'' (1994) * ''

Powder A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and '' granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...

'' (1995) * ''

The Ghost and the Darkness ''The Ghost and the Darkness'' is a 1996 American historical adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. The screenplay, written by William Goldman, is a fictionalized account of the Tsavo man-eaters, ...

'' (1996) * '' Fierce Creatures'' (1997)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control British symphony orchestras Disbanded orchestras Musical groups established in 1964 1964 establishments in the United Kingdom Year of disestablishment missing National orchestras