Landon Ronald (1873 - 1938)

Following the formation of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1904 Ronald was invited to conduct the new orchestra regularly and this led to engagements abroad: he conducted the first performance in Rome of his friend Sir Edward Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 in 1909, and Elgar dedicated his Falstaff to him. Between 1909 and 1914 he was the conductor of the New Symphony Orchestra in London, and between 1916 and 1920 of the Scottish Orchestra. As a guest he appeared regularly between 1907 and 1918 with the recently created Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Beecham’s New Birmingham Symphony Orchestra towards the end of World War I. When the New Symphony Orchestra became the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra in 1915 Ronald was named as its conductor, a position he held until the orchestra ceased to exist after 1928. Under Ronald it became the first orchestra in England to have a recording contract, with The Gramophone Company.

As a musical commentator in the popular press, an accomplished composer and the principal of the Guildhall School of Music from 1910 to 1938, Ronald exerted a strong influence upon British musical life. Beecham praised his ‘ease and grace’ as a conductor, and for many musicians of the period, such as Fritz Kreisler, he was the ideal accompanist. Ronald’s recording career may be divided into three phases: the first when he served as a piano accompanist, the second as an orchestral conductor of acoustic recordings, and the third in the same role following the introduction of electrical recording. He was honoured with a knighthood in 1922.