Vienna and New York: 175 Years of Two Philharmonics

Strauss’s manuscript score for his Symphony in F minor paired with December 13, 1884, program from the New York Philharmonic world premiere, conducted by Theodore Thomas

The manuscript score of Richard Strauss’s Symphony no. 2 in F minor—one of the most historically significant artifacts in the Theodore Thomas collection—is back in New York.

During the 2016-17 season, the New York Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra—both founded in 1842—celebrate their 175th anniversaries. To commemorate this remarkable occasion, a joint exhibit of archival materials opens this week at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. For this event, the Rosenthal Archives of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was invited to collaborate, loaning the Strauss score.

The exhibit will then travel to Vienna (the Strauss score will only be included in the New York leg of the exhibit) and open on March 28 at the Haus der Musik (the one-time home of Otto Nicolai, the founder of the Vienna Philharmonic), launching a new permanent archive.

Coinciding with the exhibit, the Vienna Philharmonic presents three concerts at Carnegie Hall on February 24, 25, and 26, and the New York Philharmonic will perform at Vienna’s Konzerthaus on March 29 as part of its spring European tour.

Several images of the artifacts featured and the exhibit setup are below. More images of tonight’s press opening event to come . . . stay tuned!

In the New York Philharmonic’s archives, Ardon Bar-Hama photographs the title page of Strauss’s F minor symphony

A first edition of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, used for the New York Philharmonic’s first concert

Program for the New York Philharmonic’s first concert, given on December 7, 1842

New York Philharmonic assistant archivist Gabryel Smith setting up the exhibit

New York Philharmonic program for Leonard Bernstein’s debut (replacing Bruno Walter) on November 14, 1943

Program for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s first concert, given on March 28, 1842

Founding documents for the Vienna and New York orchestras

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