Illustration by Britt Spencer
The short answer is probably yes, depending on how slender the hair you’d like to split is. No one disputes that the New York Philharmonic, which performed its first concert way back in 1842, came first. The St. Louis Symphony was formed in 1880 as the St. Louis Choral Society, created by and for German immigrants interested in the music of that nation’s legendary composers. The first season began with Handel, followed by Beethoven, and concerts were held in the Mercantile Library’s auditorium. The first conductor, Joseph Otten, eventually quit because he was unable to get a raise for his players, a familiar problem for modern-day classical musicians.
Going by when the organizations were founded, St. Louis beat the Boston Symphony by a year, making it the second in the nation. Technically, the St. Louis outfit was initially a chorus, as indicated by the name, and it didn’t play its first orchestral show until October 1, 1881. Even if we use that date, St. Louis still narrowly edges Boston, which held its debut concert on October 22 of that year. All of this considers only professional orchestras. If you open the conversation to amateur groups, the Philharmonic Society of Belleville takes the silver medal.
In any case, a better question might be “Who cares?” “The whole orchestra business is the most history-burdened art form that there is,” says Eddie Silva, the symphony’s external affairs and publications manager. “You have all of these people trying to yell, ‘We’re No. 2!’ Who the heck does that?” A more interesting query might be how the symphony has managed to stay afloat for all these decades. Especially before the advent of corporate sponsorships, the generosity of civic leaders was essential. On more than one occasion, city leaders literally wrote checks to keep the doors open. The symphony has worked to strengthen its community ties with such programs as IN UNISON, a partnership with black churches.
And even more interesting than how the symphony has survived for more than 100 years is how it plans to survive for 100 more. It has dabbled in visual media, pairing last season’s performance of Olivier Messiaen’s From the Canyons to the Stars… with projections of Deborah O’Grady’s landscape photography. Conductor David Robertson has embraced popular music, with tributes to Led Zeppelin, Billy Joel, and David Bowie all set for June. And the symphony has returned to its immigrant roots, recruiting patrons from Bosnia and Sudan. “Being connected to the community and how it is changing,” Silva says, “that’s how we’re going to be around.”
