The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra/South Australian Symphony Orchestra

The Federal Government established the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932.  The A.B.C. set up small studio orchestras in each state for live radio broadcasts.  The Adelaide Studio Orchestra was formed in 1934, with William Cade as Conductor.  Some of the players came from the defunct cinema orchestras and others came from the South Australian Orchestra.  This small orchestra performed light music for radio audiences.  In 1936, the A.B.C.’s music adviser, Bernard Heinze (1894-1982), suggested enlarging these orchestras, with 45 players in Sydney, 35 in Melbourne, 11 in Hobart and 17 in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.  The Adelaide Studio Orchestra was called the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.  Its size was augmented with extra players for A.B.C. sponsored concerts.

At the Great State Centenary Concert in Centennial Hall on October 22nd, 1936, Dr Malcolm Sargent, ‘conducting a Gorgeous Orchestral Concert by the augmented Adelaide Symphony Orchestra of 65 players’ gave the first performance of local composer Miriam Hyde’s overture, Adelaide, in the presence of the Governor, Sir Winston and Lady Dugan.  The soloists were Vina Barden (soprano) and Frederick Williamson (tenor).  Other items in the programme were Resphigi-Rossini La Boutique Fantasque, Liszt’s Hungarian Fantaisie and ‘On away, Awake Beloved’ from Hiawatha.  Tickets were 2 shillings and 3 shillings (unreserved) and 5 shillings and 7/6 (reserved).  The first Celebrity Concert in 1936, conducted by William Cade, featured Australian pianist Eileen Joyce.

Visiting artists who appeared with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in its early years included Arthur Rubinstein, David Oistrakh, Claudio Arrau, Marcel Dupré, Jeanne Gautier, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Noel Coward.  William Cade formed the Adelaide Wireless Chorus (later renamed the Adelaide Singers), which Sir Granville Bantock described as ‘the finest of its type that he’d ever seen’.  Conductors visiting from overseas included Sir Hamilton Harty (1936), Malcolm Sargent (1938-39), Georg Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham and Otto Klemperer.  William Cade retired as a conductor of A.B.C. orchestras in 1948, after 14 years.

The Music Teachers’ Association of South Australia expressed their concern at the lack of a permanent orchestra in South Australia in 1946, and offered their support towards the formation of one.  Marjorie Douglas Cornell became the Honorary Organiser of the South Australian Orchestral Association, an organisation of music-lovers that was formed for the purpose of raising funds and assisting the Australian Broadcasting Commission to set up a permanent orchestra.  Marjorie Douglas Cornell  co-opted a considerable body of influential citizens to help the cause.  As a result, the A.B.C. orchestra was expanded to 45 full-time members and renamed the South Australian Symphony Orchestra in 1949.  It was augmented to 55 players for the main concerts.  Henry Krips (1912-1987) was appointed Resident Conductor in the same year .  This was made possible by funding provided by the South Australian Orchestral Association, the South Australian Government and the Adelaide City Council.  In the same year Musica Viva was established, John Bishop (1903-1964) having been appointed Elder Professor of Music in the previous year.

- Robert Brown