Since its inception the LSO has given literally hundreds of first performances of some of the most important music written in the last century, and has commissioned many works from the brightest musical talents.
Here we pick out some of the highlights from a century of vibrant and forward-looking programming.
1905
World premiere of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 3, conducted by the composer
1908
First London performance of Elgar’s First Symphony (second ever performance), conducted by Hans Richter
World premiere of Delius’s A Dance of Life, conducted by Enrique Fernández Arbós
1909
World premiere of Delius’s Dance Rhapsody No 1, conducted by the composer
1910
First UK performance of Scriabin’s Le poeme de l’extase, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky
World premiere of Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, conducted by the composer
1912
First UK performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture, conducted by Wassily Safonoff
1913
World premiere of Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad, conducted by Arthur Nikisch
World premiere of Elgar’s Falstaff, conducted by the composer
1915
World premiere of Delius’s North Country Sketches, conducted by Thomas Beecham
1918
First performance of the first revised version of Vaughan Williams’s ‘London’ Symphony, conducted by Adrian Boult
1919
World premiere of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, with Felix Salmond, conducted by the composer
1920
Albert Coates conducts the first complete performance of Holst’s The Planets at the Queen’s Hall as well as the premiere of the second revised version of Vaughan Williams’s ‘London’ Symphony
1922
Prokofiev gives the first UK performance of his Third Piano Concerto, conducted by Albert Coates
World premiere of Bax’s Symphony No 1, conducted by Albert Coates
World premiere of Bliss’s A Colour Symphony, conducted by the composer 1923
UK premiere of Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (this arrangement originally called The Paintings from the Picture Show), conducted by Serge Koussevitzky
1925
First London performance of Respighi’s Pines of Rome, conducted by Albert Coates
1929
London premiere of Rachmaninov’s Fourth Piano Concerto, played by the composer with Albert Coates conducting
1930
World premiere of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 5, conducted by the composer
1931
World premiere of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, in Leeds, conducted by Malcolm Sargent
Stravinsky conducts the first UK performance of his Suite from The Firebird
1934
World premiere of Walton’s Symphony No 1 (first three movements), conducted by Sir Hamilton Harty
1938
World premiere of Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, combined London Orchestras conducted by Sir Henry Wood
1943
World premiere of Britten’s Matinées Musicales (Suite No 2), conducted by Anatole Fistoulari
1946
The LSO performs in a film called Instruments of the Orchestra featuring the premiere of Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent
World premiere of Vaughan Williams’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra with Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
1953
First UK performance of Strauss’s Symphonic Fragment, The Legend of Joseph, conducted by Eugene Goossens
First UK performance of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-symphonie, conducted by Walter Goehr with soloists Yvonne Loriod and Ginette Martenot
1956
First UK performance of Mahler’s Das klagende Lied, conducted by Walter Goehr
1962
World premiere of Alexander Goehr’s Violin Concerto with Manoug Parikian, conducted by Antal Dorati
1963
World premiere of Khachaturian’s Concerto-Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra, with Mstislav Rostropovich, conducted by George Hurst
Hans Werner Henze conducts the UK premiere of his Symphony No 5
World premiere of Tippett’s Concerto for Orchestra, conducted by Colin Davis at the Edinburgh Festival
1964
World premiere of Henze’s Ariosi, conducted by Colin Davis
World premiere of Copland’s Music for a Great City, conducted by the composer
1965
World premiere of Britten’s Voices for Today, conducted by István Kertész, relayed from United Nations HQ in New York
1966
World premiere of Richard Rodney Bennett’s Symphony, conducted by István Kertész
UK premiere of Bernstein’s ‘Jeremiah’ Symphony, conducted by Seiji Ozawa
1967
First Western performance of Shostakovich’s Second Violin Concerto, with David Oistrakh, conducted by Eugene Ormandy
1968
World premiere of Oliver Knussen’s Symphony No 1, conducted by the 15-year-old composer
UK premiere of Aaron Copland’s Inscape, conducted by the composer
1969
UK premiere of Webern’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez
World premiere of the concert suite of Luigi Nono’s Intolleranza, conducted by Claudio Abbado
1970
World premiere of Benjamin Frankel’s Seventh Symphony, conducted by André Previn
World premiere of Previn’s Cello Concerto, with Douglas Cummings, conducted by the composer
1971
First London performance of John McCabe’s Notturni ed Alba, with Sheila Armstrong, conducted by André Previn
World premiere of Ravi Shankar’s Sitar Concerto, with Ravi Shankar, conducted by André Previn
London premiere of Shostakovich’s Thirteenth Symphony (‘Babi Yar’), conducted by André Previn
1972
World premiere of Michael Tippett’s Symphony No 3, with Heather Harper, conducted by Colin Davis
1973
Krzyzstof Penderecki conducts the world premiere of his Symphony No 1
World premiere of Bliss’s Metamorphic Variations, conducted by Leopold Stokowski
1976
World premiere of Walton’s Varii Capricci, conducted by André Previn
World premiere of Andrzej Panufnik’s Sinfonia di sfere, conducted by David Atherton
1977
World premiere of André Previn’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, conducted by the composer
1980
World premiere of Tippett’s Triple Concerto, with György Pauk, Nobuko Imai and Ralph Kirshbaum, conducted by Sir Colin Davis
1989
World premiere of Colin Matthews’s Quatrain, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
UK premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mlada, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
1991
World premiere of John Taverner’s The Repentant Thief, with LSO Principal Clarinet Andrew Marriner, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
1992
World premiere of Panufnik’s Cello Concerto, with Mstislav Rostropovich, conducted by Hugh Wolff
1993
World premiere of Robert Saxton’s Cello Concerto, with Mstislav Rostropovich, conducted by Oliver Knussen
1994
World premiere of James MacMillan’s Britannia, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
World premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Cello Concerto, with Mstislav Rostropovich, conducted by Seiji Ozawa
European premiere of John Adams’s Violin Concerto, with Gidon Kremer, conducted by Kent Nagano
1995
World premiere of Tippett’s The Rose Lake, conducted by Sir Colin Davis
World premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Three Kings, conducted by Richard Hickox
1996
World premiere of James MacMillan’s Cello Concerto, with Mstislav Rostropovich, conducted by Sir Colin Davis
First performance of James Macmillan’s The World’s Ransoming, with LSO Principal Cor Anglais Christine Pendrill as soloist, conducted by Kent Nagano
1997
World premiere of Bernstein’s A White House Cantata, conducted by Kent Nagano
World premiere of James MacMillan’s ‘Vigil’ Symphony, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich
World premiere of Paul McCartney’s Standing Stone, conducted by Lawrence Foster
2000
World premiere of George Benjamin’s Palimpsest, conducted by Pierre Boulez
2002
First European performance of Previn’s Violin Concerto, performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter, conducted by the composer
2003
World premiere of George Benjamin’s Shadowlines, conducted by the composer
World premiere of James MacMillan’s A Deep But Dazzling Darkness at LSO St Luke’s, conducted by the composer
UK premiere of Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, conducted by the composer
2004
LSO Centenary Year commissions include: Dmitri Smirnov, Triple Concerto No 2 for double bass, harp and violin; Richard Bissill, Sinfonia concertante for trumpet, horn and clarinet; Karl Jenkins, LSO Centenary Concertante for percussion, flute and piano; Huw Watkins, LSO Centenary Concertante for bassoon, violin and harp.
2005
The LSO and UBS Sound Adventures scheme launches, giving 18 composers over 3 years the opportunity to compose for the LSO. This year sees works by Tansy Davies (Tilting) and Luke Stoneham (Proem)
2006
World premieres of Tim Garland’s Overture to the Life of a Real Boy, Joe Culter’s Ulf, James Olsen’s Composition (30 January 2006), Daniel Basford’s Shift, Bryn Harrison’s Shifting Light and Anna Meredith’s noisy are some of the Sound Adventures pieces heard so far in 2006.
2007
World premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Stargazer, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
British premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Violin Concerto In tempus praesens, performed by Anne-Sophie Mutter and conduted by André Previn
2008
World premiere of James MacMillian’s St John Passion, commissioned by the LSO for the 80th birthday of Sir Colin Davis. The performance was conducted by Sir Colin himself
Pierre Boulez conducts the European premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Osiris
World premiere of Augusta Reid Thomas’s Helios Choros II, conducted by Daniel Harding
2009
The LSO performs the first concert premiere of Tan Dan’s Internet Symphony ‘Eroica’, written for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra project. The same concert also includes the European premiere of Tan Dun’s Piano Concerto, performed by Lang Lang. Tan Dun himself conducted both works.
2010
European premiere of John Adams’s City Noir, conducted by the composer.
James MacMillan’s Violin Concerto receives its world premiere performance by Vadim Repin, conducted by Valery Gergiev
World premiere of Eric Whitacre’s Songs of Immortality, commissioned by the London Symphony Chorus and conducted by the composer
2011
World premiere of Tim Garland's Concerto for Percussion, Saxophone and Orchestra, conducted by François-Xavier Roth
Vlad Maistorovici's Halo is 2011's 10-minute Panufnik Composers Scheme commission
2012
UK premiere of Dutilleux's Le temps l'horloge at the City of London Festival
UK premiere of Wynton Marsalis' Swing Symphony (Symphony No 3) during the London 201 Cultural Olympiad
World premiere of Fanfare: Her Majesty's Welcome by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, written for joint forces of LSO On Track and the LSO wind and brass players to perform at the Queen's Medal for Music Gala Concert in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen
2013
World premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Speranza, commissioned by the LSO with support from Susie Thomson, conducted by Daniel Harding
The first LSO Futures features two world premieres, Modo Hit Blow by Jason Yarde and Panufnik Variations by Colin Matthews, a work which contained ten variations based on a work by Andrzej Panufnik by ten Panufnik Composers Scheme alumni
2014
World premiere of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' Tenth Symphony, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano
World premiere of Huw Watkins' Flute Concerto, performed by LSO Principal Flute Adam Walker
World premiere of Sally Beamish's Equal Voices, marking 100 years since the start of World War I, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda
2015
World premiere of Wynton Marsalis' Violin Concerto, performed by Nicola Benedetti, conducted by James Gaffigan
UK premiere of Jonathan Dove's The Monster in the Maze, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, a joint commission between LSO, Berliner Philharmoniker and Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
2016
World premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies' The Hogboon, an opera for children, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. The premiere was given three months after the composer's death
World premieres of commissions from the Panufnik Composers included Elizabeth Ogonek's Sleep and Unremembrance, Jack Sheen's Lung and Michael Taplin's Ebbing Tides.
2017
World premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Remembering: in memoriam Evan Scofield, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. A co-commission between the LSO, Berliner Philharmoniker and Boston Symphony Orchestra, the work was generously supported by Susie Thomson
UK premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Håkan, performed by its dedicatee Håkan Hardenberger (trumpet) and conducted by John Wilson
The world premiere of a Fanfare by Helen Grime opens Sir Simon Rattle's first season as Music Director
2018
Helen Grime's Woven Space, expanded from her Fanfare which opened the 2017/18 season, is premiered by Sir Simon Rattle and recorded for LSO Live
Ewan Campbell's Frail Skies and Patrick Giguère's Revealing were commissioned by the LSO as part of the Panufnik Composers Scheme for performance in the Barbican Hall, conducted by François-Xavier Roth and Susanna Mälkki
Harrison Birtwistle's Fanfare opens the 2018/19 season at the Barbican, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle
The world premiere of the orchestral version of James MacMillan's All the Hills and Vales Along, written to mark the centenary of the end of World War I and commissioned by the LSO and 14-18 Now, was performed a month after the premiere of the chamber version at the Cumnock Tryst Festival
Kristjan Järvi conducts the UK premieres of Philip Glass' Third Piano Concerto and Steve Reich's Music for Ensemble and Orchestra (a co-commission) in the same concert
2019
The UK premiere of David Lang's the public domain was performed by over 500 singers from the local community, the LSC and LSO Community Choir in the Barbican foyers, conducted by Simon Halsey and a team of 10 choral conductors
Two works by Panufnik Composers commissioned by the LSO for the main season in the Barbican Hall, Donghoon Shin's Kafka's Dream and Liam Mattison's Violet, were conducted by François-Xavier Roth and Elim Chan
A complete list of first performances up to 2004 can be found in the book Orchestra: A Century of Triumph and Turbulence by Richard Morrison.
