In our last blog post we learned there was a Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra in existence in the early 20th Century. This came as a surprise to us, because we were under the impression the SPO was founded in 1945 and were preparing to celebrate our 80th Anniversary in 2025! Once we found out a Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra existed as early as 1903, we set to work looking for more information about it.
The Musical Times proved to be a fantastic resource to us in researching this ‘old SPO’. The first reference to the orchestra in print was in 1906 in a review of a concert in 1905, “the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, formerly the Brincliffe Musical Society… conducted by J.H. Parkes.“. So the earliest reference to the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra was 1905, before which the orchestra belonged to the Brincliffe Musical Society (whose first season was in 1884-1885(!). So, perhaps the history of the orchestra really stretches back 140 years rather than 80?!
We followed regular references in The Musical Times through to 1915 when they stop suddenly. In May of 1915 there is a review of a concert given at the Montgomery Hall (now the Montgomery Theatre on Surrey Street) on 23 March.
But the next reference to the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra in The Musical Times wasn’t until 1933! Did the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra fold due to World War 1?
The article in The Musical Times (Apr. 1933) indicated that the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra gave a concert with the Firth Park Secondary School Choral Society under the baton of Prof. Shera.
Professor Frank Henry Shera (1882 – 1956) MA, MusM Cantab, FRCO, Hon ARCM was an organist, conductor and composer. Born in Ecclesall, Sheffield in 1882 to Dr Shera, a classicist who was head of Wesley College and then of King Edwards. Prof. Frank Shera was Dir. of Music at Malvern College from 1916-1928 before taking up the position of Chair of Music at the University of Sheffield, where he stayed until 1948 when he retired.
The University of Sheffield Archives holds a collection called The Shera Manuscripts (1928-1948) which was to be the next stop on our quest for information about our history. However, from what we could see from the University Archives website, Prof. Shera founded the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra in late 1929 and served as its Conductor. So perhaps the first iteration of the SPO did fold due to the First World War.
Stay tuned for A Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra Mystery: Part 3 where we learn more about Professor Shera and the 1929 iteration of the SPO!