Sir Adrian Boult Conducts the Essex Symphony Orchestra in 1956

The Essex Musical Association had their Fiftieth Anniverary Concert in 1956, and the Essex Symphony Orchestra^**accompanied the massed choirs forming this association in Haydn's Creation, under the baton of the world famous Sir Adrian Boult. When asked to conduct by the sub committee, one which was formed in 1954 to plan this occasion, Sir Adrian agreed but at first said he would charge no fee. The committee could not accept this overwhelming generosity and he agreed to £10 for the day. In the event he returned the fee. He was reminded that when he conducted the twenty first anniversary concert in 1932^$ it had been broadcast, but unfortuately there had been a dispute between the BBC and Sir Adrian when he retired from their employ in 1949 and that initiative came to nothing.

$ The war years were discounted in calculating the 21st anniversary

The programme is pictured below. This picture was scanned from an original and processed to remove blemishes thereby changing the colour of the original cover from green to white. The programme also included a list of the player's names, and two of the current ESO members are on that list; Don Beckett and Bruce Sinclair.

** Website Editor's Note: The front pages of the programme do not mention the Essex Symphony Orchestra but I know for certain that we were the orchestra employed as I was playing in that concert!