Page 987 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

What’s the difference between a symphony and a

philharmonic orchestra?

The difference between a symphony and a philharmonic lies in a choice of words
used to name an orchestra.

‘Symphony’ literally means ‘agreement of sound’, and comes from the Greek
word symphōnía. ‘Philharmonic’, also derived from Greek, means ‘love of
harmony’ (‘phil’, like ‘philos’, is the love bit, harmonic, like ‘harmonikos’, is the
harmony bit).

Symphony was a name that made sense for these groups performing
symphonies and, as well as being used to name specific orchestras, is also a
catch-all term for the type of ensemble. It follows that an obvious official name
for distinct groups, then, would be the ‘Something’ Symphony Orchestra.

Read more: The 15 greatest symphonies of all time

The word ‘Philharmonic’ started being used in English in the 19th century, and
was first used for societies that supported music and catered for (very wealthy)
‘lovers of harmony’ who paid a membership fee to see concerts from an
orchestra attached to the organisation. Think of the Royal Philharmonic
Society, which was patronised well enough to have the influence to commission
works like Saint-Saëns’ ‘Organ’ Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

The use of ‘Philharmonic’ for the name of orchestras would soon emerge as
more ensembles grew from this funding model, and many cities, including
London, Vienna and Berlin, have both a symphony orchestra and a philharmonic
orchestra.

The history of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Classic FM’s
Orchestra in North West England, is a lovely illustration of this ‘love of harmony’.
It was founded by a group of amateur musicians, led by stockbroker and organist
William Sudlow, for the pure love of music, and their passion formed into the
Liverpool Philharmonic Society on 10 January 1840. Their objective was
promoting ‘the Science and Practice of Music’, and theirs was the second
philharmonic society of this kind established, the first being the Royal
Philharmonic Society mentioned above.

Read more: Who is Vasily Petrenko? Meet the conductor at the helm of the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra