The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra because of a new rule requiring players to give the orchestra their exclusive services. The LSO itself later introduced a similar rule for its members. From the outset the LSO was organised on co-operative lines, with all players sharing the profits at the end of each season. This practice continued for the orchestra's first four decades.
Clockwise from top left: Adolf Borsdorf, Thomas Busby, John Solomon and Henri van der Meerschen, founding fathers of the LSO
Hans Richter, first conductor of the LSO
Elgar and the LSO, Queen's Hall, 1911
Johann Baptist Isidor Richter, or János Richter was an Austro-Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor.
Punch cartoon dated February 5, 1908, of Richter's first English performance of Wagner's The Ring