Orchestral Identities and the Formation of Musical Knowledge: A ‘Sociomaterial’ View on the Concert Programmes of the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Concert programmes are at the heart of the rituals of Western classical music concerts. Providing information on musical works and more, they are invaluable objects of study for music scholars. This article investigates how ensembles engage in the production of these documents—a dimension so far neglected in much of concert programme scholarship, yet vital to understanding what these objects contain, look like, and do. In doing so, it approaches concert programmes as agents that help orchestras explore their musical and institutional identities. It compares, through a combination of archival research and interviews, two major European orchestras: the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The investigation focuses on the programmes’ design and appearance, their contents and structures, and the programme notes. Drawing on the concept of ‘sociomateriality’—taking these documents’ situated and highly specific materialities into account, thus questioning their commonly assumed ephemerality—this article demonstrates how concert programmes maintain particular tokens of musical tradition and knowledge whilst renewing others. It thereby opens up discussions on the role that concert programmes play in opening up and manifesting musical knowledge resulting from processes of orchestral identity formation, and it proposes a practice-based methodology to how concert programmes may be studied.