ABSTRACT
During the long nineteenth century the festival orchestra evolved from a quasi-baroque type of ensemble which employed multiple doublings of the wind parts to a modern symphony orchestra. Some commemorative programmes produced for the larger festivals listed the names and provenance of all the orchestral players. These lists provide vital information when determining how many instrumentalists were local and how many were brought in from other centres, usually London. The presence of provincial instrumentalists was greeted with less enthusiasm. The custom of using London performers for large-scale provincial concerts was already well established in the eighteenth century. As the number of festivals proliferated, there developed an established circuit, with London instrumentalists travelling from one provincial festival to another. By the end of the period the use of entire professional orchestras had become commonplace. Since these orchestras had their own managers who dealt with pay and logistics, the involvement of the festival committee in such matters was greatly reduced.
