Columbia Symphony Orchestra

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The Columbia Symphony Orchestra was an orchestra formed by Columbia Records. It provided a vehicle for some of Columbia's better known recording artists to record using only company resources. Perhaps the most important recordings the orchestra made were with conductor Bruno Walter, who recorded highly regarded interpretations of Beethoven's, Brahms's, Mahler's and Mozart's symphonies. With this orchestra, Walter made his only stereo recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 9, which he had conducted at its world premiere. Igor Stravinsky also made a number of recordings with this orchestra in which he conducted his own compositions.

The term Columbia Symphony Orchestra was also used when, for contractual reasons, another orchestra could not appear under its own name. Many Los Angeles Philharmonic musicians also played with the Columbia Symphony, and some reports mention that the entire Philharmonic frequently played as the Columbia Symphony.