“Being well assured that every individual of this excellent society is solicitous for its prosperity, we are confident that a few observations given in candor and good feeling will be received in that spirit,”

“All indecorum of the members is strictly forbidden at all the Society’s meetings,” one rule read, banning “smoking, the wearing of hats or caps, violent language, &c. &c.”
Those founding documents of the Philharmonic — the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States — are now available online, the orchestra announced on Wednesday..."

"The documents from that first season, which have been posted on the Philharmonic’s website as the latest installment in its digital collection, paint a vivid picture of the orchestra’s earliest days, when it was founded as the Philharmonic Society of New-York, with an orchestra of 53 members, and charged with “the advancement of Instrumental Music.”

 

"Among the future highlights, the Philharmonic said, would be first editions of Berlioz’s “Benvenuto Cellini” and Wagner’s “Rienzi” overture, and a score of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 with evidence of a spat between two of the orchestra’s most illustrious music directors."

"The score bears the markings of Gustav Mahler, who made some changes to it when he led the orchestra. Those changes apparently offended Arturo Toscanini, who led the ensemble from 1928 to 1936: He wrote on the score “unworthy of such a musician” and signed his name."

NYT - New York Philharmonic’s Archives Going Online