Landon Ronald was a hugely important figure in British musical life for the first third of the 20th Century. He was a longstanding Principal of the Guildhall School of Music, and a vital contributor to the classical activities of the Gramophone Company, recording extensively with the New Symphony Orchestra (later the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra) both in purely orchestral works, and as concerto and vocal accompanist. He also recorded extensively as a piano accompanist in the first years of the gramophone. He recorded many works both acoustically and electrically, waxing accounts of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Dvorak’s New World, Tchaikovsky’s 4th, 5th and 6th Symphonies amongst the longer works.
Landon Ronald’s conducting is discussed in Filson Young’s 1911 study of music and musicians, “More Mastersingers”, within a section on The Art of the Conductor. Young divides conductors into three broad types, exemplified by Henry Wood, Landon Ronald and Hans Richter.