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The '''Whetstone benchmark''' is a [[Benchmark (computing)|benchmark]] for evaluating the power of [[computer]]s. It was first written in [[Algol 60]] in [[1972]] at the [[National Physical Laboratory]] in the [[United Kingdom]] and derived from statistics on program behaviour gathered on the [[KDF9]] computer, using a modified version of its Whetstone Algol 60 compiler. The program's behavior replicated that of a typical KDF9 scientific program and was designed to defeat compiler optimizations that would have adversely affected the accuracy of this model.
The '''Chicago Symphony Orchestra''', based in [[Chicago, Illinois]], is one of the leading [[orchestra]]s in the world.
The Whetstone benchmark originally measured computing power in units of ''kilo-Whetstone Instructions per seconds'' (kWIPS). Results for a variety of languages, compilers and system architectures have been obtained and modern workstations typically achieve more than 1 000 000 kWIPS (1 [[Giga]]-WIPS).
The Chicago Orchestral Association held its first meeting to organize what would become the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in December of 1890. It played its first concert on [[October 16]], [[1891]] [[conducting|conducted]] by [[Theodore Thomas]], making it the third oldest symphony orchestra in the United States (behind the [[New York Philharmonic]] and the [[Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra]]). At that time it was known simply as the '''Chicago Orchestra''', before changing its name to the '''Theodore Thomas Orchestra''' in 1906, and taking its present name in 1912. Theodore Thomas is still honored in the name of the orchestra's home auditorium, the [[Theodore Thomas Orchestra Hall]].
The Whetstone benchmark primarily measures the [[floating-point arithmetic]] performance. A similar benchmark for integer and string operations is the [[Dhrystone]].
In 1905, [[Frederick Stock]] became Music Director, a post he held until 1942. On 1 May, 1916, Frederick Stock recorded the Wedding March from [[Felix Mendelssohn]]'s music to [[A Midsummer Night's Dream]], in Aeolian Hall, New York City, for what was then known as the Columbia Gramophone Company. This made the Chicago Symphony the first American Symphony Orchestra to record with its own Music Director.
The Whetstone and Dhrystone have recently found some usage in the [[Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing]] project which uses them for its benchmarks.
Other Music Directors have included [[Désiré Defauw]] (1943-47), [[Artur Rodzinski]] (1947-48), [[Rafael Kubelik]] (1950-53), [[Fritz Reiner]] (1953-63), [[Jean Martinon]] (1963-69), [[Georg Solti]] (1969-91) and, [[Daniel Barenboim]] (1991-2006). Maestro Barenboim's final concerts leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are scheduled to take place in June of 2006. A successor has not been named, as of March 2005.
== External linklinks == ▼The Symphony's "summer home" is at the [[Ravinia Festival]], which is held in [[Highland Park, Illinois]] on an annual basis. The Symphony has played there every summer since 1906, which was the Festival's third year. Many conductors have made their debut with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia, and several have gone on to become the 'Artistic Director' (or primary summertime guest conductor) at Ravinia. As of 2005, [[James Conlon]] holds the title of Ravinia Music Director.
* [http://www.cse.clrc.ac.uk/disco/Benchmarks/whetstone.shtml CCLRC: The Whetstone Benchmark]
The orchestra has also had a number of distinguished guest conductors. Guest conductors have included [[Richard Strauss]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns]], [[Edward Elgar]], [[Seiji Ozawa]], [[James Levine]], [[Leonard Slatkin]], [[André Previn]], [[Michael Tilson Thomas]], [[Leonard Bernstein]], [[Leopold Stokowski]], [[Morton Gould]], [[Erich Leinsdorf]], [[Walter Hendl]], [[Eugene Ormandy]], [[George Szell]] and [[Charles Munch]]. Many of these guests have also recorded with the Orchestra. There have also been designated "Principal Guest Conductors" including [[Carlo Maria Giulini]] in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and [[Claudio Abbado]], who succeeded Giulini in this position. Since 1995, [[Pierre Boulez]] has been Principal Guest Conductor.
== References ==
Music performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has appeared in various movies, including ''[[Immortal Beloved]]'' (conducted by Sir Georg Solti) and ''[[Fantasia 2000]]'' (conducted by James Levine).
* H. J. Curnow and B. A. Wichman, ''A Synthetic Benchmark'', Computer Journal, Vol. 19 #1, February 1976
The Chicago Symphony also holds an annual fundraiser, originally known as the Chicago Symphony Radiothon and more recently as "Symphonython," in conjunction with Chicago radio station [[WFMT (FM)|WFMT]]. As part of the event, the Orchestra has, since 1986, released exclusive tracks from their broadcast archives on double LP/CD collections.
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The Chicago Symphony has amassed over 900 recordings. They have the distinction of winning more Grammy awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences than any other individual or group in the world. Their Grammy Awards include several Classical Album of the Year awards, awards in Best Classical Performance in vocal soloist, choral, instrumental, engineering and orchestral categories.
[[Category: AmericanComputer orchestrasbenchmarks]] ▼*[http://www.cso.org/ Official site]
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▲[[Category:American orchestras]]
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