Sir Thomas Beecham, Bart, brought the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London to Symphony Hall yesterday afternoon as part of his nationwide tour. This marks the first time that a British Orchestra has been heard in this country in 40 years. It has been forty years too long because the Royal Philharmonic is a magnificent orchestra.

From the moment when Sir Thomas strode slowly out to the podium to conduct the Star Spangled Banner and God Save the King until he finished conducting his encore he held the almost ell-out audience in breathless suspense with the excellence of his music.

When another orchestra plays in the home of the Boston Symphony it is natural to draw some comparison between the two. The immediately striking difference is that the Royal Philharmonic has almost perfect balance. Although the Boston Symphony is a great orchestra it is well known that its brass section plays too loudly. Whenever the first trumpeter for Boston aims his trumpet at the roof and lets go, everyone in the Hall hears him above the orchestra. No comparable incident occurred yesterday afternoon.

The first half of the program consisted of two classical symphonies, Mozart's No. 31 and Haydn's No. 93. These were performed with all the delicacy and precision necessary and in addition, the superb balance of the orchestra created tones that gave the symphonies new meaning and force.

Sir Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto with Anthony Pini as soloist and "The Dance of the Seven Veils" from "Salome" by Richard Strauss finished the program. Mr. Pini is an unusually fine cellist and his mastery of Elgar's Concerto was evident from the first note, but the work itself is so mediocre compared to the others on the program it deserves little comment. The "dance of the Seven Veils," on the other hand, is intensely dramatic and the Royal Philharmonic gave it everything.

All the precision Sir Thomas has instilled in the orchestra, the exciting qualities inherent in the work itself, and the hours of rehearsal all joined in making the "Dance" an exciting climax to this great concert.

When it was over the audience paid Sir Thomas Beecham one of the greatest tributes over seen in Symphony Hall. Ordinarily at the end of an afternoon concert, no matter how good the performance, everyone rushed for the exits in an attempt to escape the traffic jam. Yesterday, however, almost everybody stayed, applauding in a standing ovation that lasted so long the eminent British conductor finally played an encore.

In a short speech after the audience had been quieted he told of how the orchestra had learned "sweet, soothing, and soporific" pieces for just such an eventuality. He said the orchestra called them lollipops. They played Lollipop No. 2, "On First Hearing the Cuckoo in Spring" by Delius. Afterwards, when the audience began noisily cheering Beecham again held up his hand for quiet and announced that "members of the orchestra have raised eyebrows. They have played Lollipop No. 2 and you are still awake." It was not until he shouted above the noise, "I will NOT play another selection," that everyone went home.