The modern orchestral pieces that we have heard in the past few years all seem to have one of two things in common. Most have been commissioned by the orchestra that is performing the piece, often it is a joint commission with one or two other orchestras. This is also a trend we have seen with opera productions, where two or more opera companies are jointly sharing the cost of the production of an opera - not necessarily a new one. The second is that some of the major orchestras have engaged composers to be resident composers for some period of time (one or two years, maybe longer). At the recent three concert visit of the Chicago Symphony with Riccardo Muti to Berkeley, they played a piece "All These Lighted Things" by one of their two resident composers, Elizabeth Ogonek. She was present for the concert. (Their other resident composer is Samuel Adams). Not too many orchestras can afford to have a resident composer on their payroll.
Before Beethoven, the standard model was that a composer was in the employ of a wealthy patron. Haydn is the most extreme example, with the Esterhazy family not only employing him, but hiring a fine orchestra for him to present his compositions to the court.
There have been the occasional very wealthy composers who could essentially pay to have their compositions played. The Bay Area's Gordon Getty is a prime example. We have heard Getty's compositions played by different orchestras, and he has even had recordings done by record companies like Channel Classics. He has even had operas produced by major opera companies. I believe that not coincidentally, he and his wife continue to be major donors to classical music organizations.
One interesting recording is the Leimer Fourth Piano Concerto, performed by the composer Kurt Leimer and the Vienna Philharmonic, recorded in 1958. It is Decca SXL2100, and is the rarest and most expensive of all Decca recordings. It also has a green label, instead of the standard black and white label. The reason for its rarity is that it was a private issue, never sold to the public. John Culshaw, famed Decca producer, tells the story:
“The heir to one of the largest German car empires had developed a bent for composition and let it be known that he would pay handsomely,
either in cash or cars, or both, if the Vienna Philharmonic would record one of his piano concertos.”
(John Culshaw, “Putting the Record Straight” page 194).
Larry