Sargent was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1950 to 1957, succeeding Boult. He was not the BBC's first choice, but John Barbirolli and Rafael Kubelik turned the post down, and it went to Sargent, despite reservations about his commitment. Unlike Boult he refused to join the staff of the BBC and remained a freelance, accepting other engagements as he pleased. The historian of the BBC Asa Briggs has written, "Sargent sometimes ruffled the orchestra in a way that Boult had never done. Indeed there were many people inside the BBC who profoundly regretted Boult's departure." Briggs adds that Sargent was the target of criticism from the BBC's own Music Department for "not devoting enough time to the orchestra". The music journalist Norman Lebrecht goes so far as to say that Sargent "almost wrecked" the BBC orchestra. The orchestra objected to his "autocratic and "prima-donna" attitude towards orchestral players" and flatly refused to accede to his demand that they all stand up when he came on to the platform. He rapidly became equally unpopular with the BBC music department, ignoring its agenda and pursuing his own. A senior BBC manager wrote: