Son et lumière (show)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Son et lumière (French, lit. "sound and light"), or a sound and light show is a form of nighttime entertainment that is usually presented in an outdoor venue of historic significance. Special lighting effects are projected onto the façade of a building or ruin and synchronized with recorded or live narration and music to dramatize the history of the place. The invention of the concept is credited to Paul Robert-Houdin, who was the curator of the Château de Chambord in France, which hosted the world's first son et lumière in 1952. Another was established in the early 1960s at the site of the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt.
This night time medium naturally lends itself to ecclesiastical buildings, stately homes and ruins, and has rapidly become very popular in France where about 50 annual productions take place, principally in the Loire Valley, at the Palace of Versailles and at Les Invalides in Paris.
Essentially the format involves no active participation by actors but a recorded narrative of the history of the building concerned by one or a cast of voices. To this is added music or sound effects as appropriate, all of which is synchronised to lighting effects which provide the visual dimension. Pyrotechnic effects are occasionally included to give added spectacle.
A relatively recent variation is that, rather than the music and narration coming through a concert-like sound system, they may use headsets, such as in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's "Lights of Liberty". This allows an audience to move through a historic district as the show proceeds. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Son et Lumière in France
The French productions are invariably set outdoors in the grounds of a château.
[edit] Son et Lumière in the United Kingdom
In Britain, where the majority of such productions have been staged at churches, cathedrals and abbeys, indoor presentations are frequently preferred, particularly as architectural gems might otherwise not be shown to best advantage. In England in particular, where son et lumière is as well received as it is in France, few of the nations's principal historic houses and church buildings have now not enjoyed such a production. Of particular interest have been the ones at at Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire, St Paul's Cathedral, London, Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, and at Chartwell, the country home of Churchill, in Kent.
Part of the London Olympics bid involved the use of son et lumière inspired light projections of athles upon various London buildings. The first British production was at Greenwich Palace in south London in 1957. October 2006 sees the first large scale son et lumière event in Wales taking place at Caernarfon Castle. Produced by Y Grael Cyf, it promises to become a running show moving periodically to other monuments within the Walled Town Partnership.
[edit] Son et Lumière in the other countries
In other countries son et lumière has been mounted at the Forum in Rome, and at the Parthenon in Athens. In the USA, the first such presentation took place at Independence Hall, Philadelphia in 1962. Further afield, the first African production was at the Pyramids of Giza at Cairo, Egypt, in 1961, while the first in Asia was the Red Fort in Delhi, India in 1965.
