Royal Albert Hall

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Interior of the Royal Albert Hall.
Interior of the Royal Albert Hall.
Exterior of the Royal Albert Hall.
Exterior of the Royal Albert Hall.
"Albert Hall" redirects here. For other uses, see Albert Hall (disambiguation).

The Royal Albert Hall is an arts venue situated in the Knightsbridge area of the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941.

The Royal Albert Hall is one of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, recognisable the world over. Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from every kind of performance genre have appeared on its stage. Each year it hosts more than 350 performances including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, tennis, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and lavish banquets.

The Hall was originally supposed to have been called The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences when laying the foundation stone as a dedication to her husband and consort, Prince Albert. It forms the practical part of a national memorial to the Prince Consort - the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by the heavy traffic along Kensington Gore. The Hall also accommodates the second largest pipe organ in the UK (Liverpool Cathedral regains the title with the addition of the Central organ), and is the home of The Proms.

As the best known building within the cultural complex known as Albertopolis, the Hall is commonly and erroneously thought to lie within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The Hall is actually within the area of the City of Westminster. The site was part of the former Kensington Gore estate which was historically part of Knightsbridge.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

The opening ceremony on March 29, 1871
The opening ceremony on March 29, 1871

Since its opening by Queen Victoria on March 29, 1871 the Royal Albert Hall has played host to a multitude of different events and legendary figures and has been affectionately titled 'The Nation's Village Hall'. On May 1, 1871, Arthur Sullivan's cantata, On Shore and Sea played at the hall.[1]

As well as hosting the Proms every summer since they were bombed out of the Queen's Hall in 1941, the Hall has been used for classical and rock concerts, conferences, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, education, ballet, opera and even circus shows. It has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, wrestling (including the first Sumo wrestling tournament ever to be held outside Japan) and tennis. It also hosts the annual Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance, held the day before Remembrance Sunday.

The Triumph of Arts and Sciences
The Triumph of Arts and Sciences

The hall, a Grade I listed building,[2] is oval in shape, measuring 83 m (272 feet) by 72 m (238 ft) around the outside, and has a capacity of 8,000 people and has accommodated as many as 9,000 (although modern safety restrictions mean that the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,544 including standing in the Gallery). The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the hall is 41 m (135 ft) high.

Around the outside of the hall is a great mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", in reference to the Hall's dedication. Proceeding anti-clockwise from the north side the sixteen subjects of the frieze are: (1) Various Countries of the World bringing in their Offerings to the Exhibition of 1851; (2) Music; (3) Sculpture; (4) Painting; (5) Princes, Art Patrons and Artists; (6) Workers in Stone; (7) Workers in Wood and Brick; (8) Architecture; (9) The Infancy of the Arts and Sciences; (10) Agriculture; (11) Horticulture and Land Surveying; (12) Astronomy and Navigation; (13) A Group of Philosophers, Sages and Students; (14) Engineering; (15) The Mechanical Powers; and (16) Pottery and Glassmaking.

More of The Triumph of Arts and Sciences, showing Peterborough Cathedral
More of The Triumph of Arts and Sciences, showing Peterborough Cathedral

Above the frieze is an inscription in one-foot high terracotta letters. This combines historical fact and Biblical quotations: "This hall was erected for the advancement of the arts and sciences and works of industry of all nations in fulfilment of the intention of Albert Prince Consort. The site was purchased with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of the year MDCCCLI. The first stone of the Hall was laid by Her Majesty Queen Victoria on the twentieth day of May MDCCCLXVII and it was opened by Her Majesty the Twenty Ninth of March in the year MDCCCLXXI. Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth peace."

[edit] History

The first ever performance at the Royal Albert Hall, March 29, 1871
The first ever performance at the Royal Albert Hall, March 29, 1871

In 1851 the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, London, for which the so-called Crystal Palace was built. The exhibition was a great success and led Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, to propose that a permanent series of facilities be built in the area for the enlightenment of the public. Progress on the scheme was slow and in 1861 Prince Albert died, without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite. The proposal was approved and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. Once the remaining funds had been raised, in April 1867 Queen Victoria signed the Royal Charter of the The Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences which was to operate the Hall and on 20 May, laid the foundation stone.

The Hall was designed by Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y.D. Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers.[3] The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum. The recently-opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo. The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Ltd. of Tamworth. The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) on top was made of steel and glazed. There was a trial assembly made of the steel framework of the dome in Manchester, then it was taken apart again and transported down to London via horse and cart. When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after re-assembly in situ, only volunteers remained on site in case the structure dropped. It did drop - but only by five-eighths of an inch! The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870 and the Queen visited a few days beforehand to inspect. She was reported as saying "It looks like the British Constitution".

Postcard of the Royal Albert Hall (circa 1903) with an inset of the Albert Memorial
Postcard of the Royal Albert Hall (circa 1903) with an inset of the Albert Memorial

The official opening ceremony of the Royal Albert Hall was on 29 March 1871. After a welcoming speech by Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak, so the Prince had to announce that "The Queen declares this Hall is now open". A concert followed, when the Hall's acoustic problems became immediately apparent. These were not properly tackled until 1969 when a series of large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") were installed in the roof to cut down the notorious echo. It used to be said that the hall was the only place where a British composer could be sure of hearing his work twice.

Initially lit by gas (when thousands of gas jets were lit by a special system within 10 seconds), full electric lighting was installed in 1897. During an earlier trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times newspaper declaring it to be " a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation".

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire, the occasion being the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth.

A 1986 photo of the Albert Hall looking north and west. This shows the small South Porch replaced during the 2000 refurbishment.
A 1986 photo of the Albert Hall looking north and west. This shows the small South Porch replaced during the 2000 refurbishment.

The Hall has more recently undergone a rolling programme (1996 - 2004) of renovation and development to enable it to meet the demands of the next century of events and performances. Thirty "discrete projects" were undertaken by BDP without disrupting events [4]. Although the exterior of the building is largely unchanged, the south steps leading down to Prince Consort Road were demolished to allow reconstruction of the original underground vehicle access to take modern vehicles. The steps were then reconstructed around a new south porch on the same scale and in the same style as the three pre-existing porches: these works were undertaken by Taylor Woodrow Construction[5].

The works included a major rebuilding of the great organ, originally built by "Father" Henry Willis, subsequently rebuilt by Harrison & Harrison and most recently rebuilt by Mander Organs; The organ is now again the second largest pipe organ in the British Isles with 9,999 pipes (Liverpool Cathedral has 10,268).

Now the hall is used primarily as a live events venue — it has featured bands such as The Beatles, The Who and Led Zeppelin. Graduation ceremonies for students for Imperial College are also held in the hall. In addition to these events, it is possible to take guided tours of the interior of the hall

[edit] Famous concerts

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The Hall has also been used for concerts by a wide range of popular artistes: Listed in chronological order with name of artist and date of concert

  • The Proms - founded by Sir Henry Wood - now the world's largest festival of Western classical music - have been held in the hall every summer since 1941 (after the original venue, The Queen's Hall in Langham Place was destroyed by a bomb). The Last Night of the Proms is broadcast in several countries.
  • Hiawatha seasons (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor) 1928 - 1940 conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent
  • Lebanese diva Fairuz performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1962.
  • 15 September 1963 The Beatles and The Rolling Stones performed on the same bill for the only time.
  • 1966, Bob Dylan performs.
  • 6 April 1968: 13th Eurovision Song Contest. Katie Boyle introduced entries from 17 countries. Spain won with "La la la" performed by Massiel. She finished one vote ahead of the UK entry, "Congratulations" by Cliff Richard.
  • 30 October 1968, Tiny Tim performs.
  • 26 November 1968: Cream farewell show.
  • 24 September 1969 - Deep Purple recorded & performed a Concerto for Group and Orchestra: Concerto for Group and Orchestra (restaged 25/26 September 1999)
  • On 26 October 1969, Petula Clark performed in a concert celebrating her 30th anniversary in show business. The concert was filmed and aired as the first program ever broadcast in colour by the BBC on Clark's 37th birthday, 15 November 1969.
  • 1969 – 1988 - Miss World beauty pageants
  • 1969 - Pink Floyd performed at the Albert Hall and received a life-time ban for setting two cannons off during their show.
  • Jimi Hendrix performed on 18 and 24 February 1969 with The Jimi Hendrix Experience featuring Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell
  • Janis Joplin performed on 21 April 1969 with her Kozmic Blues Band.
  • Led Zeppelin performed on 9 January 1970, footage of which was filmed for a planned documentary. Though no documentary was ever made due to the poor quality of the film, the material was re-mastered over thirty years later and virtually the entire show was released on the Led Zeppelin DVD
  • Joni Mitchell and James Taylor performed a concert on October 28, 1970 for Radio BBC containing a number of solo songs and duets with the two. This was around the time when Mitchell and Taylor are said to have been romantically linked. Bootleg copies of the concert still circulate today.
  • Lata Mangeshkar, the greatest of Indian singers, performed her first concert abroad in 1974.
  • Renowned Indian singer Talat Mahmood performed in 1979. The second Indian to have been given the opportunity.
  • September 1976 - 6th Festival of Evangelical Choirs under the auspices of the London Emmanuel Choir. Triennial festival of Christian music, with massed choirs of 1000 voices plus 5000 in the congregation. Released on Pilgrim record label.
  • ABBA ended their 1977 European tour at the Hall with two sold-out concerts. Tickets for the concerts were available only by mail application and it was later revealed that the box-office received, astonishingly, 3.5 million requests for tickets. Reportedly, the concerts were partially filmed for ABBA: The Movie, but the footage was eventually not included in the final version of the film and to this day remains unreleased.
  • Dusty Springfield performed her last full-scale concert in Britain at Royal Albert Hall in 1979.
  • Siouxsie & the Banshees recorded double live album and video Nocturne at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 30 September and 1 October 1983, This was the first Banshees album on their own Wonderland label, Released in November 1983.
  • The Everly Brothers had two famous reunion concerts, ten years after they broke up, on September 22-23, 1983. The concerts were filmed and released on CD and DVD.
Clannad leaving the stage after performing at the venue in 1989.
Clannad leaving the stage after performing at the venue in 1989.

A famous and widely bootlegged concert by Bob Dylan at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on 17 May 1966 was mistakenly labeled the "Royal Albert Hall Concert." In 1998 Columbia Records released an official recording, The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert, that maintains the erroneous title, but does include details of the actual concert location. Dylan actually did close his European tour on 26 and 27 May and of that year; these were his last concerts before Dylan got into a motorcycle accident and became a recluse for a brief period of time.

Another concert that was mislabeled as being at the Royal Albert Hall was by Creedence Clearwater Revival. An album by CCR titled The Royal Albert Hall Concert was released in 1980. When it was discovered that the show on the album actually took place at the Oakland Coliseum, Fantasy Records retitled the album The Concert'.

[edit] Depictions in popular culture

[edit] References

  1. ^ From the G&S discography site
  2. ^ CharitiesDirect.com - UK Charity Information
  3. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  4. ^ http://www.buildingdesignpartnership.co.uk/flash/index.asp#p_rah retrieved 14 March 2007
  5. ^ Royal Albert Hall South Porch

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 51°30′03.40″N, 00°10′38.77″W

Preceded by
Großer Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg
Vienna		 Eurovision Song Contest
Venue
1968		 Succeeded by
Teatro Real
Madrid
Preceded by
Lyceum Theatre		 Miss World
Venues
1969 - 1988		 Succeeded by
HKCEC