The annual festival of music known as the Proms has started again at the Royal Albert Hall. This stunning building is once again host to some of the world’s top classical musicians. This year they are joined by Goldie, the drum‘n’bass DJ. He’s been composing a piece of music called Sine Tempore - Without Time that was performed on the 2nd August at the Family Prom with 70 musicians and a 100 singers.
Drum'n'bass DJ, Goldie © Drew “Rukes” Ressler (flickr.com)
Of course it’s not the first time this extraordinary building has played host to popular musicians. The Killers, Coldplay, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Paul McCartney have all played at the Hall, and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were once on the same bill. ‘We were in our smart new clothes...and we looked at each other, and we were all thinking, “This is it! London! The Albert Hall!” We felt like gods,’ Paul McCartney told his biographer later.
The Hall has played a central role in the life of the nation from Victorian times to the present day. The voices of the world’s greatest singers have soared to fill the amazing dome. Thunderous applause has echoed round the circular structure as the world’s top boxers, tennis players, ballet dancers and ice-skaters have performed. A Bond film’s premiere, lectures, conferences, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix launch, Remembrance Day services, Last Nights of the Proms – all bread and butter in the life of this remarkable feat of engineering.
The Hall was part of the legacy from Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert’s vision. Following the success of the 1851 Great Exhibition, he wanted to create buildings that promoted arts and sciences to the general population. Sadly Prince Albert died in 1861, but planning for the Hall continued. The foundation stone was laid in 1867. The opening concert took place in 1871.
The intervening years saw dedication, ingenuity and engineering brilliance on the part of Henry Cole and Captain Francis Fowke who designed and built the Hall. Six million red bricks and 80,000 bluff tiles were used in the construction. The internal auditorium spans 56 metres in width and 67 metres in length. The centrepiece of the auditorium was the largest organ in the world. It weighed 150 tons, included nine miles of pipes and took two steam engines to drive the bellows.
The Proms at The Royal Albert Hall © hops_76 (flickr.com)
The most daring architectural feature was the double skinned dome of iron and glass. Built in Ardwick, Manchester, it was then taken to pieces, brought to London and installed over the walls. It weighed 400 tons and used half an acre of glass. Inspiration for the Hall had come from the Roman amphitheatres and the idea of the glass dome was to bathe the Hall in light to replicate the open air. But there was a problem.
Brilliant though Cole and Fowke were, they had not realised the effect of a hard surface like glass on the Hall’s acoustics. It made the sound rebound. A month before the Hall opened several thousand Londoners attended a test concert to see how the Hall would work with an audience. Echoes, blind spots and other acoustic problems showed up. A huge layer of calico was suspended beneath the glass dome, blocking out much of the light, but improving the sound.
The Hall had been finished on time, and at £199,748 just under the £200,000 budget. The opening concert, in the presence of Queen Victoria, was a success. The 7,000 strong audience were delighted. The Architect journal pronounced the acoustics to be perfect. The Royal Albert Hall was on her way to becoming one of the key venues in the cultural life of the nation.
Since then there have been some changes including the fitting of new mushroom-shaped sound baffles and in 2004 a major refurbishment was completed. Millions of people have passed through the doors – performers and audience alike feeling the tingle of anticipation at being part of an event at the Royal Albert Hall. Despite all the gigs he has played, it will be surprising if Goldie too didn’t have that unique sense of nervous excitement that performers say they feel at this - the most remarkable of venues.
The Royal Albert Hall audiotorium © harshilshah100 (flickr.com)
Education resources
The Royal Albert Hall operates a fantastic education programme. Visit their website to organise a visit, and take a look at their resources, including:
The Victorians educational activity pack – for key stage 2, discover why the Hall was built and who used it first.
The Sound of Science CD-ROM – Includes classroom activities and experiments to do with the science of sound.
References
The Proms website
History of the Hall and the building on the Royal Albert Hall website
Royal Albert Hall website
For a detailed background on the development and build of the Royal Albert Hall visit British History Online.
