Philharmonic Hall
Encyclopedia
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall is a concert hall in Hope Street
, Liverpool
, Merseyside
, England. It is the home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building. It is not the original concert hall on the present site; its predecessor was destroyed by fire in 1933 and the present hall was opened in 1939.
was laid in 1846 and plans were made for Mendelssohn
to write a cantata
to be played in his presence at the opening of the hall. However Mendelssohn did not live long enough to write this work.
The hall cost £30,000 (£ as of ) and was opened on 27 August 1849. The Times
correspondent reported that it was "one of the finest and best adapted to music that I ever entered". An organ
was installed in the hall in 1930 at a cost of £2,000 (£ as of ). The concert hall continued to be the home of the society until a fire broke out during the evening of 5 July 1933. As a result the hall was damaged beyond repair. The hall was insured and the insurers paid £84,000 (£ as of ) for the hall itself, £9,503 (£ as of ) for other assets, and £6,000 (£ as of ) for the loss of two years' rental.
was commissioned to design a new hall on the site of the previous hall. Rowse's design was in Streamline Moderne
style. It incorporated an organ built by the Liverpool firm of Rushworth and Dreaper
with a console
which can be lowered from the stage. The hall was officially opened on 19 June 1939 with a concert conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham
. The final cost of the hall was a little over £120,000 (£ as of ) and the architect was paid £6,869 (£ as of ). An extension was added to the rear of the hall which was completed in 1992, designed by Brock Carmichael Associates. A major refurbishment of the hall was carried out in 1995 at a cost of £10.3 million. This included the complete replacement of the fibrous plaster interior with concrete, carried out again by Brock Carmichael, working with the acoustic consultant firm Lawrence Kirkegaard Associates
. Local violinist, John Frederick Clarke who was part of the famed RMS Titanic orchestra alongside the other band members who died during the ships 1912 sinking are all commemorated on a memorial plaque within Philharmonic Hall.
entrance flanked by semicircular stair turret
s. Above the entrance are seven windows that are separated by piers
surmounted by carved abstract motifs. Outside the hall and separated from it are two piers for the display of posters. The architectural historians Pollard and Pevsner
and the author of the description in the National Heritage List for England agree that the design of the hall was influenced by the Dutch architect W. M. Dudok
.
The windows above the canopy contain glass etched
by Hector Whistler. Inside the entrance to the hall is a copper memorial to the musicians of the Titanic by J. A. Hodel, and on the landings are gilded
relief
s of Apollo
by Edmund C. Thompson. The interior of the auditorium
is "sensuously curved". On the walls on each side are incised female figures in art deco style that represent "musical moods", also by Thompson. On the back wall above the platform is a kinetic
structure, called Adagio, designed by Marianne Forrest in 1995.
The hall contains an organ built by Rushworth and Dreaper
, with a console on a lifting platform that can be played on the stage or from the area below the stage, and a Waldurdaw rising cinema screen.
Hope Street, Liverpool
Hope Street, Liverpool, England stretches from Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral past Liverpool Cathedral to Upper Parliament Street. It contains several restaurants, hotels and bars. The road runs parallel to Rodney Street...
, Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, England. It is the home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society and has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building. It is not the original concert hall on the present site; its predecessor was destroyed by fire in 1933 and the present hall was opened in 1939.
Original hall
The Liverpool Philharmonic Society was founded in 1840 but initially did not have a permanent concert hall. In 1844 the Liverpool architect John Cunningham was appointed to prepare plans for a hall. The initial requirement was for a "concert room" holding an audience of 1,500 which would cost at least £4,000 (£ as of ). However, later that year the requirement was increased to a "new concert hall" to accommodate an audience of 2,100 and an orchestra of 250, plus "refreshment and retiring rooms". Subscribers were invited to both buy shares and to purchase seats along the sides of the hall. The foundation stoneCornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
was laid in 1846 and plans were made for Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
to write a cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
to be played in his presence at the opening of the hall. However Mendelssohn did not live long enough to write this work.
The hall cost £30,000 (£ as of ) and was opened on 27 August 1849. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
correspondent reported that it was "one of the finest and best adapted to music that I ever entered". An organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
was installed in the hall in 1930 at a cost of £2,000 (£ as of ). The concert hall continued to be the home of the society until a fire broke out during the evening of 5 July 1933. As a result the hall was damaged beyond repair. The hall was insured and the insurers paid £84,000 (£ as of ) for the hall itself, £9,503 (£ as of ) for other assets, and £6,000 (£ as of ) for the loss of two years' rental.
History
Herbert J. RowseHerbert James Rowse
Herbert James Rowse was a British architect, born in Crosby, Merseyside on the northern outskirts of Liverpool. He graduated from the Liverpool University School of Architecture in 1907 three years after the influential Professor Charles Reilly became Head of the School.Rowse was one of the ...
was commissioned to design a new hall on the site of the previous hall. Rowse's design was in Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
style. It incorporated an organ built by the Liverpool firm of Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders based in Liverpool, England Upon its bankruptcy, its archives were mostly destroyed, and the Victorian clock in the works tower was removed...
with a console
Organ console
thumb|right|250px|The console of the [[Wanamaker Organ]] in the Macy's department store in [[Philadelphia]], featuring six manuals and colour-coded stop tabs....
which can be lowered from the stage. The hall was officially opened on 19 June 1939 with a concert conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
. The final cost of the hall was a little over £120,000 (£ as of ) and the architect was paid £6,869 (£ as of ). An extension was added to the rear of the hall which was completed in 1992, designed by Brock Carmichael Associates. A major refurbishment of the hall was carried out in 1995 at a cost of £10.3 million. This included the complete replacement of the fibrous plaster interior with concrete, carried out again by Brock Carmichael, working with the acoustic consultant firm Lawrence Kirkegaard Associates
Kirkegaard Associates
Kirkegaard Associates is an American acoustics design firm based in Chicago, Illinois, with an office in Boulder Colorado. As of 2010, the company is headed by Lawrence Kirkegaard and employs 29 professionals in architecture, acoustics, music recording, mechanical and audio engineering, musical and...
. Local violinist, John Frederick Clarke who was part of the famed RMS Titanic orchestra alongside the other band members who died during the ships 1912 sinking are all commemorated on a memorial plaque within Philharmonic Hall.
Architecture
The hall is built with fawn-coloured facing bricks, and is mainly in three storeys. It has a symmetrical frontage with a canopiedCanopy (building)
A canopy is an overhead roof or else a structure over which a fabric or metal covering is attached, able to provide shade or shelter. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor....
entrance flanked by semicircular stair turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s. Above the entrance are seven windows that are separated by piers
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
surmounted by carved abstract motifs. Outside the hall and separated from it are two piers for the display of posters. The architectural historians Pollard and Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
and the author of the description in the National Heritage List for England agree that the design of the hall was influenced by the Dutch architect W. M. Dudok
Willem Marinus Dudok
Willem Marinus Dudok , was a Dutch modernist architect, best known for the brick Hilversum City Hall....
.
The windows above the canopy contain glass etched
Etching (glass)
__FORCETOC__Etching refers to the technique of creating art on the surface of glass by applying acidic, caustic, or abrasive substances. Traditionally this was done after the glass was blown or cast.- Techniques :...
by Hector Whistler. Inside the entrance to the hall is a copper memorial to the musicians of the Titanic by J. A. Hodel, and on the landings are gilded
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
s of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
by Edmund C. Thompson. The interior of the auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
is "sensuously curved". On the walls on each side are incised female figures in art deco style that represent "musical moods", also by Thompson. On the back wall above the platform is a kinetic
Kinetic Architecture
Kinetic architecture is a concept where buildings are designed so that significant portions can move while retaining structural integrity.A building's capability for motion can be used just to enhance it aesthetic qualities - but can also allow it to respond to environmental conditions and to...
structure, called Adagio, designed by Marianne Forrest in 1995.
The hall contains an organ built by Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders based in Liverpool, England Upon its bankruptcy, its archives were mostly destroyed, and the Victorian clock in the works tower was removed...
, with a console on a lifting platform that can be played on the stage or from the area below the stage, and a Waldurdaw rising cinema screen.