TY - BOOK AU - Smyth, Fiona T TI - Pistols in St. Paul's: : science, music, and architecture in the twentieth century. SN - 9781526180209 AV - NA2800 S69 2024 PY - 2024/// CY - Manchester, UK PB - Manchester University Press, KW - Architectural acoustics KW - Architecture and science KW - Music and architecture KW - St. Paul's Cathedral KW - London, England N1 - Includes bibliography and index; Introduction Page 1 -- Prologue 11 -- 1 1901 29 -- 2 Science as applied to building 50 -- 3 Catalysts and controversies 81 -- 4 Designing for musical tone 116 -- 5 Leagues apart 144 -- 6 That little old echo 174 -- 7 Prelude to reconstruction 194 -- Conclusion 222 -- Acknowledgements 234 -- Abbreviations 237 -- List of plates 238 -- List of figures 240 -- Notes 245 -- Select bibliography 277 -- Index 287 -- ; Figures: 0.1 St Paul's Cathedral (London: Raphael Tuck and Sons) 12 -- 0.2 St Paul's Cathedral in the midst of bomb damage, c. 1945 (Photochrom Ltd., Kent) 14 -- 0.3 Festival or Britain: aerial view of South Bank site, with Royal Festival Hall in lower left, 1951 (photographer unknown) 17 -- Tuning concert at Royal Festival Hall, February 195t (photograph from Professor Peter Parkin's Collection) 18 -- 0.5 Mobile Acoustical Laboratory on site at the South Bank during construction of Royal Festival Hall (photograph from Professor Peter Parkin's Collection) 19 -- 0.6 St Paul's Cathedral at the opening of the Festival of Britain, May 1951 (printed in the Illustrated London News, 12 May 1951) 22 -- 0.7 Pistol shots fired in St Paul's Cathedral during a demonstration of experimental sound amplifying apparatus, 19 December 1951 (© Illustrated London News Ltd / Mary Evans) 24 -- I.I Westminster Cathedral just as construction was completed, c. 1903 (Valentine's Carbotone) 27 -- I.2 Unadorned brick interior of Westminster Cathedral, 1903 (printed in RIBA Journal) 30 -- I.3 Westminster Cathedral interior, 1903 (a) (printed in RIBA Journal) 31 -- I.4 Westminster Cathedral interior, 1903 (b) (printed in RIBA Joumal) 32 -- I.5 Westminster Cathedral interior, 1903 (c) (printed in RIBA Joumal) 32 -- I.6 Westminster Cathedral plan, 2007 (courtesy of Westminster Cathedral and Surveyor to the Fabric) 33 -- I.7 Westminster Cathedral long section, 2007 (courtesy of Westminster Cathedral and Surveyor to the Fabric) 33 -- I.8 Richard Terry (1864-1938), Organist at Westminster Cathedral (© Illustrated London News Ltd / Mary Evans) 36 -- I.9 Grand opening of the Royal Albert Hall, March 1871 (as printed in The Graphic) 41 -- I. 10 Portrait of Sedley Taylor (1834-1920) (painted by Margaret Bernardine Hall, 1898) 46 -- 2.1 Wallace Clement Sabine (1878 1919) (public domain) 53 -- 2.2 Sanders Theatre, c. 1876 (as published in Scribners Monthly) 54 -- 2.3 Interior of the Fogg Lecture Theatre, C. 1908 (courtesy of Special Collections, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University) 55 -- 2.4 Seating plan of the Fogg Lecture Theatre (HUB 1401.2, Harvard University Archives) 55 -- Photograph of Hope Bagenal (1888-1979), taken c. 1914 (courtesy of Bagenal Family) 71 -- 2.6 Ruined Church of S. Pierre in Merville, c. 1916, in a widely circulated war photograph taken by John Warwick Brook (National Library of Scotland Acc. 3155, Licence CC BY 4.0: Creative Commons) 74 -- 2.7 Plan of Riverbank Laboratory, 1919 (printed in American Architect) 77 -- 2.8 Section through Riverbank Laboratory, 1919 (printed in American Architect) 78 -- 3.1 London County Hall, c. 1921 82 -- 3.2 London County Council, council chamber, viewed from the east gallery, 1922 (© London Metropolitan Archives, City of London) 84 -- 3.3 Press coverage in the Times of the acoustics at London County Hall 85 -- 3.4 Plan of Herbert Baker's Legislative Building, New Delhi (printed in Architectural Review) 90 -- 3.5 Board room at design stage, Metropolitan Water Board (printed in Academy Architecture and Architectural Review) 92 -- 3.6 Henry Owen Weller, c. 1924 (Building Research Establishment) 95 -- 3.7 Adapted laboratory at Perivale munitions factory showing bricked up window, smooth cement render floor, and sound generating equipment (UK National Archives, Kew) 107 -- 3.8 Tucker hot wire microphone 111 -- 4.1 Letter of Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hope Bagenal, April 1923 (courtesy of ISVR Archives Southampton and Ralph Vaughan Williams Foundation) 120 -- 4.2 Interior of Queen's Hall, designed to replicate the body of a violin, 1928 (© BBC Archive) 122 -- 4.3 Interior of Kilbourn Hall (printed in Watson, Acoustics of Buildings, 1923) 128 4.4 Advertisement for Broadwood Pianos 129 -- 4.5 Letter of Alim Built to Norbert Salter, 11 March 1929 (courtesy or ISVR Archives, Southampton) 137 -- 4.6 Opening of Queen's Hall, 1803 printed in the Illustrated London News) 142 -- 4.7 Plan of Queen's Hall, 1893 (printed in the lustrated London News) 143 -- 5.1 League of Nations Assembly Building under construction (United Nations Archive at Geneva, CC BY-NG-ND 3.0) 146 -- 5.2 Murals on perforated linen backed with acoustic felt, Henry Jarvis Memorial Hall, RIBA building (Historic England Archive) 158 -- 5.3 Elevation, part-plan, and section of the new RIBA building indicating strategic planning to shield from noise (printed in RIBA Journal)159 -- 5.4 Maycoustic Stone surfaces in the Henry Florence Memorial Hall, RIBA building (RIBA Collections) 160 -- 5.5 League of Nations, Salle de Conseil, wall finishings and mural in progress (United Nations Archive at Geneva, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) 161 -- 5.6 League of Nations, Assembly Hall (facing front) at the time of acoustic tests, before the murals were completed. Concave walls are plastered and painted (United Nations Archive at Geneva,CC BY-NG-ND 3.0) -- 5.7 League of Nations, Assembly Hall (facing rear) with murals to the concave corners of rear walls (United Nations Archive at Geneva, CC BY-NG-ND 3.0) 163 -- 5.8 League of Nations, Assembly Hall, mural Frat pax in virtute tua by Maurice Denis, mounted on concave corner with visible air gap above (United Nations Archive at Geneva, CC BY-NG-ND 3.0) 165 -- 5.9 Plan and section of the acoustics laboratory at the National Physical Laboratory, 1934 (printed in RIBA Journal) 170 -- 5.10 Reverberation chamber at the acoustics laboratory at the National Physical Laboratory, 1934 (printed in RIBA Journal)171 -- 5.11 Plan of the Mobile Acoustical Laboratory, 1952 (printed in Science) 172 -- 5.12 Mobile Acoustical Laboratory in the Netherlands (printed in Journal of Sound and Vibration) 173 -- 6.1 St Paul's Cathedral, interior (David Barrie, CC BY 2.0, original image rendered black and white) 175 -- 6.2 Technician at Abbey Road Studios, November 193r (British Pathé Ltd, Still #53) 180 -- 6.3 Sir Edward Elgar conducting in Studio 1, Abbey Road, November 193г (British Pathé Ltd, Still #165) 181 -- 6.4 'Queen's Hall Roof, the smaller auditorium at Queen's Hall that was frequently used by HIM for recording before Abbey Road (Historic England Archive) 182 -- 6.5 The main entrance to Queen's Hall on Langham Place (© BBC Archive) 183 -- 6.6 Glasgow Empire Exhibition concert hall, 1938 (printed in Architectural Review) 188 -- 6.7 Glasgow Empire Exhibition concert hall repurposed as a theatre at Butlin's Holiday Camp, Skegness (interior) (author's collection) 190 -- 7.1 Queen's Hall, May 1941 (Larkin Brothers) 195 -- 7.2 Score of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (public domain) 198 -- 7.3 Royal Albert Hall, c. 1880 (London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, J. Paul Getty Museum) 198 -- 7.4 National Gallery concert with backing curtain lowered for a performance of a Bach cantata, c. 1940/4I (printed in booklet for National Gallery Concerts Trustees) 199 -- 7.5 National Gallery concert with backing curtain raised for performance of Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto, c. 1940/47 (printed in booklet for National Gallery Concerts Trustees) 199 -- 7.6 Initial sketch design for canopy installation with fluting at the Royal Albert Hall, 1941 (printed in RIBA Journal) 203 -- 7.7 Alternative sketch design for canopy installation with asbestos sheeting at the Royal Albert Hall, 1941 (printed in RIBA Journal) 204 -- 7.8 Platform layout indicating screens, canopy, and floor reflector at the Royal Albert Hall, 1941 (printed in RIBA Journal) 207 -- 7.9 Lowered velarium with screens in position at the Royal Albert Hall just before re tuning for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, 1941 (printed in RIBA Journal) 208 -- 7.10 Advertisement for the Proms' first season at the Royal Albert Hall, including Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, August 1941 (printed in the Times) 209 -- 7.11 Canopy in position at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall with Sir Henry Wood conducting, 1941 (printed in RIBA Journal) 210 -- 7.12 Wartime acoustic canopy in continued use for the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall (author's collection) 211 -- 7.13 Acoustic diagrams of the Royal Albert Hall drawn by Hope Bagenal, c. 1929 (author's collection) 212 -- 7.14 Exterior of Royal Exchange, London (London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, J. Paul Getty Museum) 213 -- 7.15 Plan of Royal Exchange, London (Pictorial Handbook of London, 1854) 213 -- 7.16 St Paul's Cathedral, damage to north transept (printed in RIBA Journal) 214 -- 7.17 St Paul's Cathedral, W. Godfrey Allen coordinating fire watch © Imperial War Museum (HU 36132) 215 -- C.I Royal Festival Hall, auditorium under construction (photograph from Professor Peter Parkin's collection) 223 -- C.2 Royal Festival Hall, exterior, 1951 (Jarrold & Sons) 227 -- C.3 Opening concert at Royal Festival Hall (as printed in the Times and the Illustrated London News) -- C.4 Pistol fire in Royal Festival Hall (photograph from Professor Peter Parkin's collection) 229 -- C.5 Sketch of insulating material and musical instruments (a) (drawn by John Cordwell, printed in RIBA Journal) 232 -- C.6 Sketch of insulating material and musical instruments (b) (drawn by John Cordwell, printed in RIBA Journal) 232 -- N2 - Investigating a series of cutting-edge acoustic experiments in twentieth-century Britain, this unique book reveals how exciting new ideas from science and music had a lasting effect on architectural design. -- Provided by publisher ER -