Usher Hall
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Address | Lothian Road Edinburgh EH1 2EA |
---|---|
Location | Edinburgh, Scotland |
Coordinates | 55°56′48″N 3°12′15″W / 55.94675°N 3.20420°W |
Owner | City of Edinburgh Council |
Type | Concert hall |
Capacity | 2,200 |
Construction | |
Opened | 16 March 1914 |
Renovated | 2010 |
Architect | Stockdale Harrison and Howard H Thomson |
Website | |
www |
The Usher Hall is a
History
The construction of the hall was funded by
Its curved walls, unusual for the time, were made possible by developments in reinforced concrete. The dome was designed to reflect the curvature of the walls, not to give a domed interior (which would have been acoustically disastrous).
The interior of the hall is adorned with decorative plaster panels by the Edinburgh sculptor
The finished building was officially opened on 16 March 1914 with a concert featuring music by Handel, Bach, Wagner, Beethoven and the Scottish composer Hamish MacCunn.
The final cost of building the Usher Hall was £134,000.[2] Andrew Usher died before building work was started.
Social history
The Usher Hall has been used for a variety of events, including politics, religion, charity fundraisers and sport, as well as music. In 1914 Prime Minister H. H. Asquith gave a speech entitled the War, using the occasion to recruit from the all-male audience.
At various times the musical and the political overlapped, on occasions such as fundraising concerts for the Republican movement in Spain in the 1930s and sexcentenary celebrations of the foundation of the City of Edinburgh in 1929. The end to political rallies in the Usher Hall came after a serious incident in 1934, when Sir Oswald Mosley came to speak. Between five and six thousand people protested outside, and several people were injured.
In 1986 the Commonwealth Games came to Edinburgh with the Usher Hall providing the venue for the boxing tournament.
The extensive basement rooms of the Usher Hall made the building ideal for use as an
Musical history
As a platform for international classical musicians, the hall hosted the Vienna Philharmonic, under Bruno Walter, at the first festival in 1947.
It is also the Edinburgh home of the
In March 1972, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Hall and compèred by Moira Shearer. It was also the venue of Eurovision Young Musicians in August 2018.
Organ
A major feature of the Usher Hall is the organ. It was built in 1913 by
Present day
Still owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council, the Usher Hall is still in constant use. As well as being one of the main venues for the Edinburgh International Festival, other events have been held, such as the Holocaust Memorial Ceremony and the Colin O'Riordan Memorial Concert. Freedom of the City ceremonies have taken place at the hall over the years, with the most recent being for film star and Scottish icon Sean Connery in 1991.
On 13 April 1996 hours after a concert, a large piece of plaster fell 130 feet from the roof into the auditorium.[4] Only three chairs were damaged, but this event was just one example of the state of disrepair into which the Hall was falling. Vital repairs were necessary to make the building wind-proof, watertight and safe. Relying heavily on Lottery and Arts Council funding, the City of Edinburgh embarked on a £25 million scheme to both make the hall safe and improve its function - including making the auditorium suitable for Promenade-type events and building new catering and ticketing facilities. Unfortunately, late into the design phase, the Lottery Fund application failed and the Arts Council withdrew its support. Mired in controversy, the project collapsed. In 1998 the City of Edinburgh announced it had put aside £9 million to start the refurbishment again.
In 2002 plans for a second phase of refurbishment were announced with plans to raise the further £11 million required. In 2007 work on the second phase began, which provided improved facilities and public spaces, including the construction of a new glass wing.[5] The work was completed in 2010 at a total cost of £40 million.[6]
See also
- List of Category A listed buildings in the Old Town, Edinburgh
- List of concert halls
- Adjoining buildings
References
- ^ "Usher Hall | Edinburgh International Festival". Eif.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ^ "Lost Edinburgh: 100 years of the Usher Hall". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
- ^ a b [1] Archived 25 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Usher Hall". Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ Usher Hall, LDN Architects
- ^ Real space images to reopen Usher Hall, BBC News, 24 February 2010
External links
Media related to Usher Hall at Wikimedia Commons