The following information has been condensed from
articles in Wikipedia:
The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences is an
arts venue dedicated to Queen Victoria's husband
and consort, Prince Albert. Since its opening by
Queen Victoria in 1871, leading artists from
every kind of performance genre have appeared on
its stage. Each year it hosts more than 350
events 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 to have been called 'The
Central Hall of Arts and Sciences', but the name
was changed by Queen Victoria when laying the
foundation stone. 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 (see the previous page in this
site). The Hall also accommodates the largest
pipe organ in the UK, and is the home of 'The
Proms' (Promenade Concerts).
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The Hall was designed by Captain Francis Fowke
and Colonel H.Y. Darracott Scott of the Royal
Engineers. They 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 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 glass.
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 was reportedly said that
the hall was the only place where an audience
could be sure of hearing a concert twice on the
same night!
Initially lit by gas (when thousands of gas jets
were lit within 10 seconds by a special system),
full electric lighting was installed in
1897.
The Hall has recently (1996 - 2004) undergone a
programme of renovation and development to enable
it to meet the coming demands. 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 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.
The works also 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. It is now the largest pipe organ
in the British Isles with 9,997 pipes. 
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Around the outside of the hall is a great mosaic
frieze (left and below) 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.
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."
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The 'Proms' festival of classical music were
founded by Sir Henry Wood and have been held in
the hall every summer since 1941 after the
original venue, the Queen's Hall in Langham
Place, was destroyed in the bombing of London in
WWII.
In 1944, however, many of the concerts to be held
in the hall had to be abandoned due to the
'flying bomb' raids. The series was completed by
the BBC orchestras broadcasting from Bedford.
(For further information on the BBC orchestras in
wartime contained in this series of websites
please click
here.)
Every year at Christmas time a number of Carol
Concerts are held in the hall. This is one of
them presented by the (left)
A visit to London continues on the following
page.
Please click on the 'Next' button (below
right)
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