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Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Festival Hall.
The Royal Festival Hall (RFH) - an important example of modernism architecture and one of London's best-loved buildings - was built as a beacon of hope and renewal after the Second World War, and quickly became popular. In this new book, a selection of contributors - architects, technicians, musicians, historians, and cultural programmers - tell the varied stories of the building and the people who use it. The book is illustrated with photography specially commissioned from the renowned architectural photographer, Edmund Sumner, and contains 21 written contributions on different aspects of the RFH, from its history as a piece of architecture to the story of the famous organ, from the approach to literature and spoken word to the life of the production team. The building's emergence as a destination for all, whether to enjoy a performance by a world-famous symphony orchestra, a dance class, a poetry reading, or just a cup of coffee, is considered in the context of the intentions of its original planners and those who have led, maintained, and refurbished it since.
This book offers an invaluable record of the history of this celebrated building in the first 75 years of its life, and looks to its future as a center of cultural programming - both weathering and shaping change - for many more decades to come.
- Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Festival Hall
- Written by architects, musicians, and technicians who have been closely involved with the building and its renovation.
- A fascinating and thought-provoking book for anyone interested in the development of London's cultural life.
Foreword by Dan Cruickshank
Centrepiece: A Poem by Erica Hesketh
The Origins of the Royal Festival Hall by Sandy Rattray
The Royal Festival Hall in the Context of Twentieth-Century British Buildings by Hugh Pearman
Performing at the Royal Festival Hall by Sir Stephen Hough
The Many Lives of the Royal Festival Hall by Elaine Bedell
Culture Wars: The Politics of the Royal Festival Hall by Calvin Po
The Democracy of the Royal Festival Hall by Sandy Rattray
Opening up the Foyers by Mike McCart
The Royal Festival Hall and Me by Glyn Aikins
The Life of the Foyers by Eleanor Jolliffe
Caring for the Royal Festival Hall by Terry Vickery
The Interiors by Dr Alistair Fair
The 2007 Renewal by Graham Morrison
The Arts Programme of the Future by Mark Ball
The Acoustics: An Egg in a Box by William McVicker
The Life of the Production Team by Roger Hennigan, Jon Loxton and Mick Shenton
My First Royal Festival Hall Performance by Jess Gillam
'The Tax Payer's Organ by William McVicker
Preparing a Piano for a Concert by Peter Salisbury
Literature, Poetry and Spoken Word by Ted Hodgkinson
The Future of Classical Music by Toks Dada
The Future of the Royal Festival Hall by Eleanor Jolliffe
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Contributor Biographies
Picture Credits
Index