The Reid Concert Hall is a small music venue in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the south-western corner of

Bristo Square Bristo Square, Edinburgh, Scotland, is a public space on the estate of the University of Edinburgh. It lies in the south of the city, between George IV Bridge and George Square. The most prominent landmark on the square is the category A list ...

about south of the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

, and is part of the University of Edinburgh. Originally opened in 1859 as the Reid School of Music by the university's professor of music, John Donaldson (1789-1865), it was designed by the Scottish Architect David Cousin and is a Category A listed building. The hall is named after General John Reid, an army officer and musician who founded the Chair of Music ( Reid Professor of Music) at the university. The Reid Concerts take place every 13 February.

Performances

The Reid Hall is hosts a number of classical

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

concerts throughout the year, mostly performed by students and academics. The Reid Concerts are performed every year under the organisation of the Reid Professor. They are held on 13 February in remembrance of General John Reid and in line with the terms of his bequest that established the professorship. In its history a number of works by Kenneth Leighton were premiered at the Reid Hall. After the composer's death, the hall hosted a memorial concert performed by Wakefield Cathedral Choir. During the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, the Reid Hall is used as a performance venue called " The Cowbarn" by Underbelly.

Architecture

The Reid School of Music is a tall, rectangular sandstone

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

building, designed by David Cousin in an Italianate Neoclassical style. The exterior large sash windows are flanked by decorative shell-headed

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

s. The roof is surrounded with an ornate,

dentilled A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and heavy, bracketed eaves, below which is an inscription carved into the frieze, "". Steps lead up to the entrances, which are flanked by pairs of classical

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s and topped with

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

s. The interior consists mostly of a spacious concert hall, which is noted for its highly decorated neoclassical

coffered A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also c ...

tunnel vaulted ceiling. Against the east wall of the concert hall is a reproduction classical organ, which was built by

Jürgen Ahrend Jürgen Ahrend (born 28 April 1930) is a German organ builder famous for restoring instruments such as the Rysum organ and the Arp Schnitger organ in St. Jacobi, Hamburg (St James's Church) as well as building original instruments. He is intervi ...

in 1978. The wooden casing was designed by James Haig Marshall of Ian G Lindsay and Partners. The concert hall was designed to offer "dry"

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

with low reverberation. By contrast, the neighbouring McEwan Hall opened in 1897 is a grand, colossal space with high reverberation.

Music museum

When the Reid Hall was built, Professor John Donaldson also added a museum gallery to display his private collection of old and unusual musical instruments. The Reid Hall is considered to be the oldest purpose-built musical museum in Europe. Today, the North Room houses the John Donaldson Collection of Musical Instruments, which, along with the

Russell Collection The Russell Collection is a substantial collection of early keyboard instruments assembled by the British harpsichordist and organologist Raymond Russell. It forms part of the Musical Instrument Museums collection of the University of Edinburg ...

, forms part of the Musical Instruments collection of the University of Edinburgh.

References

External links

* {{authority control Music venues in Edinburgh Former churches in Scotland Neoclassical architecture in Scotland Buildings and structures of the University of Edinburgh Italianate architecture in Scotland Museums in Edinburgh Music museums in Scotland University museums in Scotland 1859 establishments in Scotland Musical instrument museums in Scotland Buildings and structures completed in 1859

Performances

Architecture

Music museum

See also

References

External links