The Royal Concertgebouw (, ) is a concert hall in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb

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 ...

place it among the finest

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...

s in the world, along with Boston's Symphony Hall and the

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

in Vienna. In celebration of the building's 125th anniversary,

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...

bestowed the royal title "

Koninklijk (, Dutch for 'royal') is an honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then Kin ...

" upon the building on 11 April 2013, as she had on the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

upon its 100th in 1988.

History

The architect of the building was , who was inspired by the

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus () is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, built two years earlier (and destroyed in 1943). Construction began in 1883 in a pasture that was then outside the city, in Nieuwer-Amstel, a municipality that in 1964 became

Amstelveen Amstelveen () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, with a population of 95,996 as of 202 ...

. A total of 2,186 wooden piles, 12 to 13 metres (40 to 43 ft) long, were emplaced in the soil. The Concertgebouw was completed in late 1886, however due to the difficulties with the municipality of Nieuwer-Amstel – filling in a small canal, paving the access roads and installing street lights – the grand opening of the building was delayed. The hall opened on 11 April 1888 with an inaugural concert, in which an orchestra of 120 musicians and a chorus of 500 singers participated, performing works of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

, and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. The resident orchestra of the Concertgebouw is the

(''Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest''), which gave its first concert in the hall on 3 November 1888, as the Concertgebouw Orchestra (''Concertgebouworkest''). For many decades from the 1950s to the present day the

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra The Netherlands Philharmonic () is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Amsterdam. History The Netherlands Philharmonic was formed as the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985 from the merger of three orchestras: the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orc ...

(previously the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra) as well as the

Radio Filharmonisch Orkest The Radio Filharmonisch Orkest (''Radio Philharmonic Orchestra''; Dutch abbreviation RFO) is a Dutch radio orchestra, based in Hilversum. The RFO performs under the aegis of the ''Muziekcentrum van de Omroep'' (Broadcasting Music Centre; NMBC), a ...

also provide their regular concert series in the Concertgebouw. Today, some 900 concerts and other events per year take place in the Concertgebouw, for a public of over 700,000, making it one of the most-visited concert halls in the world. , the managing director of the Concertgebouw is Simon Reinink and the artistic director is Anneke Hogenstijn.

Building

The Main Hall (''Grote Zaal'') seats 1,974, and is long, wide, and high. Its

reverberation time In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

is 2.8 seconds without audience, 2.2 seconds with, making it ideal for the late Romantic repertoire such as

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

. Although this characteristic makes it largely unsuited for amplified music, groups such as

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

and

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

did perform there in the 1960s. In the Main Hall, there is a layer of dust in several places as removing this layer would impact the acoustics as they are now. A smaller, oval-shaped venue, the Recital Hall (''Kleine Zaal''), is located behind the Main Hall. The Recital Hall is long and wide. Its more intimate space is well-suited for

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

and

Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er. The Recital Hall has 437 seats. In 1983, the Concertgebouw was found to be sinking into the damp Amsterdam earth, with several inch-wide cracks appearing in the walls, so the hall embarked on extensive fundraising for renovations. Its difficult emergency restoration started in 1985, during which the 2,186 rotting wooden pilings were replaced with concrete pillars. Dutch architect

Pi de Bruijn Pi de Bruijn (born 28 August 1942) is a Dutch architect from Losser, Overijssel, the Netherlands. He is a design principal at the Office de Architecten Cie., located in Amsterdam. History Bruijn graduated from the Delft University of Technology. ...

designed a modern annex for a new entrance and a basement to replace cramped dressing and rehearsal space. Jacob Olie - Concertgebouw Amsterdam 10 november 1902.jpeg, Concertgebouw in 1902, by

Jacob Olie Jacob Olie (1834 – 1905) was a photographer from Amsterdam known for his scenes of everyday life there. Olie was born in Amsterdam and was trained as a carpenter and draughtsman.Jacob Olie (Jbz) in the RKD He became a teacher at the local sch ...

Exterieur VOORGEVEL, LINKER ZIJGEVEL - Amsterdam - 20288737 - RCE.jpg, East side before its restoration in 1985 Exterieur NIEUWE AANBOUW, OVERZICHT - Amsterdam - 20260226 - RCE.jpg, East side with the new entrance

Organ

The

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was built in 1890 by the organ builder Michael Maarschalkerweerd from

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, and was renovated in the years 1990 to 1993 by the organ builder

Flentrop Flentrop is a Dutch company based in Zaandam that builds and restores Organ (music), organs. History The company originated in 1903 when Hendrik Wicher Flentrop (1866-1950) from Koog aan de Zaan, originally a house painter by trade, and organist ...

. It has 60 registers on three divisions and pedal. 22 lier concertgebouw - WLM 2011 - drobm

* Couplers: II/I (also as Suboktavkoppel), III/I, III/II, I/P, II/P, III/P

Names of composers in the Main Hall

In the Main Hall, the surnames of the following 46 composers are displayed on the balcony ledges and on the walls:

References

External links