View source for Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool

{{Short description|Concert hall in Liverpool, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{coord|53.4012|-2.9701|display=title}}
{{Infobox venue
| name                   = Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
| nickname               = 
| native_name            = 
| native_name_lang       = 
| fullname               = 
| former names           = 
| logo_image             = 
| logo_caption           = 
| image                  = Philharmonic Hall Liverpool.jpg
| image_size             = 250
| image_alt              = 
| caption                = Exterior view of venue (c. 2008)
| address                = [[Hope Street, Liverpool|Hope St]], [[Liverpool]] L1 9BP,<br>England
| location               = [[Knowledge Quarter, Liverpool|Knowledge Quarter]]
| coordinates            = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LON|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} -->
| type                   = 
| genre                  = 
| broke_ground           = June 1937
| built                  = 
| opened                 = {{Start date|1939|06|19|df=y}}
| renovated              = {{hlist|1995|2015}}
| expanded               = 
| closed                 = 
| demolished             = 
| owner                  = [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic|Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society]]
| operator               = 
| surface                = 
| scoreboard             = 
| production             = 
| cost                   = [[Pound sterling|£]]120,000<br>{{no wrap|(£{{formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|120000|1937}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}} sterling{{inflation-fn|UK|mode=cs2}})}}
| architect              = [[Herbert James Rowse|Herbert Rowse]]
| builder                = 
| project_manager        = 
| structural engineer    = 
| services engineer      = 
| general_contractor     = 
| main_contractors       = 
| seating_type           = 
| capacity               = 1,700
| suites                 = 
| record_attendance      = 
| dimensions             = 
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| tenants                = 
| embedded               = 
{{Infobox historic site
	| embed					= yes
	| architecture 			= [[Streamline Moderne]]
	| designation1 			= Grade II* Listed Building
    | designation1_offname  = Philharmonic Hall (including detached poster piers to south west and north west)
    | designation1_date     = 19 March 1981
	| designation1_number 	= {{NHLE|num=1279652|short=y|postscript=none}}
	| gbgridref 			= SJ 356 898
}}
| website                = {{URL|https://www.liverpoolphil.com/|Official website}}
| publictransit          = 
}}
'''Liverpool Philharmonic Hall''' is a concert hall on [[Hope Street, Liverpool|Hope Street]] in [[Liverpool]], England. It is the home of the [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic|Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society]] and is recorded in the [[National Heritage List for England]] as a designated [[Grade II* listed]] building.<ref name=images>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1279652 |desc=Philharmonic Hall (including detached poster piers to south west and north west), Liverpool |access-date=11 September 2013 |mode=cs2}}</ref> It is not the original concert hall on the present site; its predecessor was destroyed by fire in 1933 and the present hall was opened in 1939.

==Original hall==
[[File:Old-Liverpool-Phil-exterior-1849.jpg|thumb|upright=1.10|left|The first hall in 1849]]
The Liverpool Philharmonic Society was founded in 1840 but initially did not have a permanent concert hall.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|pp=21–23}}</ref> In 1844 the Liverpool architect [[John Cunningham (architect)|John Cunningham]] was appointed to prepare plans for a hall. The initial requirement was for a "concert room" holding an audience of 1,500 which would cost at least £4,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|4000|1844|{{Inflation-year|UK}}|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}} Later that year the requirement was increased to a "new concert hall" to accommodate an audience of 2,100 and an orchestra of 250, plus "refreshment and retiring rooms". Subscribers were invited to both buy shares and to purchase seats along the sides of the hall.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=25}}</ref> The [[Cornerstone|foundation stone]] was laid in 1846 and plans were made for [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]] to write a [[cantata]] to be played in his presence at the opening of the hall. Mendelssohn did not live long enough to write the work.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|pp=26–28}}</ref>

The hall cost £30,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|30000|1849|r=-4}}|0}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}} and was opened on 27&nbsp;August 1849 accompanied by a week long festival.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=29}}</ref><ref name=echo1933>{{cite news |title=The Finest Concert Hall In Europe |work=[[Liverpool Echo]] |date=6 July 1933 |author=T. J. Buckley |page=6 |mode=cs2}}</ref> A correspondent for ''[[The Times]]'' reported that it was "one of the finest and best adapted to music that I ever entered".<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=30}}</ref> The correspondent described the interior:
{{quote|The orchestra, on each side of which is a canopied box for the use of the committee or the directors of the concert, is at the east end of the hall, recessed under an arch, filled to the extremities by the instrumental and choral phalanx of executants, disposed semicircularly, with numberless bronze music-stands, each surmounted by a lyre. It has a most imposing appearance. A large organ, of simple but classic design, backs the orchestra. The length of the body of the hall, without the orchestra, is about 104 feet; with the orchestra, about 150 feet. The breadth cannot fall short of 100 feet. The form of the room is oblong. The boxes, 65 in number, are disposed on each side of the hall, under the galleries, which in their turn are surmounted by the brilliant line of gas-burners .... The entire body of the hall is divided into comfortable stalls which leave plenty of room to sit at ease, and have all the accommodation of arm chairs. Three doors for ingress and egress are disposed at each side of the hall, and there are divided by windows, fitted with perforated zinc for the purpose of ventilation. Two immense elliptic arches on each side of the hall, spanning nearly the entire length of the body, inclose the boxes and galleries, and give them the appearance of being recessed. The galleries are sustained by gilded pillars, which front the boxes, with scroll ornaments for capitals. At the west end of the building, opposite the orchestra, there are two galleries, one above the other. The roof is covered, and the covers are of stucco, perforated; the centre is flat, but elaborately ornamented and relieved. The boxes are very elegantly fitted … The hall is lighted in day-time by four large windows, two on either side.<ref>"The Liverpool Musical Meeting", ''The Times'', 29 August 1849, p. 5</ref>|}}

According to ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', the hall was universally agreed to have superb acoustics.<ref>{{cite web|last=Spiegl|first=Fritz |title=Liverpool: 2. Philharmonic Society |url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/43025|work=Grove Music Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=6 August 2014|author-link=Fritz Spiegl|mode=cs2}} {{subscription required}}</ref> A new [[Pipe organ|organ]] was installed in the hall in 1930 at a cost of £2,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|2000|1930|{{Inflation-year|UK}}|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}}
[[File:Old-Liverpool-Phil-1849.jpg|thumb|upright=1.10|right|Interior of the first hall in 1849]]
The concert hall continued to be the home of the society until a fire broke out during the evening of 5&nbsp;July 1933. Despite over 100 firemen attending the fire, the hall and new organ were damaged beyond repair.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|pp=101–102}}</ref><ref name=echo1933_3/> Over 10,000 people stood in the streets around the hall to view the fire.<ref name=echo1933_3/> There were no serious injuries – the hall had closed for the day – though two boys fell into the basement while watching the fire and a number of onlookers fainted or collapsed.<ref name=echo1933_3/> The next day the chairman of the Philharmonic Society announced that the hall would certainly be rebuilt, saying that until then they would need to find a replacement hall in which to play.<ref name=echo1933_2>{{cite news |title=The Philharmonic Will Be Rebuilt |work=Liverpool Echo |date=6 July 1933 |page=7 |mode=cs2}}</ref> The hall contained a number of autograph books dating from 1848; these were contained in a fire-proof safe and thus kept safe along with autographed pictures and some instruments, though the music library was lost.<ref name=echo1933_2/><ref name=echo1933_3/> The building was insured, and the insurers paid £84,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|84000|1933|r=-4}}|0}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}} for the hall itself, £9,503 (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|9503|1933|{{Inflation-year|UK}}|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}} for other assets, and £6,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|6000|1933|{{Inflation-year|UK}}|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}} for the loss of two years' rental.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=104}}</ref> The exact cause of the fire was not known; only that it originated in the roof of the building.<ref name=echo1933_3>{{cite news |title=New Hall Of Music On Same Site |work=Liverpool Echo |date=6 July 1933 |page=3 |mode=cs2}}</ref> Demolition work on the building's ruins began the next day.<ref>{{cite news |work=Liverpool Echo |title=The Fire At The Phil |author=H. Ernest Roberts |page=7 |date=7 July 1933 |mode=cs2}}</ref>

==Present hall==
===History===
[[File:Liverpool Philharmonic facade 2018.jpg|thumb|upright=1.10|The building's facade after the 2014 renovation.]]
The building of a new hall was delayed by the demands of Liverpool Corporation, which announced that it would not support the building of a venue suitable only as a concert hall. The corporation demanded an auditorium equally suited to cinema and theatre use. Controversy ensued with vocal opposition to the corporation's stance led by the doyen of British conductors, [[Henry Wood|Sir Henry Wood]]. A compromise was reached and work began in June 1937.<ref>{{Harvnb|Peter|2007|pp=77–78}}</ref>

[[Herbert James Rowse|Herbert J.&nbsp;Rowse]] was commissioned to design a new hall on the site of the previous hall. Rowse's design was in [[Streamline Moderne]] style.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=109}}</ref> It incorporated an organ built by the Liverpool firm of [[Rushworth and Dreaper]] with a [[Organ console|console]] which can be lowered from the stage.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|pp=110–112}}</ref> The hall was officially opened on 19&nbsp;June 1939, and inaugurated the next day with a concert conducted by [[Thomas Beecham|Sir&nbsp;Thomas Beecham]].<ref>"Music at Liverpool", ''The Times'', 20 June 1930, p. 12</ref> ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'' commented, "The magnificent compliment Liverpool has paid to the cause of music in England almost takes one's breath away ... a hall of great size, noble proportions, and up-to-date appointments ... ready to take its place among the most eminent homes of musical culture in this or any other country".<ref>"Tonight's orchestral test of the hall's acoustics", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 20 June 1939, p. 12</ref> The final cost of the hall was a little over £120,000 (equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|120000|1939|r=-4}}|0}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}} and the architect was paid £6,869 (equivalent to £{{Formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|6869|1939|{{Inflation-year|UK}}|r=-3}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y|mode=cs2}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=110}}</ref> An extension was added to the rear of the hall which was completed in 1992, designed by Brock Carmichael Associates.<ref name=pev>{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|pp=371–372}}</ref> A major refurbishment of the hall was carried out in 1995 at a cost of £10.3&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=187}}</ref> This included the complete replacement of the [[Plasterwork#Fibrous plaster|fibrous plaster]] interior with concrete, carried out again by Brock Carmichael, working with the acoustic consultant firm [[Kirkegaard Associates|Lawrence Kirkegaard Associates]].<ref name=pev/> A local violinist, John Frederick Clarke, who was part of the famed {{RMS|Titanic}} [[List of crew members on board RMS Titanic#Ship's orchestra|orchestra]], and the other band members who died during the ship's sinking in 1912 are all commemorated on a memorial plaque within Philharmonic Hall.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-connections-with-liverpool.html |title=Titanic connections with Liverpool |access-date=9 May 2011 |publisher=Encyclopedia Titanica |date=28 August 2003}}</ref>

A further renovation, costing around £14&nbsp;million, was completed in October 2015, primarily refurbishing the main concert hall and auditorium. The 2015 renovation also saw the introduction of a new performance space named the Music Room, which replaced the former Rodewald Suite as Liverpool Philharmonic's secondary venue, with an increased capacity of between 180 and 250 people. The Music Room was formally opened to the public in a free open house event on 9 October 2015. <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-30052333 |title=Liverpool Philharmonic Hall opens after revamp |date=14 November 2014 |access-date=8 July 2015 |work=BBC News |mode=cs2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/liverpool-philharmonic-hall-new-performance-8762771 |title=Liverpool Philharmonic Hall's new performance space named |date=3 March 2015 |access-date=8 July 2015 |author=Catherine Jones |work=Liverpool Echo |mode=cs2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/first-look-inside-liverpools-newly-10223038 |title=First look inside Liverpool's newly-refurbished Philharmonic Hall |date=8 October 2015 |access-date=19 November 2016 |author=Kirsty McHale |work=Liverpool Echo |mode=cs2}}</ref>

===Architecture===
The hall is built with fawn-coloured facing bricks, and is mainly in three storeys. It has a symmetrical frontage with a [[Canopy (building)|canopied]] entrance flanked by semicircular stair [[Turret (architecture)|turret]]s. Above the entrance are seven windows that are separated by [[pier (architecture)|piers]] surmounted by carved abstract motifs. Outside the hall and separated from it are two piers for the display of posters.<ref name=images/> The architectural historians Pollard and [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner]] and the author of the description in the ''National Heritage List for England'' agree that the design of the hall was influenced by the Dutch architect [[Willem Marinus Dudok|W.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;Dudok]].<ref name=images/><ref name=pev/>

The windows above the canopy contain glass [[Etching (glass)|etched]] by [[Hector Whistler]]. Glass doors panels by Whistler, originally from the building, and depicting musical instruments in [[art deco]] style, were featured on the BBC One's ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]'' in March 2015. Thirteen [[Pilkington|Pilkington glass]] panels had been purchased from a market in France by a Liverpool dealer, who expressed an interest in donating some to local museums.<ref name="AR">{{Cite episode |title=Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral 1 |series=Antiques Roadshow |series-link=Antiques Roadshow |network=[[BBC Television]] |date=22 March 2015 |series-no=37 |number=1 |mode=cs2}}</ref> Inside the entrance to the hall is a copper memorial to the musicians of the {{RMS|Titanic||2}} by J.&nbsp;A.&nbsp;Hodel, and on the landings are [[Gilding|gilded]] [[relief]]s of [[Apollo]] by [[Edmund Thompson|Edmund C.&nbsp;Thompson]].<ref name=pev/> The interior of the [[auditorium]] is "sensuously curved".<ref name=pev/> On the walls on each side are incised female figures in art deco style that represent "musical moods", also by Thompson. On the back wall above the platform was a [[Kinetic architecture|kinetic]] structure, called ''Adagio'', designed by Marianne Forrest in 1995;<ref name=pev/> however this was moved to the nearby [[Harold Cohen Library, University of Liverpool|Harold Cohen Library]] at the [[University of Liverpool]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2016/02/15/adagio-statue-unveiled-in-harold-cohen-library/ |title=Adagio sculpture unveiled at Harold Cohen Library |date=15 February 2016 |publisher=University of Liverpool |access-date=12 October 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref>

The hall contains a 3-manual pipe organ <ref>{{National Pipe Organ Register|id=N18265|mode=cs2|access-date=2 July 2020}}</ref> built by [[Rushworth and Dreaper]], with a console on a lifting platform to store the console beneath the stage when not in use, and a Walturdaw rising cinema screen which is often played up with a musical interlude by the Hall's resident organist Dave Nicholas.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|pp=111–113}}</ref>

==Current use==
The hall stages over 250&nbsp;events each year, of which more than 60 are concerts of classical music. The main hall has a capacity of 1,700 with smaller events taking place in the Music Room, Green Room and 1840 Room.<ref name="Hall details">{{cite web |title=Corporate and Private Events at Liverpool Philharmonic |url=https://liverpoolphilharmonic.cdn.prismic.io/liverpoolphilharmonic%2Fde524bea-19f2-4f9b-97be-907bb4f501e4_corporate+events+brochure_april18_v2.pdf |access-date=4 February 2019|mode=cs2}}</ref> The other shows include music of all genres (including international artists such as Sir [[Cliff Richard]], [[Bryan Ferry]], [[Brian Wilson]], [[Kraftwerk]] and [[Gilbert O'Sullivan]]), comedians, and films shown on the Walturdaw screen.<ref>{{Harvnb|Henley|McKernan|2009|p=200}}</ref> Tours of the hall are arranged,<ref>{{Citation |url=http://rlp.webbler.co.uk/284/tours/the-phil-experience.html |title=The Phil Experience |access-date=10 December 2009 |publisher=Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706113524/http://rlp.webbler.co.uk/284/tours/the-phil-experience.html |archive-date=6 July 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and the hall can he hired for corporate or private events, including weddings.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://rlp.webbler.co.uk/283/venue-hire/a-unique-setting-for-a-brmemorable-event.html |title=Venue Hire |access-date=10 December 2009 |publisher=Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826070537/http://rlp.webbler.co.uk/283/venue-hire/a-unique-setting-for-a-brmemorable-event.html |archive-date=26 August 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool – City Centre]]
* [[Architecture of Liverpool]]
* [[Philharmonic Dining Rooms]] "The Phil" public house

==References==
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist|30em}}
'''Sources'''
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Citation |last1=Henley |first1=Darren |last2=McKernan |first2=Vincent |year=2009 |title=The Original Liverpool Sound: The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society |location=Liverpool |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-84631-224-3}}
* {{Citation |last=Peter |first=Bruce |year=2007 |title=Form Follows Fun: Modernism and Modernity in British Pleasure Architecture |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415428187}}
* {{Citation |last1=Pollard |first1=Richard |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author2-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2006 |location=New Haven and London |isbn=0-300-10910-5}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091128064622/http://rlp.webbler.co.uk/ RLPO official site]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070109075917/http://www.liverpooltheatreguide.com/philharmonic.htm What's On at the Philharmonic Hall]

{{Commons category}}
{{Liverpool B&S}}
{{RMS Titanic}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Art Deco architecture in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Music venues completed in 1939|Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall]]
[[Category:Concert halls in England]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Music venues in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Streamline Moderne architecture in the United Kingdom|Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Liverpool]]
[[Category:John Cunningham buildings]]
[[Category:Hope Street, Liverpool]]
[[Category:Royal Liverpool Philharmonic]]
[[Category:Individual pipe organs in the United Kingdom]]