Contents -- List of figures xi -- List of music examples xvi -- List of tables xvii -- Abbreviations xviii -- Preface xxi -- PART 1: MUSIC PERFORMANCE AND ARCHITECTURAL SPACE: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL FUNDAMENTALS -- 1.1 Introduction 3 -- 1.1.1 Room acoustics and related disciplines 3 -- 1.1.2 Architectural space, room acoustics and music performance 6 -- 1.1.3 Music for rooms and rooms for music: two points of view and three levels of approach 8 -- 1.1.4 Methodology: the study's two parts 13 -- 1.2 Acoustic knowledge applied to the construction and use of rooms 19 -- 1.2.1 Acoustic knowledge in ancient Greece and Rome 19 -- 1.2.2 Pragmatic room acoustics in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance 23 -- 1.2.3 Rediscovery of the ancient theater 27 -- 1.2.4 Debates on acoustics in the seventeenth century 31 -- 1.2.5 The development of acoustics as a science from the seventeenth to the twentieth century 33 -- 1.2.6 Acoustic knowledge available to architects since the seventeenth century 36 -- 1.2.7 Old and new rooms 41 -- 1.2.8 Festival halls 44 -- 1.3 Room acoustics and music: changing relations 45 -- 1.3.1 The function of the performance site and its significance for room acoustics 45 -- 1.3.2 Public concerts and the change of performance practice 48 -- 1.3.3 New definition of chamber music around 1800 in relation to hall size 51 -- 1.3.4 Architectural space as part of the work's performance 52 -- 1.3.5 Electro-acoustical reproduction of space 59 -- 1.4 Music and space: conditions for perception 61 -- 1.4.1 The musician's situation 61 -- 1.4.2 The composer's situation: interior and exterior spatiality of music 64 -- 1.4.3 The listener's situation: aim of perception and perceptual constancy 66 -- 1.5 Sound and sensation: physical, physiological and psychological principles 69 -- 1.5.1 Sound and sound propagation 69.

1.5.2 The physiology of hearing and characteristics of auditory perception 70 -- 1.5.2.1 The function of the middle ear muscles 75 -- 1.5.2.2 Directional hearing 77 -- 1.5.2.3 Masking 78 -- 1.5.2.4 Temporal aspects: blurring, blending, summation 78 -- 1.5.2.5 Summary of physiological sound perception 79 -- 1.5.3 Neuronal sound processing 80 -- 1.5.3.1 The auditory pathways 80 -- 1.5.3.2 Active perception 84 -- 1.5.3.3 Experience and memory 86 -- 1.5.3.4 Music and the brain 88 -- 1.5.4 Hearing and measuring: perspectives from the psychology of perception 89 -- 1.6 Room acoustics: fundamental concepts in physics 91 -- 1.6.1 Geometrical room acoustics 92 -- 1.6.2 Wave theoretical room acoustics 98 -- 1.6.3 Reverberation time and absorption 102 -- 1.6.4 Quantification of quality in room acoustics 106 -- 1.6.5 General acoustic impression and acoustics at a certain place 113 -- 1.6.6 Principles for the analysis of a room's acoustic quality 118 -- Seven basic rules 118 -- 1.7 Spatial impression in sound recording 121 -- 1.7.1 Technical limits of recording 121 -- 1.7.2 Space in sound recording and reproduction 125 -- 1.7.2.1 Artificial head recording 125 -- 1.7.2.2 Monoaural recording 126 -- 1.7.2.3 Stereophonic recording 127 -- 1.7.2.4 Quadraphonic and multichannel recordings 129 -- 1.7.3 Conclusions 131 -- 1.8 Architecture related quality factors in room acoustics 133 -- 1.8.1 Room proportions -- relation of room height to width 134 -- 1.8.1.1 Halls with low ceilings 135 -- 1.8.1.2 Festival halls 136 -- 1.8.2 Acoustic similarity of rooms 137 -- 1.8.3 Critical volume of space 141 -- 1.8.4 Critical room width 142 -- 1.8.5 Architectural quality factors and type of space 146 -- 1.8.5.1 Music rooms and concert halls 146 -- 1.8.5.2 Theatres 148 -- 1.8.5.3 Churches 154 -- 1.8.6 The number of attendants 161.

1.9 Music related the quality factors in room acoustics 165 -- 1.9.1 Assessment of quality factors 165 -- 1.9.2 Types of space 166 -- 1.9.2.1 Music rooms and concert halls 166 -- 1.9.2.2 Theaters and opera houses 170 -- 1.9.2.3 Churches 173 -- 1.9.3 Music genres and program types 174 -- 1.9.4 Use of space types by period 175 -- 1.9.5 Relations between space type, program type and size of the ensemble (numbers per part) 176 -- 1.9.6 Music and space: ideal and reality 185 -- 1.9.7 Room acoustic quality norms and their practical importance 187 -- PART 2: HANDEL'S MESSIAH -- 2.1 The change of performance practice and room acoustics 193 -- 2.1.1 Handel's Messiah: an uninterrupted performance tradition 193 -- 2.1.2 Important performances 194 -- 2.1.3 Aim of research 199 -- 2.1.4 The transformation of performance practice 200 -- 2.1.5 Handel's own performance practice of Messiah and other works 203 -- 2.2 Handel, the oratorio volgare, and Arcangelo Corelli 205 -- 2.2.1 La Resurrezione, oratorio for Rome (1708) 205 -- 2.2.2 The halls at Palazzo Bonelli 208 -- 2.2.2.1 The Salone grande 208 -- 2.2.2.2 The Stanzione delle Accademie 210 -- 2.2.2.3 Decoration, seating, number of listeners 211 -- 2.2.3 Other concerts under Corelli in Rome 212 -- 2.2.3.1 Scarlatti's oratorio La Passione at the Palazzo della Cancelleria 212 -- 2.2.3.2 Orchestras' size under Corelli 215 -- 2.2.4 Handel's Resurrezione: size of the orchestra and hall 216 -- 2.3 The performance practice of the early English oratorio 219 -- 2.3.1 Two forerunners from 1718: Acis and Galathea and Esther 219 -- 2.3.2 The singers of the Chapel Royal and the 1732 version of Esther 220 -- 2.3.3 Further oratorio performances in London 225 -- 2.3.4 Handel's 1733 oratorio performances in Oxford, the building of Holywell Music Room in 1748 and the beginning of a Handel tradition 226.

2.3.5 Handel's oratorio performances in London until 1739 229 -- 2.4 The oratorio Messiah 233 -- 2.4.1 Introductory note 233 -- 2.4.2 The 1741-42 Handel-Season in Dublin 234 -- 2.4.3 The performance of Messiah 236 -- 2.4.4 The first performance: ensemble size and hall size 237 -- 2.5 Handel's performances of Messiah in London 243 -- 2.5.1 Handel's concerts at the Foundling Hospital 243 -- 2.5.1.1 Messiah at the Foundling Hospital 244 -- 2.5.1.2 Messiah after Handel's blindness 245 -- 2.5.1.3 Size of orchestra and room at the Foundling Hospital 245 -- 2.5.2 Handel's performances of Messiah at the theater 248 -- 2.5.3 Theaters used by Handel 249 -- 2.5.3.1 The King's Theater on Haymarket 249 -- 2.5.3.2 The Covent Garden Theater 252 -- 2.5.4 Documents on the acoustics of the London theaters 256 -- 2.6 The impact of room acoustics on Handel's compositions 263 -- 2.6.1 Room acoustics and the process of composition 263 -- 2.6.2 Handel's performances with large ensembles 265 -- 2.6.3 Virtual and actual space in Handel's compositions 267 -- 2.6.3.1 Virtual space 267 -- 2.6.3.2 Exterior acoustic conditions 270 -- 2.6.4 Space, genre and structure of music 273 -- 2.6.4.1 From chamber duet to oratorio choir 273 -- 2.6.4.2 From oratorio choir to anthem choir 276 -- 2.6.4.3 Limits in music structure for larger space 278 -- 2.6.4.4 Is Handel's Messiah a "chamber oratorio"? 279 -- 2.6.5 Size of orchestra in relation to the size of architectural space 280 -- 2.6.5.1 Size of architectural space 280 -- 2.6.5.2 Orchestra size and volume of space 282 -- 2.6.5.3 Conclusions 284 -- 2.7 The enlargement of the musical ensemble after Handel's death 285 -- 2.7.1 The 1784 Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey 285 -- 2.7.1.1 The acoustic conditions in the main nave of Westminster 292 -- 2.7.1.2 The reconstruction of the Commemoration in Washington Cathedral 1984 294.

2.7.2 The large choir festivals in England until the Handel Centennial in 1859 296 -- 2.7.3 The Handel Centennial in Crystal Palace at Sydenham 299 -- 2.7.4 Documents on the acoustics in Crystal Palace 302 -- 2.7.5 Size of the orchestra and the concert halls in nineteenth-century London 306 -- 2.7.5.1 Size of the concert halls 306 -- 2.7.5.2 Seeing and listening 310 -- 2.7.5.3 Enlargement of the ensemble and the "Additional Accompaniments" 312 -- 2.7.6 Back to the "original" size of the ensemble 317 -- 2.8 Sound recordings 319 -- 2.8.1 Some general remarks on recording techniques and musical analysis 322 -- 2.8.2 Some remarks on ensemble size and sound balance 323 -- 2.8.3 Comparative analyses of sound recordings 324 -- 2.8.3.1 Series I: "Symphony" (Grave, Allegro moderato) 324 -- 2.8.3.2 Series II: "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth", bass recitative 328 -- 2.8.3.3 Series III: "Thou shalt break them", aria for tenor (Andante) 329 -- 2.8.3.4 Series IV: Hallelujah, chorus (Allegro) 332 -- 2.8.3.5 Series V: "Lift up your heads", chorus (a tempo ordinario) 333 -- 2.8.3.6 Series VI: chamber duet "Quel fior che all'alba ride" (Andante larghetto) and choir "His yoke is easy" (Allegro) 333 -- 2.8.3.7 Series VII: "Glory to God", chorus (Allegro) and "Glory" from the Coronation Anthem HWV 246 "The King Shall Rejoice" 334 -- PART 3: APPENDIX -- 3.1 Bibliography 337 -- 3.1.1 Georg Friedrich Handel's Messiah: main sources 337 -- 3.1.2 Editions of Handel's works 339 -- 3.1.3 Editions of works by other composers 339 -- 3.1.4 General bibliography 340 -- 3.2 Discography 368 -- 3.3 Tables 369 -- Table A: Orchestra size, chronological list 369 -- Table B: Oratorios, orchestral and choir compositions, chronological list of cited examples 377 -- Table C: Rooms, alphabetical list 395 -- Index 403.