Construction The construction of the hall was funded by
Andrew Usher, a
whisky distiller and blender, who donated £100,000 to the city specifically to fund a new concert hall. The choice of site caused early delays but in 1910 an architectural competition was announced with the requirement that the hall be simple but dignified. The winning bid (one of 130 entries) came from
Stockdale Harrison & Howard H Thomson of
Leicester. The design was partly a backlash against
Victorian Gothic, with a return to classical features owing much to the
Beaux-Arts style. On 19 July 1911,
George V and
Queen Mary laid two memorial stones, an event attended by over a thousand people. Its curved walls, unusual for the time, were made possible by developments in
reinforced concrete. The dome was designed to reflect the curvature of the walls, not to give a domed interior (which would have been acoustically disastrous). The interior of the hall is adorned with decorative plaster panels by the Edinburgh sculptor
Harry Gamley. The figures depicted in these panels show figures from the world of music, as well as famous Scots. These include:
Sir Walter Scott,
Robert Burns,
Allan Ramsay,
R L Stevenson,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
George Frideric Handel,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Johannes Brahms,
Edvard Grieg and
Anton Rubinstein. Harry Gamley's work also features on the outside of the building with two large figures representing Inspiration and Achievement, as well as another three figures by Crossland McClure depicting
the Soul of Music,
Music of the Sea and
Music of the Woods.
Opening The finished building was officially opened on 16 March 1914 with a concert featuring music by
Handel,
Bach,
Wagner,
Beethoven and the
Scottish composer
Hamish MacCunn. The final cost of building the Usher Hall was £134,000. Andrew Usher died before building work was started.
Social history The Usher Hall has been used for a variety of events, including politics, religion, charity fundraisers and sport, as well as music. In 1914 Prime Minister
H. H. Asquith gave a speech entitled
the War, using the occasion to recruit from the all-male audience. At various times the musical and the political overlapped, on occasions such as fundraising concerts for the Republican movement in
Spain in the 1930s and sexcentenary celebrations of the foundation of the City of Edinburgh in 1929. The end to political rallies in the Usher Hall came after a serious incident in 1934, when Sir
Oswald Mosley came to speak. Between five and six thousand people protested outside, and several people were injured. In 1986 the
Commonwealth Games came to Edinburgh with the Usher Hall providing the venue for the boxing tournament. The extensive basement rooms of the Usher Hall made the building ideal for use as an
air-raid shelter and the venue was equipped for use during the
Second World War. However, there are no records of it being used as such, but painted signs on internal doors, such as "No Dogs" indicate that preparations were made.
Musical history The Scottish premiere of
Edward Elgar's 2nd Symphony was presented in Usher Hall on 9 February 1920 along with arias performed by tenor
Vladimir Rosing. As a platform for international classical musicians, the hall hosted the
Vienna Philharmonic, under
Bruno Walter, at the first festival in 1947. It is also the Edinburgh home of the
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, who play regularly during their season. The
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Fiddle Orchestra,
National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and local organisations, such as the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union and the Kevock Choir, also regularly appear. In March 1972, the
Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Hall and compèred by
Moira Shearer. It was also the venue of
Eurovision Young Musicians in August 2018.
Organ A major feature of the Usher Hall is the organ. It was built in 1913 by
Norman & Beard of
Norwich at a cost of around £4000, and was designed to be the focal point of the Hall, both visually and musically. The significance of the organ to the Usher Hall is demonstrated by the existence of the Usher Hall Organ Trust, who helped raise funds to restore the organ. It had fallen into disuse due to poor reliability caused by a lack of adequate moisture and temperature control, leading to it not being played for several years. The restoration work was carried out by Harrison and Harrison of Durham, and took three years to complete, with the organ being reinstalled in 2002. The organ was re-inaugurated on 7 June 2003 in a celebratory concert recital by
Gillian Weir. ==Present day==