For over two centuries Brighton Dome has played an integral part of Brighton’s cultural history. From cavalry barracks through to a music hall, the Dome has served as a multifunctional venue, and continues to transform to this day.
The Dome was originally used as elaborate stables for royal horses, and was built in 1803, along with what is now the Corn Exchange, on the request of the extravagant King George IV. The King was a regular visitor to Brighton and often lodged in a house in the Old Stein area.
He commissioned the architect William Porden to design the Dome’s elaborate structure; drawing on inspiration from (Jami Masijd’s) artistic works of Indian Mosques.
The Kings passion for the ornate came at a cost of £54,783; a sum that nearly bankrupted him. This did not, however, deter King George from commissioning a second stately building just meters away; the Royal Pavilion.
The two buildings are thought to be linked together via a narrow tunnel running beneath the pavilion gardens, with legend stating that King George intended to use the tunnel as a means to access his secret mistress, Maria Fitzherbert -until its completion, however- at which point the fickle King had grown weary of the furtive rendezvous.
After its completion in 1808 the Dome remained as a royal fixture for forty two years, until Brighton Town purchased it and in 1856, and converted it into Cavalry Barracks. (? what to say)
Phillip Lockwood remodelled the Dome in 1967 into a grand concert hall that could hold a capacity of 2500. The corn exchange was soon to follow, and began to be used as a market place every Thursday. It then turned into a military hospital in 1914, during World War 1, and The Dome itself was used as a major operating theatre. The make-shift hospitals in the three Pavilion buildings housed over 4000 recovering Indian Soldiers. The people of India consequently installed the Indian Gate, located in the Pavillion Gardens, in 1921, as a thank you to the people of Brighton for their benevolence and care.
In September 1943 thousands of Bombs rained down on Brighton, with one landing in the Pavilion Gardens. The Dome remained largely unscathed and during this incident, the aptly named ‘wonder-boy organist’ Douglas Reeve, a Dome Household name, was performing to a concert hall full of people. Upon the bombs explosion, Reeve famously continued to play, unfalteringly.
The Dome was originally used as elaborate stables for royal horses, and was built in 1803, along with what is now the Corn Exchange, on the request of the extravagant King George IV. The King was a regular visitor to Brighton and often lodged in a house in the Old Stein area.
He commissioned the architect William Porden to design the Dome’s elaborate structure; drawing on inspiration from (Jami Masijd’s) artistic works of Indian Mosques.
The Kings passion for the ornate came at a cost of £54,783; a sum that nearly bankrupted him. This did not, however, deter King George from commissioning a second stately building just meters away; the Royal Pavilion.
The two buildings are thought to be linked together via a narrow tunnel running beneath the pavilion gardens, with legend stating that King George intended to use the tunnel as a means to access his secret mistress, Maria Fitzherbert -until its completion, however- at which point the fickle King had grown weary of the furtive rendezvous.
After its completion in 1808 the Dome remained as a royal fixture for forty two years, until Brighton Town purchased it and in 1856, and converted it into Cavalry Barracks. (? what to say)
Phillip Lockwood remodelled the Dome in 1967 into a grand concert hall that could hold a capacity of 2500. The corn exchange was soon to follow, and began to be used as a market place every Thursday. It then turned into a military hospital in 1914, during World War 1, and The Dome itself was used as a major operating theatre. The make-shift hospitals in the three Pavilion buildings housed over 4000 recovering Indian Soldiers. The people of India consequently installed the Indian Gate, located in the Pavillion Gardens, in 1921, as a thank you to the people of Brighton for their benevolence and care.
In September 1943 thousands of Bombs rained down on Brighton, with one landing in the Pavilion Gardens. The Dome remained largely unscathed and during this incident, the aptly named ‘wonder-boy organist’ Douglas Reeve, a Dome Household name, was performing to a concert hall full of people. Upon the bombs explosion, Reeve famously continued to play, unfalteringly.
Douglas was well-known for his BBC Light Programme broadcasts and signature tune, Pack Up Your Troubles. (I have this downloaded) and he made history when entered into the Guinness Book of World Records, for achieving the longest seaside variety show in the world.
The Organ has been a fixture of the Dome ever since its reconstruction in 1856, and has played a key part in the development of its cultural Heritage. The original 4 manual Father Willis Organ was the feature of a suffragette plot to boycott prime minister, Herbert Asquith’s speech, in 1910. Mary Leigh and Eva Bourne were consequently arrested when they hid between the pipes of the Organ and tried to shout ‘Votes For Women.’ In 1936 a tailor-made Hill, Norman & Beard dual-purpose concert organ was installed in Brighton Dome to replace the original 1850 model. The organ is still in use today and, in memory of Reeve’s Tuesday performances, Organists such as Michael Wooldridge (man we have performing in footage) conduct monthly Tuesday afternoon recitals for the public.
The architecture that can be seen today in the Dome is reminiscent of the Art Deco era of the 30’s, during which the interior of the concert hall was sculpted into smooth circular curves and symmetrical shapes. Due to this reconstruction little of what made up the stables remains today.
1803 - 1808:The Dome was built for Prince (later King) George IV as stables, along with the Pavillion (his home) and asecret tunnel, rumoured to be for him and his mistress.
1850: BD bought by Brighton Town
1856-1864: BD is used as Cavalry Barracks
1867: Rebuilt into a Concert Hall
1910: Suffragettes attempt to boycott the Prime Ministers speech by hiding in the Domes organ.
1914-1916: 4000 Indian soldiers are treated when BD is turned into a Hospital during the war.
1921: Indian gate built as a thank-you
1934-1935: The re-modified concert hall is completed. Tea dances are held.
1934: The organ is rebuilt
1943: BD hit by a bomb but doesn't explode. Douglas Reeve plays the organ throughout air raids.
1944: More tea dances
1960: Pink Floyd play in BD
1969: David Bowie is banned due to his fans damaging the interior of the Dome
1972: "Dark side of moon" premiered by Pink Floyd.
1974: Abba win the euro-vision song contest at BD
I like this, though we also had a meeting to go over what is being said. We discussed how much the project should be posed, whether we should be more story-like or factual. On the end we decided that facts should precede, as this is a factual piece. We are recording the voice over on monday. I dont know how to use any of the equipment, so this is going to be a learning day. I had some feedback on the some of the wording in the piece above (for instance, some of the ways the paragraphs start is quite unclear) I think that louise found this useful, as it's easy to get stuck into a piece and not read it as someone else. I also think it's good we're nearing an end, as our group are getting very tired.
Music
Music
I have also been searching for music which is uncopyrighted online. There is a lot of music on sites such as Jamendo.com. After discussing with the group over what would be a good type of music we decided a light classical background would be good. This is in line with other heritage videos we have found online. I have been searching for this. Here are a few examples:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/33672/john-babbage-millennium-bug
This is by John Babbage. Its a classical piece, which struck me as good because it has different phases- clam, and then faster, and more interesting, before returning to quiet. I don't think the background should just be boring music you barely notice, it should move the story and narration on.
I also like this one (possibly more) for this reason:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/19630/conquest-of-the-west-conqute-de-l-ouest
I was thinking that this second one could be narrating the changing of times between the old and the new, when the dome began to change. It gets a bit excited at the end, so we would only use the start, but I do think this could feature.
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/556534/snowing
This one is also interesting. It's quite calm, but has some relaxing series of chords which speed up, and I can imagine looking good over some tracks and timelines.
This is by John Babbage. Its a classical piece, which struck me as good because it has different phases- clam, and then faster, and more interesting, before returning to quiet. I don't think the background should just be boring music you barely notice, it should move the story and narration on.
I also like this one (possibly more) for this reason:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/19630/conquest-of-the-west-conqute-de-l-ouest
I was thinking that this second one could be narrating the changing of times between the old and the new, when the dome began to change. It gets a bit excited at the end, so we would only use the start, but I do think this could feature.
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/556534/snowing
This one is also interesting. It's quite calm, but has some relaxing series of chords which speed up, and I can imagine looking good over some tracks and timelines.
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