The Brangwyn Hall () is a concert venue in
Swansea
Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
. It is named after the artist
Frank Brangwyn, whose ''British Empire Panels'', originally intended for the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, are displayed there.
History
The Brangwyn Hall was designed and built as part of the
Swansea Guildhall
The Guildhall () is one of the main office buildings of the City and County of Swansea Council. The Guildhall complex, which includes the City Hall, Brangwyn Hall (concert hall) and the County Law Courts for Swansea, is a Grade I listed building ...
in 1934 but, before the ''British Empire Panels'' could be installed, the ceiling of the hall had to be raised in order to show them off.
[
The ''British Empire Panels'' are sixteen large paintings by Frank Brangwyn which were commissioned in 1924 for the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords, to commemorate the ]First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Brangwyn had worked as an official war artist
A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...
, and was selected by the sponsor Lord Iveagh
Earl of Iveagh (pronounced —especially in Dublin—or ) is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1919 for the businessman and philanthropist Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, Edward Guinness, 1st Viscount Iveagh. He was ...
, an Irish peer
The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...
. He chose to create a "decorative painting representing various Dominions and parts of the British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
", and five finished panels were displayed in 1930. The work was completed in 1932, but, after some sections of the media argued that the panels were too colourful and spirited, the House of Lords declined them.[
]
Description
The Brangwyn Hall is used for awards ceremonies and social events as well as classical music concerts and rock concerts. Among the ceremonies held at the Brangwyn Hall are the annual Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...
celebrations (for the Chinese community in Swansea). The graduation ceremonies for students graduating from University of Wales Trinity Saint David
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David () is a public university with three main campuses in South West Wales, in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea, a fourth campus in London, and learning centres in Cardiff, and Birmingham.
The university ...
were also held there, before they moved to the newly built Swansea Arena. Swansea University
Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.
It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...
uses Brangwyn Hall as an external examination venue. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales frequently uses this venue when performing in Swansea.
Additionally, the BBC has filmed some scenes from the ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' episodes " Silence in the Library" and " Forest of the Dead", as well as " The Big Bang". The hall was also used as a filming location for the 2019 Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
miniseries '' The Accident''.
The hall has a concert organ, with four manuals, designed by Henry Willis & Sons which was originally built in 1921 for the Elite Picture Theatre, Nottingham.
References
External links
Official Site
*
{{Authority control
Music venues in Swansea
Buildings and structures in Swansea
Mass media and culture in Swansea
Music venues completed in 1934
1934 establishments in Wales