Kingsway Hall
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The Kingsway Hall in Holborn, London, was the base of the West London Mission (WLM) of the Methodist Church, and eventually became one of the most important recording venues for
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
and
film music A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
. It was built in 1912 and demolished in 1998. Among the prominent Methodists associated with the Kingsway Hall was Donald Soper, who was Superintendent Minister at the West London Mission from 1936 until his retirement in 1978.


Overview

Kingsway Hall took its name from the street on to which its main entrance opened. The address was West London Mission, 75 Kingsway, London . In 1899, the
London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...
(LCC) was given the power to proceed with major
slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
in the area between Holborn and the Strand. The Methodist Church had operated its West London Mission since 1887 occupying a number of rented buildings in Piccadilly, St James' Hall and Princes Hall, and the Strand, Exeter Hall. These venues were steadily reclaimed as sites for new hotels, so eventually, in 1906, the church found a more permanent home for the Mission at 67 Great Queen Street, where there was a chapel. There had been a chapel there since at least 1709 but the Methodists moved in in 1789 and from time to time refurbished and expanded it. In April 1907 this chapel was renamed as Kingsway Hall, but the building was condemned by the LCC as part of the clearance. It was then decided to join the development taking place on the new Kingsway road and build a new Mission including a spacious chapel. An idea of the nature of the area around Great Queen Street and Holborn just before the new Kingsway was built can be found in the book ''Old time Aldwych, the Kingsway and Neighbourhood'' by Charles Gordon, published in 1903 by T Fisher Unwin. A new seven-storey building called Wesley House was home to the West London Mission from 1911 until 1972, when it merged with the Hinde Street Methodist Chapel (a merger not completed until 1982). Wesley House included a youth club, religious meeting rooms, a luncheon club, mission offices, and accommodation for resident staff. Adjacent to Wesley House, and with a frontage on to Kingsway, the Church also speculated by building the International Buildings, which was let to many tenants and was a source of much needed revenue to run the mission. The mission was inaugurated at Wesley House on 6 December 1911, but Kingsway Hall, the chapel attached to Wesley House, required another year of construction. Although Kingsway Hall itself has been demolished, Wesley House remains today, no longer a mission, as do the International Buildings. Foundation stones for Kingsway Hall were laid 24 April 1912 and the hall was completed with a ceremony on 6 December 1912. The hall included a raked floor with over 2,000 seats. The organ, built in 1912 by J. J. Binns of Leeds, was inaugurated 4 April 1913 with half its cost of £1,500 being contributed by American steel magnate
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
. A fourth manual was added in 1924 by Messrs. Hill & Son and Norman & Beard, along with chimes and timpani. Gatty Sellars, the hall's organist at the time, gave the inaugural performance on the new organ. The organ was rebuilt in 1932 and remained in use until the closure of the hall. The Nigerian composer Fela Sowande was the
organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
of the hall from 1945. As soon as electrical recording began in the Hall, among the first recordings were those of the solo organ; some of these have been issued on CD by Amphion Records of Malton in Yorkshire. Donald Soper (the well-known pacifist, later to become Baron Soper), became the Methodist minister of Kingsway Hall in 1936. When German air raids on London started in 1940, Soper opened a "rest and feeding centre" in Kingsway Hall's basement (not far from Holborn underground station). Here, the victims of the bombing could find refuge, and Soper and his family also lived there for a time. Until the end of 1944, Kingsway Hall ran a breakfast canteen. In one 6-month period alone, 26,232 breakfasts were served (and 34,178 cups of tea). At the request of the Ministry of Food, from 1942 Soper also organised the distribution of surplus vegetables from Covent Garden Market to the needy. The Hall was used for public meetings as well as church services etc. One such meeting was held by the Free French on 18 June 1940 at which General Charles De Gaulle addressed them to encourage resistance to the very recent German invasion. On this same day,
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
addressed the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
, giving his famous " Finest Hour" speech, in which he refers to the recently lost
Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
and the forthcoming
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. The speech was recorded at Abbey Road studios. After the war, Kingsway Hall became an active venue for concerts and recording sessions, and was regarded as one of the best recording locations in the world. Its use for concerts and recordings continued until 1983 when it was acquired by the
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
(GLC) and closed. At the end of March 1983, the GLC purchased Wesley House and Kingsway Hall for the women's committee. Kingsway Hall was rapidly deteriorating, and an archaeological survey in August 1996 found that nothing significant about it was still present. Despite pleas from some musicians and record magazines, Kingsway was demolished in 1998 to make way for a hotel of the same name, which opened in 2000. The hotel's reception desk is in the approximate location where orchestra members once recorded.


Recording at Kingsway Hall 1925–1984

Kingsway was built for evangelistic purposes, as a place of worship, not as a concert or recording hall. However, it was considered to have the finest acoustics in London for recording orchestral and choral repertory. The acoustics resulted more by accident than through conscious design. The size and shape of the space as well as the plastered walls and wooden floor all contributed, as did the large storage chamber below the hall. Musicians were enthusiastic about performing there since the hall allowed them to hear their own playing very well. At the same time, they found other aspects of the hall difficult since nearby parking was scarce, it was cold in the winter, was dingy and dirty, and lacked food services. For recording engineers, there was also continual rumbling from the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
line interrupting recordings. Directly below Great Queen Street is the main line of the Underground
Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a Deep level underground, deep-level London Underground line running between the west and the north of London. It has two western branches which split at Acton Town tube station, Acton Town and serves 53 stations. The li ...
, which opened on 15 December 1906, and under Kingsway was a branch, the rail extension from Holborn to
Aldwych Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the List of areas of London, area immediately surrounding it, in the City of Westminster, part of Greater London, and is part of the West End of London, West End West End Theatre, Theatreland. T ...
which opened 13 November 1907, and closed in 1994. The sound of the underground could be heard on many recordings, and became known as the "Kingsway rumble". There were also recording problems created by road and construction noise, and even occasional interruptions from the clientele of the mission itself. Engineers complained that takes made with outside traffic noise could not be edited together with those made while traffic stopped for a red light. Despite the drawbacks, Kingsway became the most sought-after recording venue for orchestral music in England because of its central location and excellent acoustics, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, when companies were converting from monaural to stereophonic recordings. The
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
alone made 421 recordings there between 1926 and 1983; the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
made 280 recordings there, including its very first sessions (with
Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
conducting choral favourites). The hall had sufficient space for choral and even operatic recordings, and the availability of the organ offered still another benefit. Since the stage itself was not large enough for an orchestra or chorus, the metal ground floor seating was removed for recordings. The conductor often faced the horseshoe balcony, giving that individual an unusual prospect of looking at the orchestra rising rapidly away from him due to the five percent raked floor that sloped down towards him and the stage behind. Cellists much preferred to have the seating this way around so that they played "downhill" rather than up.
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
began recording at Kingsway Hall on 3 November 1925 using electrical equipment obtained from the American
Western Electric Western Electric Co., Inc. was an American electrical engineering and manufacturing company that operated from 1869 to 1996. A subsidiary of the AT&T Corporation for most of its lifespan, Western Electric was the primary manufacturer, supplier, ...
company, to whom they paid a royalty on each disc sold for the patents involved, and continued making regular use of it even after the construction of its own recording complex at
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...
in 1931. From about 1933,
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
used its own equipment designed by their engineer
Alan Blumlein Alan Dower Blumlein (; 29 June 1903 – 7 June 1942) was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereophonic sound, television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considere ...
, who successfully circumvented the Western Electric patents and thus avoided their substantial royalty costs. At this time, he also developed and patented a
stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...
disc recording method which was eventually adopted for the LP standard set in 1958.
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
only began using the hall in May 1944, introducing their famous FFRR recording system developed during war work, but it would become one of the three most-used Decca recording locations (the others being Victoria Hall in
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, and the Sofiensaal in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
). The Anthony Collins Sibelius cycle was recorded there between 1952 and 1955.Sibelius Symphonies & Tone Poems – Anthony Collins
, ''ClassicalSource'' Lyrita used Kingsway from 1965 to 1980 (these recordings were actually produced by Decca's recording team), as did
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
from 1957 to 1977. Although primarily used for classical music recording, very occasionally dance bands and the like were recorded there, including Sydney Lipton in the thirties, and Ted Heath in the summer of 1958 and again in 1963.
Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 30 March 1980) was an Italian British conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book '' British Hit Singles & Albums'' ...
made a number of recordings at Kingsway, including a carol concert album in 1953, and a ''Kismet'' album for Decca's Phase Four label released in 1964. EMI rarely used the venue for chamber music, but Decca recorded solo keyboard, violin sonatas and string quartets. EMI and Decca had opportunities to purchase Kingsway Hall, which they did not pursue. EMI determined that although the facility was one of the best recording locations in the world, refurbishment would be too expensive. Decca's and EMI's recording contracts at Kingsway expired 31 December 1983. The final recording, with the
Philharmonia The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, ...
Orchestra conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli, was made with
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
a few days later:
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
's '' Manon Lescaut'', which finished taping on 5 January 1984.


Kingsway Hall, 1912–2012: A Centenary Tribute

At 3.30 in the afternoon of Friday, 6 December 1912, the
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
, Colonel Sir David Burnett, presided over the opening ceremony of a new Methodist Church Hall. Although this was an event that took place in
central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...
, the opening was reported in the national press, including the ''
Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'', ''
The Morning Post ''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''. History The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning ...
'' and ''Daily News and Leader''. '' The Daily Graphic'' of 5 December, as well as several provincial newspapers, published photographs of the new Hall. That Church Hall was Kingsway Hall, well known to record collectors worldwide for the qualities of its acoustic, and it was built to replace a previous Kingsway Hall based in a chapel round the corner at 67 Great Queen Street. A chapel had existed at the site since at least 1709. However, regular recording did not begin in the Hall until January 1926, a year of economic depression and the
General Strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...
, when
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
signed an exclusive contract with the church authorities. That one-year agreement, the first of many, allowed for 130 sessions for a fee of £1,000. At this time,
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
also had exclusive recording access to the Queen's and
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
s. The reason for this initiative was the coming to maturity of electrical recording technology that allowed recordings to be made in the natural acoustics of the concert hall, free of the constraints of acoustic recording and its intrusive sound gathering horns. At first, the new technology allowed the disc recording machines to be located in other buildings in London (Queen's Hall and other
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
premises), the microphones being connected to them using
Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
telephone lines. Soon, however, disc-cutting machines were installed in the Hall itself using rooms beneath the stage. In the years between 1912 and 1926, including those of the
Great 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 ...
, the Hall was also used for concerts conducted by the likes of Beecham and Boult, with the young John Barbirolli among the cellists, its fine acoustic having been discovered early in its life. The Hall's active life spanned the age of the acoustic
cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...
to the coming of the
Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...
. It remained a venue for public meetings and exhibitions, for example, a model railway engineering exhibition in 1928. The Hall itself was only part of the complex of buildings that the church had built to re-house its evangelical West London Mission, which was launched in October 1887; its partner was Wesley Hall, where the philanthropic work of the Mission was carried out. Whilst the element of the Mission that was Kingsway Hall was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for the present Kingsway Hall Hotel in Great Queen Street, Wesley Hall still stands but is now used mainly for office accommodation with an entrance in a side street. The main entrance to Kingsway Hall in Kingsway itself is now a sandwich bar. The centenary of the WLM was celebrated at the Methodist Hinde Street premises in 1997, and the artifacts and documents of the exhibition are held at the London Metropolitan Archive. Some items are also held in the Local Studies section of the Holborn branch of the Camden library in the Theobalds Road. During the 1930s the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
built a series of steam locomotives in its Hall class. Number 5933 was built in June 1933 and was called Kingsway Hall. Its first home was
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, before being moved to
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,
Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...
and finally
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, from where it was withdrawn from service in 1965 and scrapped at
Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...
. Whilst the opening of Abbey Road studios in November 1931 reduced the need for Kingsway as a regular venue,
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
, now a part of the newly formed EMI, retained it under exclusive contract but available to all other EMI partner labels, including Columbia. EMI were to retain this guarded access to a prized acoustic until the Hall was acquired by the Greater London Council in 1983, after which all recording activity ceased, the final contract expiring on 31 December that year. Exclusivity was maintained throughout the whole time between 1926 and 1983 and shared between EMI, and all its affiliated labels, and Decca, and its affiliates, who joined the agreement in 1944. Whilst both EMI and Decca used the Hall for sessions sponsored by other labels such as Lyrita, the recording teams were always those of EMI or Decca. However, occasionally, when they were not using the Hall themselves, Decca and EMI agreed to allow access to small labels using their own equipment and technicians, even loaning microphones on occasion. Such was the rare case with Bartok Records, established by Peter Bartok, the composer's son, who made a number of recordings of his father's works in 1950 (or 1951, the dates are not verified) and again in 1953. The New Symphony Orchestra was used, a pick up band organised by Jack Simmons, and for some items it was conducted by Walter Susskind. These rare recordings are available on CD. The last recordings made at Kingsway were by
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
, a partner of
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
and Decca in
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since 1979, of ''Manon Lescaut'', Sinopoli conducting the Philharmonia, recorded between 28 December 1983 and 5 January 1984. Of all the orchestras to have recorded at Kingsway, the Philharmonia/New Philharmonia spent more days there than any other. Decca's last recording was Beethoven's String Quartet Opus 130 and Große Fuge, Op. 133, with the Fitzwilliam Quartet on 10–12 December 1983. EMI's last recording appears to have been Tennstedt's Mahler 6 with the LPO in May 1983. Whilst the vast majority of recordings at Kingsway were of London or British orchestras (e.g. the Halle under
John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 ...
,
City of Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
under Fremaux), very rare visitors to Kingsway for recording included the
Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...
. The VPO appeared once only, on 4 October 1949, for a recording of Mahler's ''Kindertotenlieder'' with
Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a Germany, German-born Conducting, conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French people, French cit ...
and
Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the class ...
for Columbia. This recording was made after a performance in London and after some contractual wrangling between Decca (who owned Ferrier's contract) on the one hand and EMI/
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
(who owned that of the VPO) and EMI/Columbia (who owned Walter's) on the other. It is available on Naxos Historical 8.110 876 as well as REGIS RRC1153 and EMI 678 722 2. In the aftermath of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Decca needed artists and so invited a number of continental orchestras to record in London, usually while they were on tour. Among these were the Turin Symphony Orchestra under Frede and Rossi, the Paris Conservatoire under Charles Munch (both in 1947) and the Hamburg Radio Symphony Orchestra under
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (5 May 190028 May 1973) was a German conductor and composer. After studying at several music academies, he worked in German opera houses between 1923 and 1945, first as a répétiteur and then in increasingly senior condu ...
. Later, the Israel Philharmonic under Mehta also recorded whilst passing through London on tour in both 1968 (Dvorak and Tchaikovsky) and 1975 (Bartok).
James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...
recorded with the Zagreb Soloists for RCA in 1975. Infrequent visiting conductors were Krauss, Celibidache, Kleiber Snr, Furtwangler, Knapperstsbusch, Weingartner, Szell, Dorati, Leinsdorf and Bohm. Although Kingsway Hall is no more, its legacy of many great recordings made over 57 years covers every genre of classical music from organ music, string quartets, solo piano, opera and choral works and film scores to full-scale orchestral symphonies. These recordings can be explored by browsing the several discographies compiled by Philip Stuart for a number of London Orchestras (LPO, LSO, ASMF and ECO) and by Stephen Pettit for the Philharmonia (up to only 1987). It even included Christmas carol recordings by the oddly named Butlin Choral Society. It was also very rarely a location for recorded jazz concerts ( Ted Heath 1958 and 1963) and even
Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 30 March 1980) was an Italian British conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book '' British Hit Singles & Albums'' ...
. Its acoustic added something unique to all these genres. Its demise was brought about by a combination of events but also by factors which related to its location and the fate of the recording industry. Rumbles from the Piccadilly line plagued its whole life, as did extraneous noise from traffic and aircraft, neighbouring buildings and from the inhabitants of the Wesley Hall Mission next door. There were always complaints about the maintenance of the building, especially when it was owned by the church, whose funds were much diminished after World War II. Indeed, the roof collapsed in early September 1969 and put the Hall out of action whilst repairs were made, and imminent sessions for the ASMF Vivaldi Four Seasons were hastily moved to
St John's, Smith Square Smith Square Hall (formerly St John's Smith Square) is a concert hall in the centre of Smith Square, City of Westminster, Westminster, London. Its name was changed by its current operator, Sinfonia Smith Square, in 2024. Originally a church, ...
. The Church sold the whole Mission building to British Land in 1972, but this did not improve matters. After a number of attempts at justifying acquiring it, neither Decca nor EMI could envisage the building being a major recording centre, and so in 1983 it fell into the hands of the GLC, bringing its recording career to an end. In March 1986, the GLC was abolished and the Hall put up for sale once again. In October 1987, a centenary exhibition was held at the Mission's then home at Hinde Street, near
Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...
, and a history published, authored by Professor Philip Bagwell. Many of the exhibits and artifacts are now kept at the
London Metropolitan Archives The London Archives (previously known as the Greater London Record Office 1965–1997, and London Metropolitan Archives 1997–2024) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London ...
in London. By this time Kingsway Hall had been out of regular use for some time and was in a poor state of repair. It would seem that there were no takers, and so it was gutted and remained derelict until 1996, when planning permission for its demolition and replacement by a hotel was requested. ''Gramophone'' magazine and the
Chamber Orchestra of Europe The Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE), established in 1981, is an orchestra based in London. The orchestra comprises about 60 members from across Europe. The players pursue parallel careers as international soloists, members of chamber groups and ...
were among the very few to object, and archeological excavations were conducted by the
Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...
, following which no widespread opposition was raised to the granting of the demolition order,
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
being unable to justify preservation. Kingsway Hall was demolished in 1998, and the hotel opened in 2000. Fate seemed to dog the Mission's home; its previous two meeting Halls, St James' in Piccadilly, and
Exeter Hall Exeter Hall was a large public meeting place on the north side of the Strand in central London, opposite where the Savoy Hotel now stands. From 1831 until 1907 Exeter Hall was the venue for many great gatherings of activists for various cause ...
in the Strand, had also been demolished to make way for hotels. One Hall that was used by the WLM whilst Kingsway Hall was being built was the "new" St James, or
Philharmonic An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...
, Hall in Great Portland Street. The building survives today, but now as a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
office block called Brock House.


Events at Kingsway Hall

*August 1913 –
Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...
delivers speech at
Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...
meeting condemning doctors' force feeding of women caught under the Cat and Mouse Act *16 October 1920 – The first of the British Symphony Orchestra's "super-concerts" promoted by Thomas Quinlan: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 and Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 conducted by
Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...
. Possibly the first time orchestral music had been heard in the hall *In February and March 1926 several recordings of the Hall's organ were made by a number of the leading organists of the day. Some of these recordings have been transferred from 78 to CD by Amphion Records of Malton in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
. *15 September 1926 – First recordings with Albert Coates' "The Symphony Orchestra" (this orchestra composed of London Symphony Orchestra players billed differently for contractual purposes).
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's Eroica symphony was among the works recorded with the 9th symphony recorded the following month. These recordings have been transferred and refurbished and are available on CD or for download. *26 February 1927 – Ampico Concert featuring Grieg Concerto roll by Marguerite Volavy (soloist) accompanied by Gatty Sellers at the organ (orchestra) *28 October 1928 – Debate titled "Do We Agree?" over
distributism Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world's productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching princi ...
between
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
and G. K. Chesterton chaired by
Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc ( ; ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a French-English writer, politician, and historian. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. His Catholic fait ...
and broadcast live by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
(audience exceeds hall's capacity) *During March, April and May 1929, Albert Coates and the LSO recorded Bach's B minor Mass with Elisabeth Schumann among the soloists. This recording has been transferred from 78 to CD by the Pearl label, among others. * On 22 October 1929,
Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.
recorded the Brahms Second piano concerto with the 29-year old John Barbirolli conducting the LSO. The recording is available on CD from Naxos Historical. * In early January 1931, Rubinstein and Barbirolli and the LSO recorded the Chopin 2nd piano concerto and
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's No 23. Both recordings have been issued on CD. *4 June 1931 –
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
and
Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of York. Three of the eleven Dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, while two of the Dukes married twice; therefore, th ...
(later King George VI and the Queen Mother), and Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth) attend recording session for
Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's Nursery Suite, with the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (also recorded at Kingsway on 23 May 1931). *19 September 1932 – first
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
sessions with Sir Malcolm Sargent conducting the Royal Choral Society. Sir Thomas Beecham recorded much with the LPO for
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
and Columbia labels during the 1930s but it was not until 13 December 1938 that he recorded with the orchestra at Kingsway Hall with Sessions for Mozart's 36th symphony. Schubert's 5th symphony followed two days later. *26 April 1933 – Virgil Fox's European debut before an audience of 1,100 * December 1933 –
Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...
speech on the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
* 18 June 1940 – General De Gaulle gives a speech to the Free French in London to encourage Resistance to German Occupation * 10 August 1945 – first
Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...
sessions * 27 October 1945 –
Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...
conducts the first concert of the
Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...
(an all Mozart program) * 20 January 1947 – first concert of the London Symphonic Players, Harry Blech conducting * 27 May 1947 – first
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...
sessions * 28 November 1949 –
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
delivers speech championing the
European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History Initially the Euro ...
* 16 April 1951 – first London performance of the Hindemith Horn Concerto with
Dennis Brain Dennis Brain (17 May 19211 September 1957) was a British French horn, horn player. From a musical family – his father and grandfather were horn players – he attended the Royal Academy of Music in London. During the Second World War he served ...
and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by
Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was an English Conductor (music), conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; ...
. * 23 May 1951 –
Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...
's first British recording, of Rimsky-Korsakov's ''Scheherazade'', with the Philharmonia Orchestra for
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
* 22 September 1951 – first UK concert by African American blues singer and guitarist
Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 19 ...
* 1–2 December 1954 – Decca first experimental stereo recording in the hall of
Winifred Atwell Una Winifred Atwell (27 February or 27 April 1910 or 1914There is some uncertainty over her date and year of birth. Many sources suggest 27 February 1914, but there is a strong suggestion that her birthday was 27 April. Most sources give her ye ...
playing
Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...
's Piano Concerto with the London Philharmonic and Stanford Robinson. Their first commercially released stereo recording was made on 14–15 December 1955 with Clifford Curzon on piano, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Adrian Boult playing Franck's Symphonic Variations and Holst's Scherzo from his unfinished symphony H192. * 7 February 1955 –
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
's first stereo recordings made;
Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
's Symphony No. 7, Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Nicolai Malko). * 1956 – EMI records ''Falstaff'' * 21 & 23 March 1961 –
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
records the legendary performance of Brahms German Requiem with the
Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...
conducted by
Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...
, with
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (; 9 December 1915 – 3 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British lyric soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as w ...
and
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (; 28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music. One of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, he is best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's ...
as soloists * 19 January 1969 (sic) – a large section of the main roof collapses and steel girders fall on the seats (fortunately after Sunday services). This date is that given in Bagwell's history of the WLM published in 1987 for the centenary. Unfortunately, Bagwell's information must be incorrect and other evidence at EMI archives and in the Academy of St Martins in the Fields discography points to early September 1969 for the roof fall. In addition, the LSO had sessions in the hall on 20 and 22 January. * 24 June 1980 – Celebration for the life of record producer
John Culshaw John Royds Culshaw, OBE (28 May 192427 April 1980) was a pioneering English classical record producer for Decca Records. He produced a wide range of music, but is best known for masterminding the first studio recording of Wagner's ''Der Ring ...
with Nigel Black, Clifford Curzon, Kenneth Sillito, Neil Black, Alan Civil,
Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...
, Humphrey Burton,
Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (; March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in t ...
,
Huw Wheldon Sir Huw Pyrs Wheldon, (7 May 1916 – 14 March 1986) was a Welsh broadcaster and BBC executive. Early life Huw Pyrs Wheldon was born on 7 May 1916 in Prestatyn, Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, Wales. He was educated at Friars School, Ban ...
, and
Leontyne Price Leontyne Price ( born Mary Violet Leontine Price February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African-American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera. ...
.


References


Bibliography

*Gordon, Charles, 1903, T Fisher Unwin, "Old time Aldwych, the Kingsway and Neighbourhood" *Bagwell, P S, 1987, "Outcast London – The Christian Response", Epworth, London, *Chesterton, G. K. (1989) ''Collected Works'' vol. 11. San Francisco, Ignatius Press. *Dixon, George. "The Albert Hall Organ", ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...
'', 1 September 1924, p. 835 on the Kingsway organ additions. *Drury, Gordon. "A Musical Mission". '' Classic Record Collector'', Spring 2004, pp. 46–53. *Drury, Gordon. "Heyday of Kingsway". ''Classic Record Collector'', Summer 2004, pp. 36–42. *Drury, Gordon. "Kingsway Diminuendo". ''Classic Record Collector'', Autumn 2004, pp. 42–47. *Gray, Michael. (1979) Beecham A Centenary Discography. New York, Holmes & Meier. *Pettitt, Stephen J. (1987) Philharmonia Orchestra Complete Discography. London, John Hunt. *Stuart, Philip (1997) The London Philharmonic Discography. Westport, Conn., Greenwood. *Stuart, Philip (2006
The LSO Discography
*West London Methodist Mission v Holborn Borough Council. Court of Appeals of England (1958) 3 RRC 86 *Peace Pledge Union
Photographs of Kingsway Hall
{{Coord, 51.5159, -0.1201, type:landmark_region:GB-CMD_dim:4km, display=title Former religious buildings and structures in London Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden Former music venues in London Demolished buildings and structures in London Buildings and structures demolished in 1998