BEST IELTS General Reading Test 552

BEST IELTS General Reading Test 552

IELTS General Reading Test

What Makes A Great Concert Hall?

Think of the great concert halls in the world and some famous venues immediately come to mind: Sydney’s iconic Opera House, Carnegie Hall in New York, Germany’s Berlin Philharmonie and Tokyo’s Opera City Concert Hall.  Two features stand out for each venue: the architectural lines which mark out the uniqueness of the structure, and the acoustic brilliance of each building, which elevates the sound to an almost new, ethereal, experience. 

But what makes a great concert hall?  Is it simply a case of selecting the right location, ensuring enough seats and good sightlines, and letting the music loose?  The concert hall is more than that, hosting a variety of performance genres and musical styles, so the acoustic requirements are demanding, and, as a result of years of experience, have now been lifted to a science.

IELTS General Reading Test

However, an interesting point is raised.  If the acoustics – that is, the overall sound, of the concert hall is now a science, how have some of the great concert halls of the world, which are also some of the oldest, such as Vienna’s Musikverein, where Brahms and Mahler conducted, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, managed to capture the magic of sound before the art of acoustics had been moved to a science? 

What secrets did the architects and engineers of old know that enabled them to design and construct buildings that have stood the test of time in delivering the magic of music at such continuing exalted heights?  A simple analysis of some of the fundamental requirements of the delivery of sound reveals that some basic understanding of acoustic requirements has long been evident and has been successfully applied in the oldest, and, indeed, also the newest, and most loved buildings of our time.

IELTS General Reading Test

It appears that over time, as the presentation of music in a formal setting has evolved, the design of the basic ‘shoebox’ shape of an auditorium has been settled on.  Earlier versions of concert halls in the form of traditional amphitheatres and fan-shaped halls suffered from poor acoustics, so, years of ‘trial-and-error’ have seen the concept of the long and narrow hall with, importantly, side sound reflectors, adapted as the best medium to deliver the optimum sound for concert-goers. 

Some of the key elements were recognised early on as to what was required to deliver the best sound, and among those were the need to get rid of unwanted noises, the ability to allow the orchestra to attain dynamics of sound equally, whether at a low or high volume, and to maintain a clear and somewhat equal sound throughout the auditorium.

IELTS General Reading Test

Comparing the sound of an outdoor concert and a concert at an indoor concert hall, it can be recognised that the difference is that the outdoor sound is thin, and directional, and distant, that is, coming straight from the source, which may be some way away, whereas in a concert hall, the sound seems to surround the listener, even for those who are some distance from the source.  Interestingly, after the source of the music has stopped, the sound appears to reverberate so that the listener seems to be totally enveloped by the sound, both spatially and time-wise. 

Inside a concert hall, the two important elements are that sound is divided between direct sound, and reflected sound – direct sound being the primary source which reaches the ear, and reflected sound that bounces off the walls and ceiling.  These two sounds arrive at the listeners’ ears at slightly differing times and slightly different volumes, which add to the concept of being enveloped by the sound, often referred to as ‘surround sound’.

IELTS General Reading Test

Once this concept was realised by the early engineers and architects of concert halls, designs were put in place to enhance these discoveries.  The most important was the discovery of the ‘shoebox’ design, the rectangular, elongated shape which allowed the maximum re-direction of sound through reflectors, often hung from the sides of the concert hall, and now employed to be hung from the ceilings as well.

This ensured the sound waves, known as ‘lateral reflections’, were being directed towards the audience from all angles, enhancing the sound volume and timing, and, thus, quality.  Research and science have continued to more fully realize the extent of sound delivery, looking at the frequencies, both high and low, and the optimum delivery of the sound as intended by the composer and the conductor and orchestra.

IELTS General Reading Test

Some of the great concert halls, both old and new, have incorporated the concepts of sound delivery magnificently.  Austria’s Musikverein has been noted by some as the best concert hall in the world, where the quietest of sounds seem to issue delicately from the stage, while a rising crescendo completely envelops the audience from all directions.  In the United States, Boston’s Symphony Hall based its shoebox design on a traditional German hall, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, but used the then-modern physics from Harvard University to ensure that the sound would be the best possible.

In Sao Paolo, Brazil, in the 1990s, a new venue, the Sala Sao Paolo, was opened that copied proportions from the old; its width the same as Boston’s Symphony Hall, and the length and height identical to Vienna’s Musikverein, but modern technology is also incorporated, with its huge adjustable ceiling.  Tokyo has the Opera City Concert Hall which, again, is based on the traditional rectangular shoebox with its two levels of side-seating, but like Sao Paolo, it has a unique feature, an enormous wood-panelled pyramid-shaped ceiling.

IELTS General Reading Test

Finally, it is worth looking at one concert hall for some salient lessons.  London’s Royal Festival Hall, a 2,900-seater, was completed in 1951, and was designed using the best acoustic science concepts of the day, intending to emulate the sound of the great concert halls.  Unfortunately, it was immediately realised that the sound quality was poor, for varying reasons, with comments such as the sound being ‘too dry’ and different frequencies of sound suffering. 

In the 1960s, an ‘assisted resonance system’ was employed, using the modern electronics of the day, and over the next 30 years, re-modelling was accomplished, including reducing the number of seats by 400, changing the tiling and fabric of the walls and ceiling, and adding acoustic canopies.  Today, with the knowledge of the science of sound, and the gathered wisdom of decades, even centuries, of construction of concert halls, the Royal Festival Hall, home of the London Philharmonic, now stands as a great concert venue, with its own unique sound contributing to the legacy of the magnificent concert halls of the world.

IELTS General Reading Test

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 27 – 32 on your answer sheet write

TRUE – if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE – if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN – if there is no information on this in the passage

27. The main criteria in making a concert hall great are its location, seating and sightlines. 

28. Older concert halls did not have good acoustic features. 

29. The ‘shoebox’ design has the same acoustics as amphitheaters. 

30. Inside a concert hall, the listener receives sound from not only the stage, but from different directions as well. 

31. All concert halls now use reflectors to direct the sound from the walls and from the ceiling. 

32. Research has now determined that high and low frequencies determine the best sound delivery. 

IELTS General Reading Test

The article details various facts about some of the famous concert halls. Match the concert halls (A – F) with the information provided about them.

NB:  Some letters might not be used, and some letters might be used more than once.

Write the appropriate letter (A – F) in boxes 33 – 37  on your answer sheet.

A. Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw

B. Sydney’s Opera House

C. Vienna’s Musikverein

D. London’s Royal Festival Hall

E. Sao Paolo’s Sala Sao Paolo

F. Tokyo’s Opera City Concert Hall

G. Boston’s Symphony Hall

H. Leipzig’s Gewandhaus

IELTS General Reading Test

33. An example of an older-style concert hall that used scientific principles to enhance its sound. 

34. This modern concert hall borrowed design features from multiple great old concert halls. 

35. A concert hall that has seen famous composers leading orchestras. 

36. The claim has been made that this is the finest concert hall in the world. 

37. A concert hall that used electronics to enhance the different sound frequencies. 

IELTS General Reading Test

Choose the appropriate letters A – D.

38. The sound quality of the great concert halls of the world

A. is solely the result of science and technology.

B. has improved with modern discoveries in acoustic research and technology.

C. varies according to design.

D. depends on the architect’s knowledge of sound frequencies.

39. ‘Lateral reflections’

A. are sound waves that come from the ceiling.

B. are received by the listener at the same time as direct waves.

C. are used primarily in the world’s greatest modern concert halls.

D. ensure that sound is directed and received at its highest quality.

IELTS General Reading Test

40. London’s Royal Festival Hall

A. underwent a number of changes over many years to improve the quality of the sound.

B. copied its design from the great traditional concert halls.

C. suffered primarily from poor frequency of sound.

D. had poor quality seating.

IELTS General Reading Test

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IELTS General Reading Test

27. FALSE

28. FALSE

29. FALSE

30. TRUE

31. NOT GIVEN

32. NOT GIVEN

33. G

34. E

35. C

36. C

37. D

38. C

39. D

40. A

IELTS General Reading Test

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