Berlioz in London
St Paul’s Cathedral
The present building, which is the one Berlioz knew, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built between 1675 and 1710, replacing Old St Paul’s, which had been completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Old St Paul’s itself was a replacement of the first St Paul’s, which had been built in 604 and burned down in 1087.
It was only during his second visit to London, in 1851, that Berlioz discovered St Paul’s. By chance he attended a Charity Children annual performance here given by a chorus of 6500 children; the overwhelming impact of this occasion inspired him to include a part for children’s voices in his Te Deum, which he had written earlier, in 1848-9.
He wrote an article about his experience of the event for the Journal des Débats which appeared on 20 June 1851. In a letter to his sister Adèle from around that time, he asked her to read the article (Correspondance générale no. 1417, hereafter abbreviated to CG):
I relate there the extraordinary ceremony I witnessed in St Paul’s cathedral and the prodigious impact of a chorus of six thousand five hundred children I heard. I have never seen or heard anything as moving in its immense grandeur than this gathering of poor children singing, arranged in a colossal amphitheatre.
On 21st June 1851 he also wrote to his friend Joseph D’Ortigue, again recommending him to read the article (CG no. 1419):
I relate there the incomparable experience I had recently in St Paul’s Cathedral on hearing a chorus of six thousand five hundred children from the charity schools, who assemble there every year. It is without comparison the most imposing, the most Babylonian ceremony I have ever witnessed to this day. I am still moved as I write to you. Here is the realisation of part of my musical dreams, and the proof that the power of musical masses is still completely unknown.
He later incorporated the Débats article in his Les Soirées de l’Orchestre (21st evening).
In our times, St Paul’s Cathedral has witnessed a number of performances of Berlioz’s Requiem conducted by Sir Colin Davis, the most recent of which took place on 12 July 2001. (See two reviews of this performance by Gene Halaburt and Michel Austin in our Reviews of live performances page.)
All the modern photos reproduced on this page were taken by
Michel Austin; other pictures have been scanned from engravings, prints, books
and memorabilia in our own collection. © Monir Tayeb and Michel Austin.
All rights of reproduction reserved.
St Paul’s in the 18th century
A copy of the above engraving is in the Museum of London.
St Paul’s in the 19th century
The Charity Children performance in 1843
The above engraving is by G. R. Roberts.
Interior of St Paul’s c. 1809
An aerial view of London in the 19th century
The original copy of the above painting is in the Museum of
London.
This Victorian print dates from 1825 -1840;
it was drawn by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd and engraved by J. Tingle.
This bookmark is dated c. 1900
This fine print is a reproduction of the original by R. Standish Sweeney.
© 2002-2008 (unless otherwise stated) Michel Austin and Monir Tayeb for all the pictures and information on this page.
Copyright notice: The texts, photos, images and musical scores on all pages of this site are covered by UK Law and International Law. All rights of publication or reproduction of this material in any form, including Web page use, are reserved. Their use without our explicit permission is illegal.
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