The history of a concert hall
Text: Erik Ahnborg
With many thanks to Lennart Johansson
There were suggestions about the Radio Orchestra being discontinued, or a merger, with the Concert Association's 80-strong orchestra, perhaps even a relocation to Malmö or Gothenburg.
In 1966, the radio director Olof Rydbeck, the music director Karl-Birger Blomdahl, and the company doctor Sven Paulsson approached the then Minister of Communications Olof Palme about the need of a "home" and workplace for the orchestra. Blomdahl stated that the Radio Orchestra made 120 appearances on radio and TV each year with an audience that was equivalent to 25 packed concert halls. The company doctor pointed out that "the orchestra members are not feeling well".
It was not until after further courting with various finance and communications ministers, with various cuts in the local program as a result, that the Royal Highness instructed the Swedish Building Agency to begin the design in December 1971, with architect Bertil Löndahl as project manager.
Illustration by Lisa Bauer of the Berwaldhallen exterior, end of 1970's from SVT's archive.
Berwaldhallen is being built in the late 1970s. Image from SVT's archives.
The planning of Berwaldhallen
Before the planning began, the “Large Music Studio”, as Berwaldhallen was then called, was moved from a planned location at the end of Karlavägen down to Strandvägen. The Österleden, which had previously ended in a tunnel under Oxenstiernsgatan, had then disappeared to the east. The current plot was also expanded with a lane, at the expense of Strandvägen.
The location of Berwaldhallen deep into the mountain was mainly for three reasons – by having two-thirds of the volume underground, much of the sensitive Djurgården nature was saved, the music studio was protected from external noise from an acoustic point of view, and the level of the orchestra podium had direct contact with the Radio House and the TV studios at the far end via a blasted tunnel, which was advantageous from a transport point of view.
The design was completed in early 1974 and the facility was built on three floors – with the main entrance on a mezzanine floor between the “rock foyer” at the bottom and a bright upper foyer. The concert hall was given the hexagonal plan shape partly for acoustic reasons and partly so that the hall would be perceived as more intimate by the audience. Above the concert hall is a technical floor for lighting and the ventilation system. The client was the Swedish National Radio with architect Björn Berntson as project manager. The architects were Erik Ahnborg and Sune Lindström, project manager engineer Anders Grönman.
Berwaldhallen in model and perspective
A good way to illustrate the building was to build models. The exterior model showed that most of the valuable trees could be saved. An interior model gave the impression of an almost round concert hall where everyone in the audience sat quite close to the orchestra.
For a total experience of music, not only a good orchestra and good acoustics are required. It is also important that you can see well from all places, sit well and that everyone has access to well-tempered fresh air. The audience seats were ergonomically designed with wide chairs and a large distance between the rows.
One of the best of that time, Vilhelm Lassen Jordan from Roskilde, acoustician for, among others, the Sydney Opera, was hired as an acoustician. In a barn outside Roskilde, he had models of concert halls from all over the world, including Berwaldhallen. Using a tone generator and microphone, he tested the acoustics from all audience seats. On the floor of this model, Magnus Enhörning and Tage Olhagen from Swedish Radio could try to experience the hall.
In a series of perspectives, Lisa Bauer illustrated the project. It was a matter of convincing all decision-makers that the concert hall was needed. Swedish Radio and big brother Swedish Television had different ideas about how the hall should be used. Radio wanted a radio concert hall, TV wanted a more flexible music TV studio. That conflict was won by music director Magnus Enhörning and curator Allan Stångberg, both of whom fought on the radio’s side.
Boom in the building
In September 1976, we could listen to the sweet music of the first blasts. The following day, "Large Music Studio" was renamed Berwaldhallen.
The blasting was carried out by Skanska. When the facade by the grand staircase was blasted out, the rock suddenly gave way. The rock wanted to disappear under the “resting elephants” at the top. To our delight however, the beautiful Stockholm granite with elements of black dolerite appeared again.
The master builder was Reinhold Gustavsson Byggnads AB, who created beautiful concrete columns by the staircase and a stylish vertical concrete palisade in the exterior, which has been likened to frozen music. In the summer of 1979, the hall was invaded by Italian plasterers, who created the beautiful plaster ceilings in the foyers and the acoustically effective balconies in the hall, which were cast without joints, all in one piece.
Berwaldhallen is completed
Of the entire volume of 48,000 cubic meters, the concert hall itself only takes up a quarter, which means that each person in the audience has access to 10 cubic meters of air, which is an acoustic finesse to achieve a reverberation time of about 2 seconds – hence the large ceiling height in the hall. The podium has an area of about 300 square meters to accommodate a symphony orchestra of 100 musicians, the Radio Choir and the Chamber Choir, as well as TV photographers. Behind the orchestra is the choir gallery, which is rarely used for choir concerts. At the very top under the ceiling, space has been prepared for a concert organ.
The acousticians' request for a hard podium floor was solved with an African wood species, Muninga. The walls in the hall made of light birch have acoustically adjustable panels. The enormous heat capacity of the rock is surprising. The cavity in the granite, like in the subway stations, maintains a constant temperature all year round of about 18 degrees, summer and winter. With the help of heat from the stage lighting and a fiery audience, the temperature remains around 20 degrees.
From a soundproofing point of view, the hall has double concrete walls with a distance of one meter between the walls, which are founded directly on the rock. All fresh air comes noiselessly to each person in the audience under each armchair and the orchestra gets fresh air behind the wall sections around the podium. The used air is vented away without disturbing noise above sound traps in the ceiling. The building cost 58 million kronor in 1979, of which 14 million were for interior design and technical equipment.
The inauguration of Berwaldhallen
At the inauguration on November 30, 1979, the hall was named Berwaldhallen after our great symphonist Franz Berwald, who lived between 1796 and 1868. The program included Berwald's Sinfonie Singuliere; Sven-Erik Bäck's commissioned work Vid Havets Yttersta Gräns and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique – it would sound really good with the orchestra. The conductor was Herbert Blomstedt.
The walls in the foyers have been decorated with Hans Vikstens Musikmagi (Music magic). Carl Eldh has contributed two sculptures depicting Franz Berwald, one in the artist entrance and one outside the entrance. Hertha Hillfon displays the ceramic sculpture Vindens dotter (Daughter of the wind) in the upper foyer. Two months before the inauguration, the hall's acoustics were tested at a concert when acoustician Vilhelm Jordan Lassen fired the obligatory pistol shot to measure the reverberation time.
Berwaldhallen in cross-section. Sketch from SVT's archives 1974.
The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra at the inauguration in 1979. From the SVT archives.