The Usher Hall

Andrew Usher (1826-1898)

The Usher Hall was gifted to the city of Edinburgh by Andrew Usher.

Andrew is reported to have gone to James Aitchison, a Jeweller and Town Councillor who had a shop in Princess Street and said "I have so much money that I do not know what to do with it", whereupon Aitchison replied "I never thought I would live to see the day when anyone would come into my shop and tell me that". This was the beginning of the idea of the Usher Hall and in 1896, Andrew Usher gifted a sum of £100,000 to the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the City of Edinburgh, for the purpose of providing a City Hall. Indeed it is interesting to note that the cheque for the Usher Hall was written in James Aitchison's shop.

Andrew stated that, although the Town Council might use or allow the Hall to be used for civic functions, his desire and intention was that it should become, and remain a centre of attraction to musical artists and performers, and to the citizens of Edinburgh and others who might desire to hear good music, instrumental and vocal; and that the adjuncts might promote and extend the cultivation of, and taste for, music, not only in Edinburgh but througout the country.
 

Many difficulties were encountered in seeking a suitable site for the Hall, and before these were overcome Andrew died. Eventually the Town Council, on the motion of Lord Provost Sir William S. Brown, decided upon the site where the Hall has now been erected. After the site was fixed, no time was lost in obtaining competitive plans. Architects were invited to send in plans for a hall to cost £65,000, such sum to cover all sculptural or architectural embellishments, heating, lighting, ventilation, hoists, and sanitary and fire appliances, but not decorative painting or furnishing. Architects were recommended to make the exterior dignified and simple in treatment and to design a hall of such dimensions as to seat in the auditorium 3,000 persons, with a platform to accommodate other 500. Premiums were offered: (1) £250, (2) £150, and (3) £100. No fewer than 133 sets of plans were sent in for competition; these were exhibited in the hall of the New Corn Market, Gorgie, and the decision regarding them was given by Sir Aston Webb on the 22nd July 1910. The successful competitors were Messrs Stockdale Harrison & Sons and Howard H. Thomson, F.R.I.B.A., Leicester.
 

On 19th July 1911, when King George and Queen Mary paid their first State visit to Edinburgh after their Coronation, their Majesties, in the presence of the members of the Town Council and a large gathering of representative citizens, laid two memorial stones, which, with their inscriptions are to be seen set on each side of the Cambridge Street entrance. There was presented to Her Majesty, from the Corporation, a pendant ornament in the form of a thistle, set with diamonds and emeralds in platinum, and from Dean of Guild Carter an ivory mallet, the handle of which was surmounted by an Imperial Crown in which was set a cairngorm—the mallet having upon it the Arms of the City raised in gold. A memorial trowel and mallet were presented to His Majesty by the architects and builders respectively. On 6th March 1914, the Usher Hall was opened by Andrew’s widow, Marion Blackwood Usher.
 

Entering by the doorway of the grand circle - the central of the three - one finds oneself in a ticket hall, with massive piers and pilasters of Sienna (golden-tinted) marble, with moulded and gilded plaster ceiling. On the inner side of this pillared entrance hall, and facing the doorway, is the memorial to Andrew Usher - a bronze bust of the donor set in a classic marble frame, the whole the work of H. S. Gamley, sculptor.

Today, after the completion of the first phase of refurbishment costing £9m, the Usher Hall is the City of Edinburgh's premier Concert Hall providing a home to both the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the award winning Scottish Chamber Orchestra. After the refurmishments completion the hall was re-opened with a charity concert given by José Carreras in aid of leukaemia research.

For the Edinburgh Festival 2002, Festival organisers made a special attempt to reach more people with the classical music programme, organising a series of late-night concerts for £5. A development that the hall's founder, the famous Andrew Usher would surely have approved of.

A second refurbishment stage is currently being planned and plans were presented in May 2002. Edinburgh News
 

© Mark Usher 28 Dec 2003