The musical life of the Crystal Palace

by Michael Musgrave

Though it was never designed to accommodate musical performance, the Crystal Palace at Sydenham (which was opened in 1854 and was an enlarged rebuilding of the famous glass and iron structure first erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851) quickly established itself as the most important single location for public music-making in the United Kingdom. For almost fifty years the orchestral concerts conducted by August Manns provided weekly performances which set new standards and introduced a range of new repertory (not least British) unparalleled anywhere in its time. The giant choral festivals offered performers and listeners a musical experience of an entirely new kind, as well as opening up the choral literature (especially of Handel) to vast new audiences. Numerous other activities served a range of musical, social and educational functions well into the twentieth century, which the unique physical context of the Palace itself often helped to shape. Since its spectacular