Melbourne Town Hall

Melbourne Town Hall is the central city and town hall, and is a historic building that has been there since 1867, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the local government area of the City of Melbourne. It has been used for multiple purposes such as concerts, theatrical plays and exhibitions.

Melbourne Town Hall
Looking east along Collins Street toward the Melbourne Town Hall
General information
Location	Melbourne, Australia
Construction started	1867
Completed	1887

History

Melbourne Town Hall, 1910

Melbourne was officially incorporated as a town on 13 December 1842, with Henry Condell as its first Mayor. However, it wasn't until 1854 that its first Town Hall was completed. Begun in 1851, the work ground to a halt with the beginning of the Victorian gold rush. The foundation stone of a new, grander Town Hall was laid on 29 November 1867 by the visiting Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, after the demolition of the first.[1][2] The current Town Hall officially opened on 11 August 1870 with a lavish ball, which was personally funded by the Lord Mayor Samuel Amess.[3][4][5]

The foundation stone of the additional front portico was laid in 1887, and Sir Henry Weedon laid the foundation of the administrative annex building on 27 August 1908.[6]

During the Melbourne International Comedy Festival the Melbourne Town Hall acts as venue to a large number of the performances.

In 1925, a fire destroyed a large part of the town hall, including the main auditorium and pipe organ. It was rebuilt and enlarged, extending east over the site previously occupied by the Victoria Coffee Palace, an early temperance hotel frequented by Melbourne's power brokers. The rebuilt section lost some of Reed's original flourishes including the elaborate mansard roof.

In 1964, The Beatles attended a civic reception at the Melbourne Town Hall. "Outside 20,000 teenagers had gathered to obtain a glimpse of the pop idols. Again, frenzied and hysterical cheering and uncontrollable screaming erupted when the Beatles emerged."[7]

Architecture

The Town Hall was designed by the famous local architect Joseph Reed and Barnes, in the Second Empire style. Reed's designs also included the State Library of Victoria, the Royal Exhibition Building, and Melbourne Trades Hall.

The building is topped by Prince Alfred's Tower, named after the Duke. The tower includes a 2.44 m diameter clock, which was started on 31 August 1874, after being presented to the council by the Mayor's son, Vallange Condell. It was built by Smith and Sons of London. The longest of its copper hands measures 1.19 m long, and weighs 8.85 kg.

Organ

The Main Auditorium includes a magnificent concert organ, now comprising 147 ranks and 9,568 pipes. The organ includes a stationary fixed console and a movable console which is connected electronically to the rest of the organ. The Melbourne Town Hall regularly hosts free concerts on the Organ where the likes of Thomas Heywood have performed. ANZCO is a big proponent of this, promoting the organ and organ music amongst younger individuals[8]; having hosted their "All Stops Out" event on this instrument multiple times.

The majority of the pipes in this organ (even in the great) are enclosed allowing for tremendous expression of the instrument. The wind pressure varies from 1" all the way up to 25" for the ophicleide and diaphone stops. The organ also features 3 "floating" divisions (Bombarde, Fanfare & Orchestral) which can be controlled from each of the 4 manuals.[9]

History of the organ

Melbourne Town Hall organ

The organ was originally built by Hill & son (of England) in 1872 before a fire destroyed it in 1925. A new organ constructed by Hill Norman & Beard was installed in 1929 and has since then been rebuilt and enlarged by Schantz Organ Company of the United States of America from 1995-2001 at a cost of $4.5 million.[10]

Console of the Melbourne Town Hall Organ in 2019

Specification

The stop list is as follows:

I. Choir		II. Great		III. Swell		Pedal		IV. Solo		Bombarde
Contra Salicional	16	Double Open Diapason	16	Contra Violone	32	Gravissima	64	Quintaton	16	Grand Diapason	8
Horn Diapason	8	Tibia Profunda	16	Bourdon	16	Double Open Diapason	32	Harmonic Claribel	8	Principal	4
Corno Flute	8	Contra Geigen	16	Violine	16	Tibia Profunda	32	Flute Celeste	8	Grave Mixture	V-VI
Flute Celeste	II	Open Diapason I	8	Diapason Phonon	8	Contra Bourdon Acoustic	32	Violoncello	8	Fourniture	IV-V
Lieblich Gedeckt	8	Open Diapason II	8	Geigen Principal	8	Contra Violone	32	Cello Celeste	8	Grand Chorus	VI-VIII
Salicional	8	Diapason Phonon	8	Flauto Traverso	8	Open Diapason	16	Salicional	8	Contra Posaune	16
Voix Céleste	8	Tibia Plena	8	Cor de Nuit	8	Tibia Profunda	16	Concert Flute Harmonic	4	Posaune	8
Lieblich Flöte	4	Harmonic Flute	8	Bourdon	8	Great Bass	16	Nazard Harmonique	2 2/3	Clarion	4
Gemshorn	4	Hohl Flöte	8	Gamba	8	Bourdon	16	Harmonic Piccolo	2
Echo Viola	4	Rohr Flöte	8	Gamba Celeste	8	Lieblich Bourdon	16	Tierce	1 3/5
Harmonic Piccolo	2	Gamba Major	8	Aeoline	8	Contra Bass	16	Schalmei	16
Dulciana Cornet	III	Octave Diapason	4	Vox Angelica	8	Violone	16	Tuba	8
Tuba Sonora	8	Octave Phonon	4	Principal	4	Geigen	16	French Horn	8
Cor Anglais	8	Principal	4	Harmonic Flute	4	Contra Salicional	16	Corno di Bassetto	8
Closed Horn	8	Tibia Octave	4	Rohr Flute	4	String Bass	16	Clarinet	8
Cremona	8	Wald Flöte	4	Octave Gamba	4	Quint	10 2/3	Orchestral Oboe	8
		Octave Quint	2 2/3	Harmonic Quint	2 2/3	Prestant	8	Fanfare		Orchestral
		Stopped Quint	2 2/3	Piccolo	2	Principal	8	Tuba	16	Contra Viola	16
		Super Octave	2	Salicetina	2	Geigen Principal	8	Sub Trumpet	16	Tibia Clausa	8
		Fifteenth	2	Tierce	1 3/5	Flute Major	8	Tuba Sonora	8	Viol d'Orchestre	II
		Tierce	1 3/5	Chorus Mixture	V	Bass Flute	8	Tuba	8	Orchestral Strings	II
		Grand Fourniture	VI-VII	Grave Mixture	III	Stopped Flute	8	Trumpet Victoria	8	String Celeste	II
		Chorus Mixture	V	Sharp Mixture	III	Lieblich Bourdon	8	Octave Sonora	4	Octave Viola	4
		Mixture	IV	Double Trumpet	16	Violoncello	8	Tuba	4	Orchestral Strings
		Contra Trombone	32	Bassoon	16	Super Octave	4
		Trombone	16	Cornopean	8	Fifteenth	4
		Fagotto	16	Trumpet Victoria	8	Open Flute	4
		Trumpet Victoria	8	Orchestral Trumpet	8	Grand Fourniture	VI
		Tromba	8	Horn	8	Fourniture	IV
		Harmonic Trumpet	8	Oboe	8	Diaphone	32
		Clarion	4	Vox Humana	8	Double Ophicleide	32
				Clairon	4	Contra Fagotto	32
						Tuba	16
						Octave Diaphone	16
						Ophicleide	16
						Posaune	16
						Trombone	16
						Bassoon	16
						Schalmei	16
						Tuba	8
						Trumpet Victoria	8
						Trumpet	8
						Bassoon	8
						Clarion	4

References

https://www.ohta.org.au/organs/organs/MTHHill.html

https://whatson.melbourne.vic.gov.au/whatson/organ/pages/organ.aspx

1. "VISIT OF THE DUKE OF EDINURGH". Hamilton Spectator And Grange District Advertiser (605). Victoria, Australia. 30 November 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 16 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "THE MELBOURNE TOWN-HALL: PAST AND PRESENT". The Australasian. LXXXIX (2, 315). Victoria, Australia. 13 August 1910. p. 36. Retrieved 16 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia., PHOTOGRAPH: THE TOWN-HALL, BUILT 1850-53, PULLED DOWN 1868.
3. "THE GRAND FANCY DRESS BALL GIVEN BY THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL SAMUEL AMESS MAYOR OF MELBOURNE, ON THE OPENING OF THE NEW TOWN HALL, 11th AUGUST, 1870". Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (162). Victoria, Australia. 10 September 1870. p. 161. Retrieved 16 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "DEATH OF ALDERMAN AMESS". The Argus (Melbourne) (16, 224). Victoria, Australia. 4 July 1898. p. 6. Retrieved 16 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "NEW COUNCIL CHAMBER". The Australasian. LXXXIX (2, 315). Victoria, Australia. 13 August 1910. p. 36. Retrieved 16 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Happy birthday to our Town Hall admin building #melbourne", City Of Melbourne on Instagram
7. The Beatles in Melbourne, OnlyMelbourne
8. "Australia". Australian and New Zealand College of Organists. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
9. https://ohta.org.au/organs/organs/MTHS.html
10. "Town Hall Grand Organ". City Collection. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.

https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/grand-organ-specifications.pdf

Tourism

• List of Town Halls in Melbourne
• List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Melbourne

Notes

External links

• Town Hall History on the City of Melbourne official website
• Town Hall in Melbourne