YEARBOOK OF THE ALAMIRE FOUNDATION

50
ERIC RICE
Figure 3. Plan of Aachen’s Marienkirche during
construction of the Gothic choir
(ca. 1355–1414).
The exact acoustical properties of
the old octagonal choir are, of
course, unrecoverable, but thanks
to restoration work on the Gothic
choir in 1998, the interior of the
Marienkirche was temporarily
modified in a way that allows reasonable
approximation. During
the restoration, a large sheetrock
wall was erected to separate the
choir from the Carolingian portion
of the building so that daily
services could continue uninterrupted
in the latter space (see
Figure 4). This temporary wall
rendered the room’s volume nearly
the same as that before the choir
was built, and offered a reflecting
surface similar to that of the
Carolingian church’s east wall,
except that it lacked an apse. With
this wall in place, I recorded a
pistol shot within the octagon and
have graphed the decay of the
sound at all audible frequencies
(see Figure 5). The overall time of decay is not quite three seconds, with the high frequencies
– those at which many consonants occur – decaying at a faster rate, as is
typical. Because of the relatively small volume of the space and large number of
reflecting surfaces (the most effective being the nearly parabolic cupola overhead;
see Figure 6), the amplitude of the reflected sound – the darker regions of the graph
– is considerable. We can be reasonably sure that the reflective surfaces are by and
large the same as those during the late Middle Ages, for there is no evidence to indicate
the presence of tapestries or other items that would lessen their effect. On the
whole, the space must have been very satisfying for the performance of plainchant
and primarily homorhythmic polyphony, but because of the loud reverberation, performance
of music containing rests, syncopations, and imitative textures would have
been less effective than a performance of the same music in Gothic or Romanesque
buildings, which tend to reflect less sound.
The completion of the Gothic choir in 1414 occasioned considerable changes in
the building’s layout and acoustics (see Figure 7). The choir stalls along the perimeter
of the octagon were removed, and new stalls were built in the new choir. The altar of