YEARBOOK OF THE ALAMIRE FOUNDATION

THE ROLE OF ACOUSTICS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF RENAISSANCE POLYPHONY
In addition to evidence that the repertory Mangon assembled was not sung in the
octagon, the choir’s furnishings indicate that it was sung in the choir. Several chroniclers
mention a large bronze eagle lectern when describing the choir’s interior (see
Figure 11), and an eighteenth-century commentator cites it as the location for the
singing of polyphony. 11 Such eagle lecterns, which represent John the Evangelist and
the Word of God, were often located in close proximity to the church’s high altar. In
Aachen, however, the eagle lectern was located at the opposite end of the choir, immediately
east of the chapel of Saint Mary (see Figure 7). The performance of polyphony
was thus undertaken in the choir’s western end, with the singers facing east. From
this position, the polyphony could be heard in both the Gothic choir and the
Carolingian octagon. I have made recordings of two performances of the first part of
one of Mangon’s Regina celi settings (see Example 3), both sung by just four singers
from the eagle lectern’s sixteenth-century position. In the first recording, the recorder
was positioned in the Gothic choir; in the second, it was in the octagon. The recordings
are revealing: the second is considerably fainter than the first, but by no means
inaudible or unclear. By contrast, a recording of another performance in which singers
stand at the east end of the choir has a much weaker sound than that of the second
recording when heard from the octagon, whereas a performance within the octagon
itself presents reverberation loud enough to prevent imitation from being heard distinctly.
The notion that the canons were concerned about the audibility of the proceedings
from the choir is supported by the post-1414 position of an ambo donated by Henry
II in 1002 (see Figure 12). While the original position of the ambo was especially
prominent – it was in front of the altar of Saint Peter (see Figure 3) – following the
completion of the Gothic choir it was moved to the south wall of the choir at its intersection
with the Carolingian building (see Figure 7). 12 In this location, this impressive
work of art could scarcely be seen from the octagon. Since the post-choir ordinals
continue to show that Gospel readings, graduals, alleluias, and sequences continued
to be recited from this ambo, it was likely placed in a position that was best
suited for its function acoustically rather than visually. 13 Like the position of the ambo,
the eagle lectern’s location allows singers to be heard in both spaces, though it obviously
favored the Gothic choir.
11 J. NOPPIUS, Aacher Chronik, Cologne, 1643 (first edition 1630), p. 24; BUCHKREMER, Zur Baugeschichte
des Aachener Münsters, p. 229.
12 F. KREUSCH, Über die Pfalzkapelle und Atrium zur Zeit Karls des Grossen, in Dom zu Aachen –
Beiträge zur Baugeschichte, 4, Aachen, 1958, pp. 26–33.
13 RICE, Music and Ritual, pp. 245–248.
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