AcousticsHistorical Aspect

Pankaj Kumar

There is a considerable literature on the acoustics of the ancient Open-Air Theatres.

Probably too much credit is given to the Greeks and Romans for acoustical sense in planning.

They may well have at-tempted to solve only the line-of-sight problem and just obtained reasonable hearing conditions at the same time.

They tried to locate the audience as close as possible to the elevated acting area or "logion“ (speaking place) by shaping the steeply banked seating area in a semi-circle which naturally resulted in reason-ably good hearing.

Later the Romans built large slanting roofs above and at both sides of the acting areas which provided efficient sound reflectors and resulted in at least moderately satisfactory intelligibility at the remote seats.

The Theatre at Orange, in France, built about 50 A.D. by the Romans represents a typical example of the ancient Open-Air Theatres.

The first reference to architectural acoustics in recorded history is made by Vitruvius (1st century B.C.). In his book "De Architecture" he describes sounding vases ( "echeia") as being used in certain Open-Air Theatres but no trace of these vases; has ever been found in any ancient Theatre.

The Middle Ages inherited from the classical times only an empirical knowledge of the acoustics of enclosed spaces, consequently, the acoustics of medieval Church Halls, except those small in volume and capacity, can be characterized by their overwhelming fullness of tone, excessive reverberation and poor intelligibility.

In subsequent centuries a remarkable number of Theatres were built, sometimes with surprisingly large capacities. The Teatro Olimpico at Vicenza(Italy), designed by Palladio and built in 1589 by Scamozzi, had an audience of 3000.

The Teatro Farnese at Parma (Italy), designed by G.B. Aleotti andbuilt in 1618, had a capacity of 2500.

The Teatro Farnese at Parma

The Teatro Olimpico

Plan of The Teatro Olimpico