{"id":218,"date":"2016-04-18T15:31:13","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T15:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/?page_id=218"},"modified":"2016-04-18T15:31:13","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T15:31:13","slug":"milestone-marked-with-musical-twist","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/milestone-marked-with-musical-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"Milestone marked with musical twist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-219\" src=\"http:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/files\/2016\/04\/St-CeciliasHall7-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"Milestone in historic hall revamp marked with musical twist Musical instruments from the University of Edinburgh\u00d5s world-class collection today (Thursday) heralded the half-way point in a \u00a36.5million renovation of a historic venue. The musical curiosities were played at a \u00d4topping out\u00d5 ceremony \u00d0 traditionally held by construction workers \u00d0 to celebrate progress in the restoration of St Cecilia\u00d5s Hall, Scotland\u00d5s oldest purpose-built concert hall. Construction workers, University students, staff and project supporters gathered on site for a unique acoustic recital of a 19th century contrabass serpent, performed by musician Tony George. Pic caption: University students Giulia Bellato and Robert Hammacott join University staff Jonathan Santa- Maria Bouquet and Sarah Deters to watch Tony George's recital in the Concert Hall. The copper serpent played dates from around 1815 and was made in Glasgow. It is a descendent of the cornet and a distant ancestor of the tuba. The unusual instrument gets its name from its long cone, which is bent into a snake-like shape. -- Neil Hanna Photography www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk 07702 246823\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/files\/2016\/04\/St-CeciliasHall7-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/files\/2016\/04\/St-CeciliasHall7-768x502.jpg 768w, https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/files\/2016\/04\/St-CeciliasHall7-1024x669.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/files\/2016\/04\/St-CeciliasHall7-624x408.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Musical instruments from the University\u2019s world<strong>&#8211;<\/strong>class collection heralded the half-way point in St Cecilia&#8217;s \u00a36.5million renovation.<\/p>\n<p>The musical curiosities were played at a \u2018topping out\u2019 ceremony \u2013 traditionally held by construction workers \u2013 to celebrate progress in the restoration of St Cecilia\u2019s Hall.<\/p>\n<p>Construction workers, University students, staff and project supporters gathered on site for a unique acoustic recital of a 19<sup>th<\/sup> century contrabass serpent, performed by musician Tony George.<\/p>\n<p>The copper serpent played dates from around 1815 and was made in Glasgow. It is a descendent of the cornet and a distant ancestor of the tuba. The unusual instrument gets its name from its long cone, which is bent into a snake-like shape.<\/p>\n<p>A 19<sup>th<\/sup> century ophicleide \u2013 an early predecessor of the tuba \u2013 was also played at the event.<\/p>\n<p>Jacky MacBeath, Head of Museums at the University of Edinburgh, said: \u201cThe topping out ceremony was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate reaching a landmark moment in St Cecilia\u2019s Hall\u2019s renovation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe performance was a fitting tribute for the project and gave our students, partners and contractors the chance to experience some of the world\u2019s finest instruments that will be on public display in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Musical instruments from the University\u2019s world&#8211;class collection heralded the half-way point in St Cecilia&#8217;s \u00a36.5million renovation. The musical curiosities were played at a \u2018topping out\u2019 ceremony \u2013 traditionally held by construction workers \u2013 to celebrate progress in the restoration of St Cecilia\u2019s Hall. Construction workers, University students, staff and project supporters gathered on site for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions\/220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/stcecilias\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}