THE SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN HALL

The Birmingham and Midland Institute (BMI)’s Board of Governors recently determined to improve one of the areas of the BMI prior to the Viability Study upon which it is going to embark in 2022.

Adjacent to the BMI’s Reception there was an area that was subdivided into four smaller rooms, but had once been the main library hall of the Birmingham Library. The room divisions had occurred when RIBA West Midlands had occupied the space, and latterly the Birmingham College. The Board decided to remove the partitioning and make the room whole one more, revealing the original 1899 parquet flooring.

This new area has been named The Sir Arthur Sullivan Hall, after the 35th President of the Institute in 1888. Sir Arthur gave his Presidential Address to members of the BMI at the Town Hall on 19th October 1888.

Sullivan wrote two pieces for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival: ‘The Masque at Kenilworth’ (1864) and ‘The Light of the World’ (1873). He also wrote ‘The Prodigal Son’, a cantata for the Worcester Music Festival in 1869. By the time he became President of the BMI, he had already collaborated on 10 operettas with W. S. Gilbert: ‘Thespis’ (1871), ‘Trial By Jury’ (1875), ‘The Sorcerer’ (1877), ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ (1878), ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (1879), ‘Patience’ (1881), ‘Iolanthe’ (1882), ‘Princess Ida’ (1884), ‘The Mikado’ (1885) and ‘Ruddigore’ (1887); and his 11th, ‘The Yeomen of the Guard’, would premiere in the year of his Presidency at the BMI. He wrote ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’ in 1871 and ‘The Lost Chord’ in 1877. A room dedicated to former President, Charles Dickens, has been in existence for years, but the BMI now has four rooms named after previous Presidents: The Charles Dickens Hall (16th President in 1869) representing literature; The Sir William Blake Richmond Gallery (55th President in 1908) representing art; and The Guglielmo Marconi Hall (68th President in 1921) representing science, in addition to The Sir Arthur Sullivan Hall, named to represent music. The BMI’s Steinway piano will be re-located to the Hall.

Work is almost complete, with the restoration of the parquet flooring planned for February; and in March the BMI hopes to have the President of The Sir Arthur Sullivan Society, film director/ producer, Mike Leigh come and formally dedicate the space with a celebration of Sullivan’s music.

The room will be 10.5 metres x 12 metres and has three beautiful arched, leaded windows which look out onto Margaret Street and the Edwardian baroque façade of the Council House extension. It will be available at a daily rate of £390. n By Stephen Hartland Honorary Secretary of the Birmingham and Midland Institute