Auditorium for Chamber Music

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Treasurer of the United States, credited to the special fund, and disbursed as provided herein for the original gift.

SEC. 5. No contract shall be entered into or obligation incurred for the design, construction, or equipment of the structure in excess of the moneys actually available from the total of such gifts.

Approved, January 23, 1925.

APPENDIX IVc

THE AUDITORIUM FOR CHAMBER MUSIC

A rectangular structure across the northern end (about one-half) of the northwestern (inner) courtyard, utilizing three of the existing walls of the court and having only one wall exposed. Thus an integral part of the Library building. A single story, whose roof (owing to the low level of the court) reaches only to the main floor of the Library building; outside dimensions 103 by 60 feet.

Adjacent to the music division, and reached by the corridor on the ground floor leading to it. Two entrances, with leathered doors, lead into a rectangular lobby (15 by 36 feet), which includes exhibits of rare scores, to be varied with the occasion, and a "gift tablet" of marble, itself the gift of "lovers of chamber music," including the sculptor. From this lobby, two other leathered swing doors lead directly into the rear end of the hall itself, the stage being at the eastern end. The seating portion of the hall is nearly a square, about 60 feet each way. The seats, 511 in number, are of ample dimension and comfortably cushioned in green leather. The rows of them are slightly concaved, and the pitch is considerable, so that (as at Bayreuth) each has an unobstructed view of the stage. (The height to the ceiling is 27 feet from the lower tier of seats and only 15 feet from the highest row.)

The stage—that is, the portion available for the players has a width of 30 feet and a depth of 20 feet, with thus an area of 600 square feet, sufficient therefore for a small orchestra, a piano, and the console of the organ; but there is also a "pit" beneath it for a "sub

merged" orchestra. In the center is a "drop" on which the piano, or the console, may be lowered from sight. The organ chamber (loft) is hidden at the north end of it, and dressing rooms at the south end. The organ is a small three manual, manufactured by the Skinner Co.

The cellar beneath the audience is a great air chamber from which a large fan forces fresh air at a controlled temperature up into the hall through registers set into the legs of the chairs. A clerestory above the ceiling affords the necessary exits for the used air.

The walls are of light gray, spaced in vertical panels. A "valance" and curtains of heavy gold-brown velour give a finish to the stage.

The acoustics are benefited by the steep "pitch," by heavy cork matting, by the materials used in the walls, and by the upholstery of the seats. The results prove

very satisfactory.

A booth for projecting apparatus (lantern or film) is on the roof above the lobby, with the necessary openings into the west wall of the hall, near the ceiling.

Off the lobby at one end is a small "office," and at the other a stair down into the courtyard, to which there are also doors opening from the stage level.

The actual cost of the structure and equipment, apart from the organ (to be paid for from the income of the endowment and thus also a gift from Mrs. Coolidge), was $94,000. To meet this, Mrs. Coolidge has added $24,000 to her original gift of $60,000, and authorized $10,000 additional to be applied from this year's income of her endowment. As most of the contract work and equip-. ment was furnished at a bare margin above cost, the results are well beyond what $94,000 would ordinarily

secure.

The responsibility for the construction was in the Architect of the Capitol, Mr. David Lynn, but the designing architect was Mr. Charles A. Platt. His plans have produced an auditorium of perfect dimension for chamber music, convenient, admirable in its proportions, spacious yet intimate, simple in detail without barrenness-a hall unique in its properties and distinctive in its dignity and refinement.

official seal, which shall be judicially no board may adopt rules and regulations in r procedure and the conduct of its business.

No compensation shall be paid to the men board for their services as such members, bu be reimbursed for the expenses necessarily them, out of the income from the fund or fu nection with which such expenses are inc voucher of the chairman of the board shall 1 evidence that the expenses are properly allow expenses of the board, including the cost of properly chargeable to the income of any held by it, shall be estimated for in the annu of the librarian for the maintenance of the Congress.

The board is hereby authorized to accept, r and administer such gifts or bequests of person for the benefit of, or in connection with, the collections, or its service, as may be appro board and by the Joint Committee on the Lil