History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de Paris

This article investigates the audibility and intelligibility of preaching in a loud voice inside the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris during the Middle Ages, after the construction of the Gothic cathedral, until the late 19th century. Through this time period, the locations where oration took place cha...

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Main Authors: Elliot K. Canfield-Dafilou, Brian F. G. Katz, Beatrice Caseau Chevallier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Heritage
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/7/12/306
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author Elliot K. Canfield-Dafilou
Brian F. G. Katz
Beatrice Caseau Chevallier
author_facet Elliot K. Canfield-Dafilou
Brian F. G. Katz
Beatrice Caseau Chevallier
author_sort Elliot K. Canfield-Dafilou
collection DOAJ
description This article investigates the audibility and intelligibility of preaching in a loud voice inside the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris during the Middle Ages, after the construction of the Gothic cathedral, until the late 19th century. Through this time period, the locations where oration took place changed along with religious practices inside the cathedral. Here, we combine a historical approach with room acoustic modelling to evaluate the locations inside the cathedral where one would hear sermons well. In a reverberant cathedral such as Notre-Dame, speech would be most intelligible in areas near the orator. Until the introduction of electronically amplified public address systems, speech would not be intelligible throughout the entire cathedral.
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spelling doaj-art-d32809bd59404e30a25bbf9f0586f8912024-12-27T14:28:45ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082024-11-017126614662810.3390/heritage7120306History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de ParisElliot K. Canfield-Dafilou0Brian F. G. Katz1Beatrice Caseau Chevallier2Institut Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 75005 Paris, FranceInstitut Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 75005 Paris, FranceInstitut Universitaire de France, Orient & Méditerranée, Iremus, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 75005 Paris, FranceThis article investigates the audibility and intelligibility of preaching in a loud voice inside the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris during the Middle Ages, after the construction of the Gothic cathedral, until the late 19th century. Through this time period, the locations where oration took place changed along with religious practices inside the cathedral. Here, we combine a historical approach with room acoustic modelling to evaluate the locations inside the cathedral where one would hear sermons well. In a reverberant cathedral such as Notre-Dame, speech would be most intelligible in areas near the orator. Until the introduction of electronically amplified public address systems, speech would not be intelligible throughout the entire cathedral.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/7/12/306cultural heritage acousticsroom acousticshistorical simulationNotre-Damepreachingspoken voice
spellingShingle Elliot K. Canfield-Dafilou
Brian F. G. Katz
Beatrice Caseau Chevallier
History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de Paris
Heritage
cultural heritage acoustics
room acoustics
historical simulation
Notre-Dame
preaching
spoken voice
title History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de Paris
title_full History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de Paris
title_fullStr History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de Paris
title_full_unstemmed History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de Paris
title_short History and Acoustics of Preaching in Notre-Dame de Paris
title_sort history and acoustics of preaching in notre dame de paris
topic cultural heritage acoustics
room acoustics
historical simulation
Notre-Dame
preaching
spoken voice
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/7/12/306
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