The Royal Festival Hall

finest music, the greatest singers and players to be heard, and to give pleasureand refreshment of the soul to generations of Londoners yet unborn.
　　William:  Hello, I'm William Kremer and that was Clement Attlee, who was the BritishPrime Minister after the Second World War. The clip you just heard wasthrecorded on 12  October, 1949. Mr Attlee was making a speech at the start ofwork on building a great concert hall – the Royal Festival Hall, which nowstands on the South bank of the River Thames. Today's programme is all aboutthe Royal Festival Hall.
　　Mr Attlee's speech was in quite formal English… he said that he hoped the hallwould long endure – that is, that it would exist for a long time – to give theopportunity for the finest music, singers and players to be heard. He also used alovely phrase – 'to give pleasure and refreshment of the soul'. Listen again.
　　Clement  I hope that this concert hall will long endure to give the opportunity for theAttlee:
　　finest music, the greatest singers and players to be heard, and to give pleasureand refreshment of the soul to generations of Londoners yet unborn.
　　William:  Did you notice, listening to that clip, how differently British people spoke justfifty years ago? It's a way of speaking that one associates with the BBC! – but,it sounds quite old-fashioned now.
　　STINGThe Royal Festival Hall took two years to build, finally opening in May 1951as part of the Festival of Britain. The building brought a striking Moderniststyle to the Thames. It was in service for over fifty years – and it became hometo four orchestras! Famous singers of many different styles sang there,including Maria Callas, Louis Armstrong and Lou Reed.
　　But, in 2005, the hall closed once again for two years. Why? It was beingrefurbished. 'To refurbish' – it means to improve a building or object and makeit like new. There's a noun form too – 'refurbishment'. The refurbishment ofthe Royal Festival Hall took two years and cost ninety-one million pounds. Itfinally opened its doors last week.
　　We're going to hear now from Peter Mandelson. Mr Mandelson is currently theEuropean Union Commissioner for Trade. But his grandfather, HerbertMorrison, had the original idea for the Festival of Britain and the Hall back inthe 1940's. What does Peter Mandelson make of the refurbishment? In this clip,Mr. Mandelson mentions a key development. Used as an adjective, 'key'
　　means 'most important'. This is quite a common word in modern, formalEnglish. What does Peter Mandelson see as the 'key development' in therefurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall?
　　Peter  It's been refurbished, repolished, buffed up, made more comfortable, theMandle-carpeting brought back to life… but I think the key development is theson:
　　liberation of… liberation of space. There are parts of the original Festival Hallwhich the public never went to – I don't quite know what they were used for –offices or workshops or whatever – but the whole effect is to bring more, morelight and spaciousness into the hall, with wonderful views of Westminster andThameside.
　　William:  He said the key development is the liberation, or freeing of… of what?
　　Peter  It's been refurbished, repolished, buffed up, made more comfortable, theMandle-carpeting brought back to life… but I think the key development is theson:
　　liberation of… liberation of space. There are parts of the original Festival Hallwhich the public never went to – I don't quite know what they were used for –offices or workshops or whatever – but the whole effect is to bring more, morelight and spaciousness into the hall, with wonderful views of Westminster andThameside.