Symphony Hall

Designed by McKim, Mead and White, it was built in 1900 for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which continues to make the hall its home. The hall was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1999. It was then noted that “Symphony Hall remains, acoustically, among the top three concert halls in the world … and is considered the finest in the United States.”nThe hall is modeled on the second Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig, which was later destroyed in World War II.nBeethoven’s name is inscribed over the stage, the only musician’s name that appears in the hall since the original directors could agree on no other name but his. The hall’s leather seats are the original ones installed in 1900. Sixteen casts of notable Greek and Roman statues line the upper level of the hall’s walls. nThe Symphony Hall organ, a 4,800-pipe Aeolian-Skinner (Opus 1134) was designed by G. Donald Harrison, installed in 1949, and autographed by Albert Schweitzer.