Archaeoacoustics of intangible cultural heritage: The sound of the Maior Ecclesia of Cluny

Abstract

Abstract Some major historical heritage which has disappeared over time can currently be recovered in part thanks to computer modeling tools and virtual reality technologies. Incorporating sensory experience using immaterial reconstruction constitutes a new form of knowledge and a major methodological change in the field of cultural heritage. Archaeoacoustics are used to introduce phenomenology as a new method for the analysis of historical heritage, allowing evaluation of the sound quality of a space based on subjective perception by using auralization techniques which allow cognitive and physical elements to be reproduced and combined. This study assess and recover the acoustics of a now extinct major religious space: the Maior Ecclesia in Cluny, recognised as European heritage. Its long reverberation times produced a grandiose acoustic experience of Gregorian chant, heightening spirituality. Its extensive choir served as a place of spatial reference, because of its location in the temple and its major role in the liturgy. It could be defined as an ecclesiola in ecclesia with an identity of its own. The sound of the Gregorian chant of the monks was perceived clearly and powerfully within this space. However, the high reverberance perceived in the rest of the spaces of the church transformed the chant into an unintelligible, inaudible signal.