From ‘Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House – Writings 1973 – 1994’
“Chartres and other edifices like it have been described as ‘music frozen in stone’. References to sound and acoustics are twofold. Not only are there the actual sonic characteristics of the cavernous interior, but the form and structure of the building itself reflects the principles of sacred proportion and universal harmony – a sort of ‘acoustics of acoustics’. When one enters a Gothic sanctuary, it is immediately noticeable that sound commands the space. This is not just a simple echo effect at work, but rather all sounds, no matter how near, far or loud, appear to be originating at the same place. They seem to be detached from the immediate scene, floating somewhere where the point of view has become the entire space.”