Mallorca cathedral probes Gaudí's choir sound puzzle

Mallorca’s cathedral in Palma holds a sound puzzle: a box at its choir seats helped carry singing into the central nave, but researchers have yet to establish whether Antoni Gaudí intended that effect. Sebastián Escalas, a documentary researcher at the cathedral, will present his findings at the Gaudí International Congress 2026, held from 22 to 25 October at La Pedrera in Barcelona.

Escalas says Gaudí may have moved the choir from the centre of the cathedral to its main chapel so music would reach worshippers in the nave more clearly. He is also studying two sound reflectors, known as tornavoces. Their shape and materials, including wood, cotton and fabric, may have affected how sermons were heard. To find out how they worked, he says researchers need scale reconstructions based on old photographs.

Another reflector has vanished. Gaudí designed it for the Gospel pulpit in 1905, and Rovira i Virgili University has made a model at the cathedral’s request. Escalas says it is a first step towards studying the reflector’s acoustic effect.

The congress will also hear from cathedral archivist Rafel Morro, whose work on documents sheds light on Gaudí’s collaborators. Mercè Gambús, a researcher at the University of the Balearic Islands, will examine how later views of Gaudí’s changes affected the cathedral’s conservation.

Topics: Culture

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com