St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava: Historico-cultural contexts and spatial-acoustic characteristics.

This study examines the acoustic properties and historiographical context of St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava, which functions both as a historic sacred space and a concert venue. Using field acoustic measurements aligned with STN EN ISO 3382-1 and STN EN 60268-16 standards, the research evaluates parameters such as reverberation time (T30, T20), early decay time (EDT), clarity (C80), InterAural cross-correlation coefficient (IACC), bass ratio (BR), and speech transmission index (STI). Findings indicate that the cathedral's long reverberation time and low clarity make it acoustically suitable for organ music, choral singing, and certain solo instruments (e.g., flute, guitar, strings), while speech intelligibility without amplification is poor. The study emphasizes the importance of selecting appropriate musical repertoire and ensembles to align with the cathedral's natural acoustic characteristics and highlights the preservation of these acoustic properties as intangible cultural heritage.