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The auditorium, St George's Hall, Bradford

Tops, Noils, and Handel's Messiah

David Bridgeman-Sutton continues his visit to favourite music hall haunts of Bradford.

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Nowhere was Music-Hall more popular than in Bradford at the height of the woollen industry.

The city's principal music-hall, the Alhambra (pic. 1), attracted top stars; audiences became connoisseurs, awarding performers everything from ecstatic cheers to the bird with complete impartiality. Unlike many such halls, this building remains – refurbished throughout - and now a general-purpose theatre.

1: Bradford main Music Hall, the Alhambra

Straight theatre was also widely patronised – and, again, attracted top players and touring companies. There were few greater stars in later Victorian days than actor Sir Henry Irving. This pillar of Victorian theatre was popular in the United States, where he toured on eight occasions. He made his final and most dramatic exit by collapsing and dying on the grand staircase of Bradford's Midland Hotel (pic 2). His manager for many years was Bram Stoker, creator of Count Dracula; it has been claimed that Irving was the inspiration for this character. 

Other stars who stayed at the Midland – including Laurel & Hardy, George Formby, Joyce Grenfell and John le Mesurier – departed in more orthodox fashion, usually with waves and smiles.

2: Grand staircase, Midland Hotel

JB Priestley (1894-1984) learned the craft of playwright from the galleries and stalls of his native city. (It is claimed that, even now, one or other of his plays is always in production somewhere in the world.) Two of his most popular novels – The Good Companions and Lost Empires - have theatre life as their theme.

He noted, in his essays, the beneficial influence on the town of the German community, settled in trade and manufacture. This influence was felt particularly on the musical life – as it was in many other towns the world over. The concerts this community sponsored took to the city many performers of international repute. The response from the general public must have been extremely gratifying.

Need for a suitable concert room led to the building of St George's Hall (pic 3). The organ of what is now the Civic Centre – was rebuilt several times, most recently by Henry Willis and Sons. A fire – and the subsequent activities of the Fire Brigade – rendered the instrument unplayable some years ago; there are no present plans for its reconstruction.
Much music-making centred round the churches and chapels: a list compiled in recent years (and this is certainly far from complete) shows sixty-eight such buildings. Choirs and organs were a central part of the life of all but a very few. Many, indeed, were constructed as much as concert halls as places of worship.​

3: St George's Hall

Picture 4 shows Prospect Hall – a Methodist church built for this clear dual-purpose role. (To-day it is the Guru Nanak Sikh temple; the organ has probably been removed).
Rivalry between the church choirs then seems to have been as intense as that between football teams to-day. Competition came to a head at Christmas time each year, with every choir determined to receive the best press review for its performance of “Messiah”. Outstanding soloists were booked up months and sometimes years in advance.

4. Prospect Hall

In Priestley's play When We Are Married, a sub-plot shows how a choirmaster's social position would be enhanced by outstanding performance in the Messiah Premier League. Not every church could reach the heights, though few were deterred from trying. Resources were limited in one remote dale, which lacked either an organ or someone competent to play it. The conductor arranged the entire score for the only instruments available – one clarinet and one trombone. 

David Bridgeman-Sutton,
December, 2007

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Picture credits – thanks to :
1. Matthew Lloyd 
2. Midland Hotel, Bradford
3. St George's Hall, Bradford 
4. The Laycock Archive.
Thanks also to Sarah Powell and Susan Caton at Bradford City Libraries.

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