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A celebration of Huddersfield’s musical heritage
Since Victorian times, in terms of musical organisations per head of population, Huddersfield and its environs has been one of the most intensely musical communities in the country. A music journalist claimed in the Musical Home Journal in 1908 that: ‘The casual visitor to Huddersfield would hardly imagine that [they were] amongst some of the greatest music lovers in the country…In an unpretentious way the people of Huddersfield give probably more time to music than do those of any town of a similar size in England.’1 Similarly, J. Sutcliffe Smith wrote in A Musical Pilgrimage in Yorkshire (1928), that: ‘A stranger no sooner comes among you that [they find] in a hundred ways they are in the land of song.’2 Brass bands, choirs and orchestras thrived in and around the town, often using Huddersfield Town Hall as a venue to showcase their talents.
Key music festivals were established in the nineteenth century, and, from 1978, Huddersfield has been home to the celebrated Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. The first jazz clubs emerged in the 1930s, and through the 1950s and 1960s rock and roll, folk and pop bands performed in the town’s pubs and clubs. With immigration new musical styles such as steel bands, bhangra and reggae music appeared and added to the musical landscape. Phil Wood, of the North Stars Steel Orchestra, noticed: ‘If anybody new came to the town from a different land they found that if they talked about music, local Huddersfield people would be interested in them – they got a sympathetic reception – you can’t say that about everywhere.’3
TownSounds is a snapshot of Huddersfield’s musical heritage – past and present – charting how music-making in the town strengthened not only the town’s civic identity, but also social networks and notions of community.
The project has been a team effort – thank you to everyone who has been involved.
Project Lead: Mandeep Samra
Research: Dr Stephen Etheridge and Mandeep Samra
Illustrations: Peter O’Toole
Website: Browndog
TownSounds is a partnership between Kirklees Council and the University of Huddersfield. The project has been funded by Kirklees Council’s successful bid to the Leeds Local Enterprise Partnership’s Business Rates Pool fund, part of an ambitious project to make the most of Kirklees’ rich and diverse musical heritage.
King Street, Huddersfield HD1 2QT, UK
The Cobbles, Meltham, Holmfirth HD9 5QQ, UK
Wood Street, Huddersfield HD1 1DU, UK
Saint Thomas' Road, Huddersfield HD1 3LG, UK
King Street, Huddersfield HD1 2QT, UK
Upper Brow Road, Huddersfield HD1 4UF, UK
Huddersfield HD1 2JN, UK
Market Street, Huddersfield HD1 4SH, UK
Chapel Hill, Huddersfield HD1 2RR, UK
Halifax Old Road, Huddersfield HD2 2RP, UK
Halifax Old Road, Huddersfield HD2 2RP, UK
Norfolk Avenue, Huddersfield HD2 1GS, UK
Ball Royd Road, Huddersfield HD2 1AN, UK
Huddersfield HD2 1JP, UK
Mount Street, Huddersfield HD1 3QP, UK
William Street, Huddersfield HD1 6BG, UK
University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield, UK
Orchestras
Chapel Hill, Huddersfield HD1 3EB, UK
Music Festivals
Huddersfield Town Hall, Corporation St, Huddersfield HD1 2TA, UK
Music Festivals
Trinity Street, Huddersfield HD1 4DT, UK
Handbell Ringing Bands
Britannia Road, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield HD7 5HF, UK
Choirs & Choral Societies
Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
Huddersfield University’s Students’ Union
Huddersfield, St George's Square, Huddersfield HD1 1JB, UK
Atmospheric Sounds
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Project Lead: Mandeep Samra | Research: Dr Stephen Etheridge and Mandeep Samra
Illustrations: Peter O’Toole | Website: Browndog
