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.
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.
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. 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.
