Uncover the sounds that shape Leeds
Sounds of Our City, formerly an exhibition at Abbey House Museum tells the story of how the different musical styles and places of Leeds interact. Scroll through to experience the Sounds of Our City
Table polyphonLeeds Museums & Galleries
Music in the Living Room
The first musical boxes were invented in Switzerland in 1770. These were expensive novelty toys rather than a real threat to live music. Musical boxes with interchangeable discs arrived in the 1880s but it was the invention of sound recording that really changed music at home.
Play at home
In 1910 there were between 2-4 million pianos in Britain, which is about one to every ten or twenty people. If you wanted to hear music at home the easiest and cheapest way was to perform it yourself. The popularity of songs at this time was measured by sales of sheet music.
This ballad “In the Moonlight” was written in 1882 by Annie Fortescue Harrison (1848-1944) who published under her married name Lady Arthur Hill. It was written as a sequel to her earlier song “In the Gloaming” which she wrote in 1877 and had been a big commercial hit.
Ear trumpet
These ear trumpets were used by people who were hard of hearing, circa 1900. Just hold the thinner end up to your ear and you have a old timey hearing aide!
Photograph of Florence Tindall (1900-01-01) by NALeeds Museums & Galleries
Learning to play
Music was not part of the main curriculum for the small privately-run Leeds schools in the early 1800s but could be added at an extra cost. In 1839 Sigston’s Academy charged £1-6 per term for music lessons.
Music shops in Leeds
Archibald Ramsden set up his ‘music establishment’ on Park Row in 1864 after failing to make a career as a professional singer. He started by selling pianos, harmoniums, and sheet music. The firm later branched into selling radios and gramophones. existed into the 1950s.
Lee Arnolds trainersLeeds Museums & Galleries
Music in the streets
From its start in 1967 the Leeds West Indian Carnival has championed traditional Caribbean music. At the first carnival steel bands and a big drum and fife band entertained crowds before processing through the streets on homemade trolleys pulled along on ropes.
The Call to Duty, Blind Alf, 1900
This haunting hymn was written by the Leeds street musician Alf Warrington Lodge (Blind Alf) who died in 1928. He was blind from childhood and earned his keep singing on the streets of Leeds. He sang accompanied by his accordion at the corner of Commercial Street and Lands Lane.
Music in the teenage bedroom
The Dansette portable record player first came out in 1952. It was popular with teenagers in the 1950s and 1960s for playing records at home and taking to parties.
Grand March by William Spark Grand March by William Spark (1893) by William SparkLeeds Museums & Galleries
Music in Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall was opened by Queen Victoria on 7 September 1858. This event was marked by a musical festival conducted by Sterndale Bennett. The new hall accommodated an audience of 4000 with orchestra and choir seating for over 400 performers.
Grand March by William Spark, 1893
Following on from the 1858 picture of the opening of Leeds Town Hall, this is a piece composed by the town hall’s organist William Spark in 1893 to celebrate Leeds being made a city. It was specially recorded for the Sounds of Our City exhibition by Ruth Nicholson (piano).
Music on stage and screen
Although many ballad operas were performed alongside plays at the old Leeds Playhouse in Hunslet (1771-1865), there was no place to stage large operas until the Leeds Grand Theatre opened in 1878. The Grand is now home to Opera North.
Music in Leeds parks
Leeds was one of the first places to build a band-stand in the 1860s and at one time there were 18 across the city’s parks. Many of these were melted down during the Second World War. The first ‘rock’ concert in Roundhay Park there was The Rolling Stones in 1982.
Bringing It All Back Home at Kirkstall Abbey
We invited Bringing It All Back Home, a music and emotional wellbeing project based in Leeds, to record a music video in the stunning ruins of Kirkstall Abbey.
The Blue Belles Quadrilles and Waltz
This was composed by J. Hopkinson of Leeds for the ‘Conservative Ladies of Leeds’. The Quadrille was type of square dance involving four couples with originated in the 18th century and the waltz was popularised in England from about 1804.
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