Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra
An die Musik
2004 marked the 50th anniversary of an Anglo-German exchange between Huddersfield and Brunswick (Braunschweig). In September 1954, the Brunswick Symphony Orchestra (Conductor: Fritz Glahe; Leader: Hans Buttner; Cello Soloist: Annlies Schmidt) performed a programme of Gluck, Haydn and Beethoven in Huddersfield Town Hall. They also performed in Halifax and Derby.
The programme records that: "The visit of the Brunswick Symphony Orchestra to Huddersfield has been arranged through the offices of the Cultural Relations Division, United Kingdom High Commission in Germany. This is a branch of the Foreign Office which after the war set up a number of centres - Brunswick is one - each of them known as 'Die Bruecke', where cultural activities, both German and English, are organised with the purpose of creating a better understanding between England and Germany. "This visit is the first part of an exchange, for our guests this week will be our hosts next year when the Huddersfield Philharmonic, at a date yet to be fixed, will visit Brunswick. |
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"The visitors, the Braunschweigishe Musikgesellschaft, to give them their German name, are a young organisation, for they were founded in 1949. Since then they have given nearly 25 concerts. The ochestra includes men and women of all ages and professions, and Dr Willi Wohler, their secretary, tells us they try to find programmes of music that is seldom heard and is worth while.
"The orchestra is amateur, but the conductor, Fritz Glahe, is professional. He is a native of Cologne where he studied under Hermann Abendroth.".
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The return visit was duly arranged and took place in May/June 1955. In a note of welcome, the Brunswick Orchestra's president said: "We hope that your visit to this town will be 'doubly a festival of music and friendship' (a reference to a newspaper headline which had appeared on the occasion of the Germans' visit to England) and that the friendly contact which was established some time ago will still be strengthened by this renewed meeting. "We are also looking forward to hearing you play the music by Handel, Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar and Dvorak which is indeed an international programme that seems to us to be a good chord, a strong basis for our meeting and, we feel sure, an important contribution towards peace and understanding in the world." |
The title? OK, you all know it’s Schubert. But the work features on "In Search of Eddie Riff" by Roxy Music’s woodwind player Andy Mackay, together with "The Ride of the Valkyries" and that other classical favourite: "A Four Legged Friend". (Honest!)
Huddersfield Philharmonic Society is a registered charity.