Talk Subjects
Chris Helme
Pablo de Sarasate - March 10, 1844 – September 20, 1908 was a Spanish violin virtuoso and composer of the Romantic period. He was born in Pamplona, the son of an artillery bandmaster. Apparently, after seeing his father struggle with a passage for a long time, he picked up the violin and played it perfectly. He began studying the violin with his father at the age of five and later took lessons from a local teacher. His musical talent became evident early on and he appeared in his first public concert at the age of eight.
His performance was well-received and caught the attention of a wealthy patron who provided the funding for him to study in Madrid and later at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 12.
There, at 17 he entered a competition for the Premier Prix and won his first prize, the Conservatoire's highest honour.
He made his Paris debut as a concert violinist in 1860 and played in London the following year. Throughout his career, he toured many parts of the world, performing in Europe, North America, and South America. His artistic pre-eminence was due principally to the purity of his tone, which was free from any tendency towards the sentimental or rhapsodic, and to that impressive facility of execution that made him a virtuoso. In his early career, he performed mainly opera fantasies, most notably the Fantasia, and various other pieces that he had composed.
He died in Biarritz, France, on September 20, 1908, from chronic bronchitis. He bequeathed his violin, made by Stradivari in 1724, to the Musée de la Musique. The violin now bears his name as the Sarasate Stradivarius in his memory. The Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition is held in Pamplona.
In 1900 he wrote his Introduction and Tarantella for solo violin and orchestra. On this show, we feature that solo arranged as a euphonium solo played by Steven Mead.
Over the years I have been invited to a number of junior schools to show photographic presentations of Victorian Britain, with particular reference to our own community in and around Brighouse. These presentations always proved to be a big success.
Just imagine you were given the final say in naming a new street, a task I am sure whilst many will think is easy, many others including myself would not find it that easy. To choose a name that will last, a name that will not be out date or even sound silly in a few years time. On our featured image we have a small part of the Mark Blackburn auction sale of land on Friday September 30, 1870. The vacant land extended from Huddersfield Road both left and right of the Martin's Nest (now the Thaal Indian Restaurant) all the way up to Halifax Road. Try to imagine in 1870 there were few few buildings of any kind at that time. I have chosen to show you this small section where all the land is split up into building plots and are numbered..
The golfers who stride out across the greens at Crow Nest golf club would find it fascinating if for just a few hours we could turn the clock back to September 1873. They would find it extremely difficult to get to any of the greens let alone play a round of golf on them.
Today’s featured photograph goes back to June 9, 1995, the day Jessica Stevens was the lucky recipient of some Pinocchio presents from Woolworth's on Commercial Street.
It was a sad day when Brighouse lost its branch of F.W.Woolworth from its familiar location at 33 Commercial Street at the end of 2008. Times were changing on the high street quicker than this famous store could keep up with.
March 1937 was a special time for cinema fans in Brighouse this was the year when the new Ritz Cinema was formally opened by the Mayor Councillor John Cheetham JP and the Mayoress. The Mayor and Mayoress and the audience on that special occasion sat and enjoyed 'Secret Agent' a film that featured Madeleine Carrol and Peter Lorre followed by Jack Holt in 'Crash Donovan'. Admission charges for the new cinema had been set at 6d, 9d, 1/- and 1/3d for adults with children's prices varying between 4d and up to 9d on Saturday's.
If during this period of self isolation and you are a local history enthusiast of all that is in and around Brighouse including its surrounding communities and you have question. Why not drop me an email I might just be able to get you the answer. Here are three questions to start with:
1 Where was Union Street in Brighouse town centre?
A: Union Street - was the cobbled road which in front of the town hall and what was Holroyd Builodings
2. What was the original name for the section of Bradford Road between the Yorkshire Building Society and Lloyd Bank corner?
A: This was called Ball Flash (I don't know where that name came from - it might have had some historical connection to an old field name - Maybe)
3. What were the shop premises called on Bethel Street at what is now called the Meze Restaurant?
A. This was the Domestic Appliance shop and years later it was George Simpson and his family who had it a a large screen TV and Hi Fi shop. Then they retired and not long after the owner of the Mexe Restaurant bought it and then extended into what was Wendy's fishshop on Hudderfield Road.I have a photograph when it was owned by the Simpson family but cannot just find it. When I do I will post it on the website as the third image.
See if you can answer those but if you can't I will post the answers on Friday. Have you got a question?
Checking out at a local supermarket, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologised and explained, ‘We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days’.
The post-war years of the 1950s community spirit in the neighbourhoods around the town were encouraged to start up social clubs.
Over the last 40 years, I have delivered countless slide shows, lectures and now PowerPoint presentations the length and breadth of the county. Over that time, I have seen the membership of an increasing number of the organisations on a slow decline, to a point where many of them are having to disband.
Vittorio Monti (6 January 1868 – 20 June 1922) was an Italian composer, violinist, mandolinist and conductor. He was born in Naples, where he studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella. Around 1900 he received an assignment as the conductor for the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris, where he wrote several ballets and operettas,
His most famous work is his Czardas, A concert piece written in 1904, it is a well-known folkloric piece based on a Hungarian czardas. It was originally composed for violin, mandolin or piano. There are arrangements for orchestra and for a number of solo instruments, including the tenor horn which we are featuring on this week’s show with Owen Farr as the soloist. The duration of the piece is about four and a half minutes.
Enjoy the show
Talks Available
All the presentations are timed to last up to an hour except where shown - questions are gladly taken after the presentation. All have been presented to male, female and mixed audiences of varying age groups.
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A Postcard from the Past
The Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens, Halifax - Yorkshire’s Alton Towers of the…
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All in a Days Work
Reminiscences from 30 years in the Police Service – (humorous lecture presentation)…
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Legends from the world of Brass Bands
(Info-tainment – digital slides & music) – 1 hour presentation.
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A Week in May
A story based on the Murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish (of the…
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Memories of Christmas Past
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The Road to Publication
In 1979 I was asked to assist in presenting a series of…
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Holiday Memories from the Past
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How we used to live
We have all seen and experienced changes in our lives. Bring back…
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Other Folks Rubbish (Not suited to a Zoom presentation)
With a local history theme… – (thought provoking humorous lecture presentation) –…
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So you want to be a Pirate ? - The life of a Pirate was not all that it seemed
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Superstitions, New Year Resolutions and the Origins of St Valentine's Day
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Brighouse at Work
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Sorry but I am not able to accept any more face to face talk bookings at the present time ONLY ZOOM TALKS
