What is Leeds Triennial Festival?
The '''Leeds Triennial Festival''' was a festival of [[music]] held in the town of [[Leeds]], [[Yorkshire]] in [[England]]. The festival started in the [[19th century]] at a time when very large [[choir]]s were in fashion. Although there is now no festival called the Leeds Triennial Festival the town of Leeds continues to put on music festivals. ==History== On [[7 September]] [[1858]] [[Queen Victoria]] opened the new Town Hall in Leeds. It was a very large building, big enough for an audience of 4000 and a choir of 400 singers. The composer [[Sterndale Bennett]] conducted an orchestra and choir at the opening performance. Although “triennial” means something that happens every three years, the next festival did not happen until [[1874]]. In [[1880]] the first festival called the Leeds Triennial Festival was conducted by [[Arthur Sullivan]]. These festivals were very famous internationally because a lot of famous [[composer]]s were asked to write new works for choir and to come and conduct them. Composers such as [[Raff]], [[Dvorak]], [[Massenet]], [[Humperdinck]], [[Parry]], [[Charles Villiers Stanford|Stanford]], [[Elgar]] and [[Sullivan]] himself all wrote new works for the festival. Later in the [[20th century]] many famous musicians continued to be associated with the festival including [[Benjamin Britten]] and [[Aaron Copland]]. Although the last Leeds Triennial Festival took place in [[1985]] both the Festival Chorus and the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus continue to perform at the Leeds International Concert Season in the Town Hall. ==Other websites== *[http://www.leeds.gov.uk/discover/discovery.asp?page=20031110_356182278&topic=20031110_154781521&subsection=20031118_412594021 A short history of the Leeds Triennial Festival]{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [[Category:Classical music festivals]] [[Category:Music festivals in England]] [[Category:Leeds]] [[Category:19th-century establishments in England]]