Listen to the BBC Symphony for Yorkshire

The BBC Symphony for Yorkshire

The BBC's most ambitious musical project, A Symphony for Yorkshire, was broadcast for the first time in celebration of Yorkshire Day - Sunday 1st August 2010.

Watch the BBC Symphony for Yorkshire.

BBC Radio Sheffield, York, Leeds and Humberside joined forces to simultaneously broadcast the full 15 minute Symphony at 11am.

The Symphony took five months to produce and features more than 200 musicians from across Yorkshire - including a Sheffield brass band, Columbian drummers from Leeds, the York Minster carillon player and a harpist from Haworth.

The performance of the Symphony is available on the BBC websites for Sheffield & South Yorkshire, York & North Yorkshire, Leeds, Bradford & West Yorkshire and Humberside.

BBC Look North will broadcast one of each of the four movements from the Symphony at 6.30pm from Monday 2nd to Thursday 5th August on BBC One. You will be able to watch them again on the BBC iPlayer for seven days after broadcast.

The music was written by 35-year-old composer and director Benjamin Till who also composed The Busker Symphony, A1 the Road Musical, Coventry Market the Musical and Watford Gap the Musical.

Find out more about Benjamin Till

The project involved open auditions and a competition to write the lyrics for a new Yorkshire anthem. The resulting performance was then filmed at locations around the county, from a footbridge over the River Aire in Leeds to the city walls in York, a terraced street in Sheffield and on the moors in West Yorkshire.

The finale of the BBC Symphony for Yorkshire was a street party on Hunter House Road in Sheffield

"This has been the most difficult, complicated, ambitious project that I have ever done - incredibly hard work but hugely rewarding," said Benjamin Till.

"Yorkshire people have to be among the proudest people on the planet. It's been an enormous thrill and a great honour to be able to write a piece of music which brings so many Yorkshire-based musicians from so many different musical traditions together and I really hope I've done the county proud."

Lyrics

The lyrics for the Symphony were written by Doreen Brigham, a 98-year-old great-grandmother from Harrogate, who is featured in the film reading the last line of the poem.

Doreen beat 150 other entries to have her poem turned into the lyrics to accompany the Symphony for Yorkshire. The judging panel included Barnsley poet Ian McMillan, author Gervase Phinn and composer Benjamin Till.

"The quality of the entrants overall was really high but this poem is actually magical," says Benjamin Till. "What I liked about these lyrics was the honesty and emotion - when I read it out loud I actually felt a lump in my throat. The words are touching and moving without being cloying or over-sentimental. It really is lovely and very fitting for the county."

Helen Thomas is the Head of the BBC in Yorkshire. She said she has also loved being part of the project:

"We've met some incredible people from all over Yorkshire, all with a story to tell. It has been a huge privilege and I hope everyone will enjoy listening and watching the Symphony."

Doreen Brigham wrote the lyrics for the BBC Symphony for Yorkshire. Benjamin Till wrote the music and directed the film

Listen

BBC Look North will broadcast one of each of the four movements from the Symphony at 6.30pm from Monday 2nd to Thursday 5th August on BBC One. You will be able to watch them again on the BBC iPlayer for seven days after broadcast.

You can also hear the programme broadcast on Rony Robinson on BBC Radio Sheffield on Yorkshire Day, Sunday 1st August, on the BBC iPlayer for seven days after broadcast.

You can find out more about the project on Facebook , Twitter and the About the BBC blog . A film about the making of the Symphony will be broadcast on BBC Four in the Autumn.

Watch the BBC Symphony for Yorkshire