Bradford ... more than a touch of German influence
Bradford celebrates one of its sons from today with the weeklong Delius Inspired Festival, writes Katie Binns. Organised by Tasmin Little, it is a complementary addition to the city's festivities so far this year. St George's Hall has just celebrated its 140th orchestral season and presented an international concert series including, fittingly, the Bavarian Philharmonic. It was just over 140 years ago that Delius's father, a German businessman, and his co-patriots came to Bradford after hearing the Yorkshire city was the place to be for textile movers and shakers.

More arrived after the Franco-Prussian War. They bought land close to the great hubs of the day - Bradford's two railway stations - needed for the import and export of goods. They brought a new culture and language into Bradford and spent a great deal of money constructing imposing warehouses for the storage of their wares. The design of their ornate Italianate and Gothic buildings - controversial at the time - evokes an earlier Berlin. By 1900, this new architecture had changed the landscape and "New Germany", as it was called then, was born.

Frederik Delius' father became a prosperous wool trader. The young composer, however, was disenchanted by the grimy industrial city and travelled far and wide in his musical pursuits. This is reflected in the festival, as Little explains, "I wanted to present music which inspired Delius but also to show how he inspired other musicians." The programme includes choral and orchestral works alongside jazz and Indian ghazal with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Yehudi Menuhin School and Julian Lloyd Webber involved. Every concert at St George's Hall will be recorded and broadcast, mostly live, by BBC Radio 3.

Along with performances later this year by the Munich Symphony Orchestra, 2006 is quite a tribute to the German community that invested in Bradford, which resulted in the city becoming world famous for its textile industry. The German merchants from that time would be happy to know that the area now called Little Germany is still one of Bradford's busiest commercial areas, housing some 110 businesses, and that one of its own is being honoured not far from the historic district.