History
The first music festival, over three days in September 1768, was to help raise funds to complete the new General Hospital on Summer Lane. It proved to be very popular and successful, but it took another event in 1778 to achieve the funds required. The hospital opened September 1779.
From September 1784 the performances became a permanent feature and ran every three years, becoming the Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, still with the aim of raising funds for the hospital.
Originally hosted in St Philip's Church (later to become the Cathedral) or the Theatre Royale on New Street the available venues became too small for the festival. As a result, the Birmingham Town Hall was built, and opened in 1834 to house it. The festival for 1832 was delayed by two years during its erection.
Vocal works were generally sung in English.
Hans Richter was appointed principal conductor in 1885.
Read more about this topic: Birmingham Triennial Music Festival
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