Northern Silents at Bradford 2025 City of Culture

Echoes of the North, which was commissioned by Northern Silents and premiered in 2022, was chosen by Bradford 2025 City of Culture to open its weekend of brass band events, The Big Brass Blowout.

Echoes of the North: Four Chapters in Time is a sixty-minute film made from more than 100 pieces of archive film shot in the North between 1895 and 1935. It takes audiences down the highways and byways of Northern life in the early 20th century – our communities and industries, our villages and cities, and the landmark moments that defined our lives.

The music was composed by award-winning composer and BBC presenter Neil Brand as the first ever all-brass soundtrack to a silent movie. For Bradford 2025, it’s performed live to a screening of the movie by Bradford’s very own BD1 Brass – a fittingly fabulous start to a great weekend celebrating the great British brass band.

Echoes of the North had its world premiere at Morecambe Winter Gardens and did a short UK tour visiting Halifax, Durham, and Manchester.

Co-commissioned by Northern Silents and Durham Brass Festival, and co-created with Yorkshire Film Archive, North West Film Archive, North East Film Archive and Archive Film Agency. The commission was supported by Arts Council England and PRS Foundation.

Presented by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.