The British composer Frank Bridge remains an enigma. His music is still comparatively little known and unfashionable. Despite the excellent work of the Frank Bridge Trust it often seems that his much more obscure contemporary John Foulds has captured more of the imagination of the enquiring public, although Foulds has fewer CDs in the catalogue. Bridge remains an excitingly mysterious figure and his music is multi- faceted and rewarding to explore.
He was a student at the Royal College of Music, renowned for its 'establishment' figures like Vaughan Williams and Bliss. Both composers had their wild and unconventional phases but both ultimately were adopted as men of the establishment, which was never the case with Bridge. In any event, the RCM, with its structured approach and the fearsome Stanford, contrasted with the free spirit prevalent at the Royal Academy of Music, which produced Bax, Holbrooke and Bantock.
The author, Peter Pirie, believed that the fearsome Charles Villiers Stanford was responsible for stifling Bridge's inventive creativity, which only developed a free rein from the mid-1920s.
Certainly, Stanford abhorred the then moderns, being unable to abide Debussy, Strauss and even Wagner. Doubtless Stanford had problems with Bridge's middle-period works as well. A fresh impressionistic invention imbues Summer and The Sea. "All rubbish me Bhoy!" as the Irish Stanford might have said.
Although RCM-trained, Bridge became as much of a revolutionary figure as John Foulds. Foulds, too, had popular easy-on-the-ear successes (like the Keltic Suite) although he was unable to rival the commercial success of Bridge's ballads and solo piano pieces. Bridge's early bright-eyed orchestral successes, including The Sea, and Summer, are however, the epitome of the British pastoral school but with a dynamic vibrancy not always associated with that school. His songs such as Love Went a'Riding were popular ballads heard in concert halls and drawing rooms. However, the middle period and later works push at the boundaries and show more sympathy with continental influences, although always with Bridge's individuality clearly stamped. Amongst these works we can number the piano sonata, the third and fourth string quartets, Oration (cello and orchestra), the second piano trio, Rebus, an orchestral overture, and Phantasm for piano and orchestra.
(Frank Bridge had no family connection with Dr Frederick Bridge (1844-1924), English organist and composer of many oratorios, including The Inchcape Rock, Mount Moriah, The Repentance of Nineveh, Boadicea and The Cradle of Christ.)
