Frederick Bridge
Encyclopedia
Sir John Frederick Bridge (5 December 1844 – 18 March 1924) was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer.
From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral organist by the age of 24, at Manchester Cathedral
. After six years there, he was invited to become organist at Westminster Abbey
, where he remained for the rest of his career. He instituted several changes to modernise and improve the music-making at the Abbey and organised the music for several state occasions, including two coronations.
As a teacher and lecturer, Bridge held posts at the Royal College of Music
, Gresham College
and the University of London
. His students included the composers Arthur Benjamin
and Noel Gay
, the organists Edward Bairstow
and Herbert Brewer
, the conductor Landon Ronald
and the early music pioneer Arnold Dolmetsch
. His public lectures at Gresham College attracted large audiences, and they covered a wide range of subjects and musical periods.
For 25 years, Bridge was conductor of the Royal Choral Society
, with whom he performed many new works, including some of his own compositions and works by the British composers Elgar
, Vaughan Williams
and Parry
.
, Worcestershire
, in central England, the eldest son of John Bridge and his wife, Rebecca née Cox. In 1850, his father was appointed a vicar-choral
of Rochester Cathedral
. Young Bridge was admitted to the cathedral choir as a "practising boy" (that is, a probationer). The choirboys were educated by another of the vicars-choral. The régime was severe in discipline and rudimentary in curriculum, but among the alumni of the choir school of this period were future organists of four English cathedrals and of Westminster Abbey
. They included Bridge's younger brother Joseph, who eventually became organist of Chester Cathedral
.
Bridge's first participated in a great national commemoration in 1852, when, aged eight, he was allowed to help toll the cathedral bell to mark the death of the Duke of Wellington
. When Bridge was nine, he and his father were members of the choir assembled by Michael Costa
for the opening of the Crystal Palace
in June 1854. At the age of 14 Bridge left the cathedral choir and was apprenticed to John Hopkins, organist of Rochester Cathedral. While still studying under Hopkins, Bridge was appointed organist of the village church of Shorne
in 1851, and the following year moved to Strood
Parish Church. From 1863 to 1867 he studied composition with John Goss, professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music
. Bridge said in 1897, "Very happy and improving lessons they were and it is impossible for me to over-estimate the value of the instruction given by that dear, simple-minded musician."
In 1865 Bridge was appointed organist of Holy Trinity Church, Windsor
. There he was encouraged and influenced by George Job Elvey
, organist of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and made many friends including John Stainer
and the young Hubert Parry
. During his time at Windsor, Bridge passed the examination for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists
, in 1867, and took his Bachelor of Music
degree at the University of Oxford
.
. He spent six years there from 1869, with his brother Joseph as his assistant. While at Manchester, he took his Doctor of Music
degree at Oxford in 1874, and was professor of harmony at Owens College from 1872.
Under Bridge's leadership musical standards of the cathedral were improved, and the unsatisfactory old organ was replaced. The state of the existing instrument was described by The Manchester Guardian as "not only discreditable to Churchmen, but especially objectionable when existing in the cathedral church of a wealthy diocese.". The churchwarden
, William Houldsworth
gave £5,000, and a magnificent new instrument was built by Hill and Sons of London.
, James Turle
, retired. Bridge was invited to succeed him. As Turle was permitted to retain his former title in retirement, Bridge was formally "Permanent Deputy-Organist of Westminster Abbey" until Turle's death in 1882, but he was effectively in sole charge from the outset. The Musical Times
wrote:
According to a younger organist, Sir Walter Alcock, Bridge fulfilled those hopes: "He reformed many unsound traditions in the choir, such as life-tenure of posts as vicars-choral
and inadequate rehearsal of boys and men together. The services soon became renowned through his marked gifts as a trainer of boys' voices."
To the general public, Bridge became known for organising the music, and composing some of it, for great state occasions, notably Queen Victoria's jubilee (1887), Edward VII
's coronation (1902), the national memorial service for Edward VII (1910), George V
's coronation (1911), and the reinauguration of Henry VII's Chapel
as the chapel of the Order of the Bath
(1913). In the musical world he was known for his special commemorations of English composers of the past. The first was a celebration of Henry Purcell
in 1895, marking the bicentenary of Purcell's death. Bridge presented Purcell's Te Deum "purged of the 18th century accretions which had overlaid it". Later commemorations were of Orlando Gibbons
(1907), and Samuel Sebastian Wesley
(1910).
Having worked successfully to have the organ at Manchester replaced, Bridge found himself obliged to do the same at the Abbey. He described the instrument he inherited as "a very old-fashioned affair". In 1884 the organ was completely rebuilt by Hill and Son to a very high specification.
, Bridge was appointed professor of organ. When the school was reconstituted as the Royal College of Music
in 1883 he was appointed professor of harmony and counterpoint. In 1890 he was elected Gresham professor of music at Gresham College
, London, and in 1903 he was appointed professor of music at the University of London
. According to Guy Warrack
and Christopher Kent in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
, "accounts of his teaching are not complimentary", but he was generally regarded as a highly successful lecturer, and Alcock's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article states, "Because of his persuasive style and apt illustrations, his lectures drew large audiences." His pupils at the Royal College and the Abbey included Edward Bairstow
, Arthur Benjamin
, Herbert Brewer
, Arnold Dolmetsch
, Noel Gay
and Landon Ronald
.
When Sir George Grove
retired as head of the Royal College at the end of 1894, Bridge, along with Hubert Parry
, Charles Villiers Stanford
, Walter Parratt
and Franklin Taylor, was seen as a strong candidate to succeed him. Parry was chosen, and Bridge and the others continued to serve under him.
Bridge's enthusiasms were many and varied. His lectures at Gresham College were well known for the wide range of topics he covered. His articles for the musical press showed a similar variety; some examples are: "Purcell and Nicola Matteis
"; "Samuel Pepys
– A Lover of Musicke"; "A Seventeenth Century View of Musical Education"; and "The Musical Cries of London in Shakespeare's Time". In 1899 he was a pioneer of authentic performance of Handel
's score for Messiah
, purging it of 18th and 19th century reorchestrations.
Bridge's range of enthusiasms caused some carping. The Times
commented:
Bridge was the conductor of the Royal Choral Society
from 1896 to 1921. In an article celebrating his work with the society, Herman Klein
listed the new works that it had performed under Bridge's baton. They included six works by Elgar
, four apiece by Parry, Stanford, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
, and works by Alexander Mackenzie, Frederick Cowen
, Hamilton Harty
, Ethel Smyth
and Vaughan Williams
.
in 1902 and CVO
in 1911. He was awarded honorary degrees from the universities of Durham (1905) and Toronto
(1908).
Bridge retired as organist of the Abbey in 1918, but was granted the title of "Organist Emeritus" and continued to live in the Little Cloisters until his death six years later at the age of 79. His funeral took place at Glass, Aberdeenshire
, where he was buried on 21 March 1924.
, 1890); The Repentance of Nineveh (oratorio, Joseph Bennett
, 1890); The Inchape Rock (ballad, Robert Southey
, 1891); The Cradle of Christ: Stabat mater speciosa (canticle, J.M. Neale, 1894); The Flag of England (ballad, Rudyard Kipling
, 1899); The Forging of the Anchor (dramatic scene, S. Ferguson, 1901); The Lobster's Garden Party (cantata, S. Wensley, 1904); A Song of the English (ballad, Kipling, 1911); and Star of the East (Christmas fantasy, Lady Lindsay, 1922).
Bridge also wrote and edited many carols, and was editor of the Westminster Abbey Hymn-Book and the Wesleyan Hymn-Book. Among his shorter works are many songs, both comic and serious. The former were popular, and Bridge commented that he had written a good deal of serious music, but that nobody seemed to want to hear it.
From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral organist by the age of 24, at Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral is a medieval church on Victoria Street in central Manchester and is the seat of the Bishop of Manchester. The cathedral's official name is The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George in Manchester...
. After six years there, he was invited to become organist at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, where he remained for the rest of his career. He instituted several changes to modernise and improve the music-making at the Abbey and organised the music for several state occasions, including two coronations.
As a teacher and lecturer, Bridge held posts at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, Gresham College
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
and the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. His students included the composers Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Leslie Benjamin was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of Jamaican Rhumba, composed in 1938.-Biography:...
and Noel Gay
Noel Gay
Noel Gay was born Reginald Moxon Armitage. He also used the name Stanley Hill professionally. He was a successful British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised 45 songs as well as the music for 28 films and 26 London shows...
, the organists Edward Bairstow
Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow was born in Huddersfield on 22 August 1874 and died in York on 1 May 1946. He was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition....
and Herbert Brewer
Herbert Brewer
Sir Arthur Herbert Brewer was an English composer and organist. As organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1896 until his death, he contributed a good deal to the Three Choirs Festival for 30 years....
, the conductor Landon Ronald
Landon Ronald
Sir Landon Ronald was an English conductor, composer, pianist, singing teacher and administrator...
and the early music pioneer Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch , was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey...
. His public lectures at Gresham College attracted large audiences, and they covered a wide range of subjects and musical periods.
For 25 years, Bridge was conductor of the Royal Choral Society
Royal Choral Society
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from...
, with whom he performed many new works, including some of his own compositions and works by the British composers Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
, Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
and Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
.
Early years
Bridge was born in OldburyOldbury, West Midlands
Oldbury is a town in the West Midlands in England. It is a part of the Black Country and the administrative centre of the borough of Sandwell.-Local government:...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, in central England, the eldest son of John Bridge and his wife, Rebecca née Cox. In 1850, his father was appointed a vicar-choral
Lay clerk
A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in a Cathedral or collegiate choir in the United Kingdom. The Vicars Choral were substitutes for the Canons...
of Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral
Rochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury...
. Young Bridge was admitted to the cathedral choir as a "practising boy" (that is, a probationer). The choirboys were educated by another of the vicars-choral. The régime was severe in discipline and rudimentary in curriculum, but among the alumni of the choir school of this period were future organists of four English cathedrals and of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. They included Bridge's younger brother Joseph, who eventually became organist of Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral
Chester Cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, and is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly St Werburgh's abbey church of a Benedictine monastery, is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
.
Bridge's first participated in a great national commemoration in 1852, when, aged eight, he was allowed to help toll the cathedral bell to mark the death of the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
. When Bridge was nine, he and his father were members of the choir assembled by Michael Costa
Michael Costa
Michael Costa is a former Australian Labor politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2001 until 2008, and Treasurer of New South Wales from 2006 to 2008.- Early life and career :...
for the opening of the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
in June 1854. At the age of 14 Bridge left the cathedral choir and was apprenticed to John Hopkins, organist of Rochester Cathedral. While still studying under Hopkins, Bridge was appointed organist of the village church of Shorne
Shorne
Shorne is a village and civil parish in the Gravesham District of Kent, England. The parish is located to the south-east of Gravesend; the village is three miles from the town....
in 1851, and the following year moved to Strood
Strood
Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....
Parish Church. From 1863 to 1867 he studied composition with John Goss, professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
. Bridge said in 1897, "Very happy and improving lessons they were and it is impossible for me to over-estimate the value of the instruction given by that dear, simple-minded musician."
In 1865 Bridge was appointed organist of Holy Trinity Church, Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
. There he was encouraged and influenced by George Job Elvey
George Job Elvey
Sir George Job Elvey , English organist and composer, was born at Canterbury on the 27th of March 1816. He was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under Highmore Skeats, the organist...
, organist of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and made many friends including John Stainer
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
and the young Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
. During his time at Windsor, Bridge passed the examination for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists
Royal College of Organists
The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, but with members around the world...
, in 1867, and took his Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...
degree at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Cathedral organist
After four years at Windsor, Bridge achieved his ambition to become a cathedral organist, successfully competing for the post at Manchester CathedralManchester Cathedral
Manchester Cathedral is a medieval church on Victoria Street in central Manchester and is the seat of the Bishop of Manchester. The cathedral's official name is The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George in Manchester...
. He spent six years there from 1869, with his brother Joseph as his assistant. While at Manchester, he took his Doctor of Music
Doctor of Music
The Doctor of Music degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. The D.Mus. is intended for musicians and composers who wish to combine the highest attainments in their area of specialization with doctoral-level academic study in music...
degree at Oxford in 1874, and was professor of harmony at Owens College from 1872.
Under Bridge's leadership musical standards of the cathedral were improved, and the unsatisfactory old organ was replaced. The state of the existing instrument was described by The Manchester Guardian as "not only discreditable to Churchmen, but especially objectionable when existing in the cathedral church of a wealthy diocese.". The churchwarden
Churchwarden
A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish church or congregation of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer. Holders of these positions are ex officio members of the parish board, usually called a vestry, parish council, parochial church council, or in the case of a...
, William Houldsworth
William Houldsworth
Sir William Henry Houldsworth, 1st Baronet was a mill-owner in Reddish, Stockport. He was Conservative MP for Manchester North West from 1883 to 1906, and sometime chairman of the Fine Cotton Spinners' Association...
gave £5,000, and a magnificent new instrument was built by Hill and Sons of London.
Westminster Abbey
In 1875 the organist and master of the choristers at Westminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, James Turle
James Turle
James Turle was an English organist and composer.Turle was born at Taunton, Somerset, and started as a choirboy at Wells Cathedral. In 1817 he became a pupil of G. E. Williams, organist at Westminster Abbey in London, and after acting as deputy for some years he succeeded to this post himself in...
, retired. Bridge was invited to succeed him. As Turle was permitted to retain his former title in retirement, Bridge was formally "Permanent Deputy-Organist of Westminster Abbey" until Turle's death in 1882, but he was effectively in sole charge from the outset. The Musical Times
The Musical Times
The Musical Times is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It is currently the oldest such journal that is still publishing in the UK, having been published continuously since 1844. It was published as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular until...
wrote:
According to a younger organist, Sir Walter Alcock, Bridge fulfilled those hopes: "He reformed many unsound traditions in the choir, such as life-tenure of posts as vicars-choral
Lay clerk
A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in a Cathedral or collegiate choir in the United Kingdom. The Vicars Choral were substitutes for the Canons...
and inadequate rehearsal of boys and men together. The services soon became renowned through his marked gifts as a trainer of boys' voices."
To the general public, Bridge became known for organising the music, and composing some of it, for great state occasions, notably Queen Victoria's jubilee (1887), Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
's coronation (1902), the national memorial service for Edward VII (1910), George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
's coronation (1911), and the reinauguration of Henry VII's Chapel
Henry VII Lady Chapel
The Henry VII Lady Chapel, now more often known just as the Henry VII Chapel, is a large Lady chapel at the far eastern end of Westminster Abbey, paid for by the will of Henry VII. It is separated from the rest of the abbey by brass gates and a flight of stairs.The structure of the chapel is a...
as the chapel of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(1913). In the musical world he was known for his special commemorations of English composers of the past. The first was a celebration of Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
in 1895, marking the bicentenary of Purcell's death. Bridge presented Purcell's Te Deum "purged of the 18th century accretions which had overlaid it". Later commemorations were of Orlando Gibbons
Orlando Gibbons
Orlando Gibbons was an English composer, virginalist and organist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods...
(1907), and Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Samuel Sebastian Wesley was an English organist and composer.-Biography:Born in London, he was the eldest child in the composer Samuel Wesley's second family, which he formed with Sarah Suter having separated from his wife Charlotte. Samuel Sebastian was the grandson of Charles Wesley...
(1910).
Having worked successfully to have the organ at Manchester replaced, Bridge found himself obliged to do the same at the Abbey. He described the instrument he inherited as "a very old-fashioned affair". In 1884 the organ was completely rebuilt by Hill and Son to a very high specification.
Teacher, musicologist and conductor
When the National Training School for Music was set up in 1876 under Arthur SullivanArthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, Bridge was appointed professor of organ. When the school was reconstituted as the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
in 1883 he was appointed professor of harmony and counterpoint. In 1890 he was elected Gresham professor of music at Gresham College
Gresham College
Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in central London, England. It was founded in 1597 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham and today it hosts over 140 free public lectures every year within the City of London.-History:Sir Thomas Gresham,...
, London, and in 1903 he was appointed professor of music at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. According to Guy Warrack
Guy Warrack
Guy Warrack was Scottish composer and conductor. From 1925-1935 he taught on the faculty of the Royal College of Music. From 1935-1946 he was principal conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and from 1948-1951 he was conductor for the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet...
and Christopher Kent in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
, "accounts of his teaching are not complimentary", but he was generally regarded as a highly successful lecturer, and Alcock's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article states, "Because of his persuasive style and apt illustrations, his lectures drew large audiences." His pupils at the Royal College and the Abbey included Edward Bairstow
Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow was born in Huddersfield on 22 August 1874 and died in York on 1 May 1946. He was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition....
, Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Leslie Benjamin was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of Jamaican Rhumba, composed in 1938.-Biography:...
, Herbert Brewer
Herbert Brewer
Sir Arthur Herbert Brewer was an English composer and organist. As organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1896 until his death, he contributed a good deal to the Three Choirs Festival for 30 years....
, Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch
Arnold Dolmetsch , was a French-born musician and instrument maker who spent much of his working life in England and established an instrument-making workshop in Haslemere, Surrey...
, Noel Gay
Noel Gay
Noel Gay was born Reginald Moxon Armitage. He also used the name Stanley Hill professionally. He was a successful British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised 45 songs as well as the music for 28 films and 26 London shows...
and Landon Ronald
Landon Ronald
Sir Landon Ronald was an English conductor, composer, pianist, singing teacher and administrator...
.
When Sir George Grove
George Grove
Sir George Grove, CB was an English writer on music, known as the founding editor of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians....
retired as head of the Royal College at the end of 1894, Bridge, along with Hubert Parry
Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
, Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer who was particularly notable for his choral music. He was professor at the Royal College of Music and University of Cambridge.- Life :...
, Walter Parratt
Walter Parratt
Sir Walter Parratt KCVO was an English organist and composer.-Biography:Born in Huddersfield, son of a parish organist, Parratt began to play the pipe organ from an early age, and held posts as an organist while still a child...
and Franklin Taylor, was seen as a strong candidate to succeed him. Parry was chosen, and Bridge and the others continued to serve under him.
Bridge's enthusiasms were many and varied. His lectures at Gresham College were well known for the wide range of topics he covered. His articles for the musical press showed a similar variety; some examples are: "Purcell and Nicola Matteis
Nicola Matteis
Nicola Matteis was a leading Baroque violinist in London and a composer of significant popularity in his time....
"; "Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
– A Lover of Musicke"; "A Seventeenth Century View of Musical Education"; and "The Musical Cries of London in Shakespeare's Time". In 1899 he was a pioneer of authentic performance of Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's score for Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
, purging it of 18th and 19th century reorchestrations.
Bridge's range of enthusiasms caused some carping. The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
commented:
Bridge was the conductor of the Royal Choral Society
Royal Choral Society
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from...
from 1896 to 1921. In an article celebrating his work with the society, Herman Klein
Herman Klein
Herman Klein was an English music critic, author and teacher of singing. Klein's famous brothers included Charles and Manuel Klein...
listed the new works that it had performed under Bridge's baton. They included six works by Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
, four apiece by Parry, Stanford, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an English composer who achieved such success that he was once called the "African Mahler".-Early life and education:...
, and works by Alexander Mackenzie, Frederick Cowen
Frederic Hymen Cowen
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen , was a British pianist, conductor and composer.-Early years:Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last child of Frederick Augustus Cohen and Emily Cohen née Davis. His siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen ; actress,...
, Hamilton Harty
Hamilton Harty
Sir Hamilton Harty was an Irish and British composer, conductor, pianist and organist. In his capacity as a conductor, he was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz and he was much respected as a piano accompanist of exceptional prowess...
, Ethel Smyth
Ethel Smyth
Dame Ethel Mary Smyth, DBE was an English composer and a leader of the women's suffrage movement.- Early career :...
and Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
.
Personal life
Bridge was married three times, first, in 1872, to Constance Ellen Moore (d. 1879); second, in 1883, to Helen Mary Flora (d. 1906), and third, in 1914, to Marjory Wedgwood (d. 1929). There were a son and a daughter of the first marriage, and a daughter of the second. Bridge was knighted in 1897, and created MVORoyal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
in 1902 and CVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
in 1911. He was awarded honorary degrees from the universities of Durham (1905) and Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(1908).
Bridge retired as organist of the Abbey in 1918, but was granted the title of "Organist Emeritus" and continued to live in the Little Cloisters until his death six years later at the age of 79. His funeral took place at Glass, Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, where he was buried on 21 March 1924.
Music
Bridge's larger-scale works include the choral pieces Mount Moriah (oratorio) (1874); Boadica (cantata, G.E. Troutbeck, 1880); Callirhoë: a Legend of Calydon (cantata, W.B. Squire, 1888); He giveth his Beloved Sleep (meditation, Elizabeth Barrett BrowningElizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
, 1890); The Repentance of Nineveh (oratorio, Joseph Bennett
Joseph Bennett (critic)
Joseph Bennett was an English music critic and librettist. After an early career as a schoolmaster and organist, he was engaged as a music critic by The Sunday Times in 1865...
, 1890); The Inchape Rock (ballad, Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
, 1891); The Cradle of Christ: Stabat mater speciosa (canticle, J.M. Neale, 1894); The Flag of England (ballad, Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
, 1899); The Forging of the Anchor (dramatic scene, S. Ferguson, 1901); The Lobster's Garden Party (cantata, S. Wensley, 1904); A Song of the English (ballad, Kipling, 1911); and Star of the East (Christmas fantasy, Lady Lindsay, 1922).
Bridge also wrote and edited many carols, and was editor of the Westminster Abbey Hymn-Book and the Wesleyan Hymn-Book. Among his shorter works are many songs, both comic and serious. The former were popular, and Bridge commented that he had written a good deal of serious music, but that nobody seemed to want to hear it.