Frank Bridge

Par BRIDGE FRANK. 'The individual emotional quality and organic structure of Oration place it high in Bridge's output and indeed in British music of the first half of this century. . .a profound work. . .'Music and Letters (Trevor Bray), April 1981/ Répertoire / Conducteur

Par BRIDGE FRANK. 'Isabella' is Bridge's second symphonic poem, and was completed on January 1907, and was the first orchestral work he chose to acknowledge. It is the only one of Bridge's orchestral work to follow a detailed narrative. It is based on Keats' 'Isabella or the The Pot of Basil', a poetic version of Boccasccio's gruesome Florentine tale./ Répertoire / Conducteur

Frank Bridge (1879 – 1941) was one of the leading English composers of his time. In October 1922 he adapted his popular string quartet Sir Roger de Coverley for full symphony orchestra and Sir Henry Wood agreed at the last minute to include it in the last night of the Queen’s Hall Promenade Concerts at the end of that month.This elaborate and colourful orchestral version has never been widely performed but has now been brilliantly transcribed by Alastair Wheeler to provide a miniature dance poem for grade 5 level concert band.Bridge’s lively treatment of one of England’s most famous traditional dance melodies willmake a fitting end to any concert with the strains of Auld Lang Syne introduced by Bridge as a nod towards Sir Roger de Coverley’s traditional function as the final dance of a Christmas Ball as it was in Old Mr. Fezziwig’s party in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.