IDAGIO | Bridge: Piano Trio No. 2 - Miniatures for Piano Trio - Phantasie

Featuring

Hugh Maguire
David Roth
Patrick Ireland
Bruno Schrecker
John Tunnell
Charles Tunnell

Susan Tunnell
Brian Hawkins
Allegri Quartet
Tunnell Trio
Frank Bridge

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Composer Biography

Before World War I, Frank Bridge was as well known for his viola playing in the English String Quartet as he was for his compositions.

Compositional Technique

Frank Bridge's String Quartet No. 4, though not atonal, features a harmonic language dominated by a polychord: a major triad superimposed on a minor triad with a root one tone lower.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Frank Bridge believed his later works, which had no clear keys and irregular rhythms, were a natural progression from his earlier, more tonal music, stemming from a desire to express more personal and subtle ideas.

Composition History

The American patron of new music, Elisabeth Sprague Coolidge, provided Frank Bridge with $2,500 a year, enabling him to focus on composing in new stylistic paths.

Composer Biography

Frank Bridge's music, particularly his chamber and orchestral works composed between 1924 and 1938, largely fell out of the repertoire after his death.

Critical Reception

Frank Bridge's Piano Trio (1929) received a cold reception in England, with critic Herbert Hughes calling it "patently 1929 music" owing a great deal to Schoenberg.

Composition History

Frank Bridge repaid Elisabeth Sprague Coolidge's generosity by composing works for her international festivals, including the String Quartet No. 3, Piano Trio (1929), and String Quartet No. 4 (1937).