Frank Bridge

Frank Bridge was born on 26 February 1879 in Brighton (England). His father was a violinist and conductor who led local theatre and promenade orchestras, and from an early age Frank Bridge was immersed in practical music-making. As a child he learned the violin and the piano and began composing small pieces while still at school. He played in his father’s orchestra and gained first-hand experience of orchestral and theatrical repertoire, which gave him a solid practical grounding before any formal studies. During his teenage years he was already working as a professional musician, especially as a string player, while continuing to develop his skills in harmony and composition.
In 1899 Frank Bridge entered the Royal College of Music in London, where he received a thorough formal musical education. He studied composition primarily with Charles Villiers Stanford, and also came under the influence of Hubert Parry and Charles Wood. Alongside composition he continued serious instrumental study, particularly as a violist.
After completing his studies, Frank Bridge embarked on a multifaceted professional career. He became a founding member and violist of the English String Quartet, with which he toured widely in Britain and abroad from around 1906. At the same time he was active as a conductor, directing orchestral and chamber concerts, and as a composer whose music was increasingly performed at major festivals and concerts. From the 1920s onward he was also an influential teacher; most famously, he became the composition teacher and mentor of Benjamin Britten. 
Frank Bridge received a number of distinctions and forms of recognition during his lifetime. Early success came with the Cobbett Prize, which he won in 1905 for his Phantasy Piano Quartet, helping to establish his name. He also benefited from awards and financial support from institutions such as the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, which enabled him to pursue larger and more ambitious compositions. Although he never received a knighthood or official state honor, he was widely respected within British musical circles as a composer of integrity and high artistic standards.
Frank Bridge died on 10 January 1941 in Eastbourne (England).

The work catalogue of Frank Bridge contains more than 100 compositions. Among them are the opera "The Christmas Rose", several orchestral pieces like the suite "The Sea" or the rhapsody "Enter spring". His chamber music includes four string quartets, two piano trios, violin and cello sonatas and the Phantasy piano quartet; songs such as "Go Not", "Happy Day" and other art songs for voice and piano and choral works like "The Flag of England".

Blow out, you bugles

In my possession is the autograph full score of the song "Blow out, you bugles" by Frank Bridge. The work is scored for tenor and orchestra and sets a poem by Rupert Brooke to music. The work was completed in May 1918 according to the manuscript. The premiere of the work was on 18 October 1918 with Gervase Elwes (tenor), the Queen's Hall Orchestra under the baton of the composer. The piano reduction was printed by Winthrop Rogers a year later and in this printed edition the work is dedicated to Gervase Elwes and his wife. This dedication is not written in the manuscript and therefore added later by Frank Bridge.