Funded by the Frank Bridge Bequest, this project aims to bring the composer's music to a wider audience through publishing a wide-ranging collection of essays and an open-access web-resource of materials.
The work of Frank Bridge, a former student, is of particular significance to the Royal College of Music which holds the largest single collection of his manuscripts. The project is part of the RCM’s wider research interests into twentieth-century British music, a major component of the RCM Collections.
Frank Bridge (1879-1949) entered the RCM in 1896 as a violin student, but in 1899 was awarded a scholarship to study composition with Charles Villiers Stanford. Following the death of Bridge's widow the substantial collection of manuscripts he had retained was presented to the College. Further manuscripts and letters have since been acquired, making the RCM the principal repository of his work worldwide. As a beneficiary of the Frank Bridge Bequest, the College has long championed the composer’s music, not least through the funding it provided for the recording of all his orchestral music on CD. More recently it has undertaken the preparation of performing editions of unpublished early songs and chamber music. Following a successful public symposium and concert in January 2016, the RCM is keen to generate greater public and scholarly awareness of Bridge’s music.
Funded by the Frank Bridge Bequest, Jonathan Clinch was the first Frank Bridge Fellow from January 2017 to August 2018. Jonathan prepared an edited collection of scholarly essays about Bridge and his contemporaries, as well as a number of online resources.
