Idylle

Joseph Cox Bridge (1853-1929) was an English organist and composer. Born at Rochester, Kent, studied under John Hopkins and his elder brother, Frederick, who later became organist of Westminster Abbey.

From 1871 to 1876 he was organist of Exeter College, Oxford, and received his Mus. B. in 1876. In 1877 he became organist of Chester Cathedral. There he revived the Chester triennial festival. In 1908 he became a professor at the University of Durham.

His works include an oratorio, Daniel (1885); a Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, in C, for voice and orchestra (1879); and considerable organ-music, anthems, and part-songs.

When I was looking the other day for some more "rare" English "summertime" pieces, I came across this "Idylle" and a few other things by Joseph Bridge. This one looked "passably interesting," but I think the others would not have had much listening interest. This one too looked a bit "doubtful," but then, I came across a way to "transform" the piece!

The musical/interpretative notes are given in the First Comment.

A few more interesting things about the Bridge Brothers...

Frederick, the elder, was, as I've said, organist of Westminster Abbey, a post for the top virtuoso of the day, and this is what I thought! However, there was a joke that he was FAR from the leading virtuoso, particularly in his pedal playing! He was known as a "left-footer," and it was said that the middle and upper octaves of the Westminster Abbey pedalboard were "virgin territory!"

This may not be true, since he wrote a magnificent "Sonata in D Minor," which I uploaded some time ago.

He also wrote a book that I found very informative and informational - "A Westminster Pilgrim", published in 1918.

When I bought my original edition, the man who sold it to me charged me $50, which is probably fair. However, he had a second copy, coming from the same collection, that was autographed by J. Frederick Bridge. The price of this one was $500... ;-)

Photos attached!