Sonata in D Minor (III - Introduction and Fugue)

The third movement is a fiery "Introduction and Fugue".

It begins "Andante maestoso" with a short, but impressive opening passage that uses the full organ at the start, before dropping back to the Full Swell coupled to Great Diapasons. This builds quickly up to full again, and the brisk fugue, "Allegro" with it's always moving subject "appears" out of the echo of the Introduction.

While the fugue does not rival Bach's masterpieces, it shows that Bridge knew his Bach well, as it shows that he had a complete command of the compositional techniques of fugue. It works itself through a breathless number of keys, reaching a central climax before the blaze of the Swell reeds melts away behind the Great Diapasons once again.

An exciting build-up ensues during the course of a "stretto", which leads to an extended dominant pedal point, over which the subject, now played on the Solo Tuba in the tenor register ushers in the final thunderous passages, which combine the feeling of the "Introduction" with the rush of the "Fugue".

A final extended tonic pedal point on the full organ brings the piece to a conclusion in the key of D major.

It's too bad this piece is so obscure, since it's a really fine work, and not overly long in duration.