Romanze#
About Bridge#
Born in Brighton in 1845 Frank Bridge was an accomplished violinist, conductor and composer. I’ve found information on him to be quite scarce, with most him being best remembered from his association as Benjamin Britten’s teacher. I think his music is extremely underrated, perhaps because he is so overshadowed by his famous pupil.
His collection of works for violin and piano as been even harder to find any information on (just finding a score on sale was a challenge). The collection features a series of what I consider pastoral pastiches, with a somewhat melancholic/nostalgic feel to them. It was written in the early part of his career (~1900) for the amateur market of his day (they’re not very complicated pieces).
The Romanze is taken from the (confusingly named) second volume of his 11 Pieces for Violin and Piano. Strangely inside my score is says that though it was written in 1904 it wasn’t published, so it must be a later addition to the compilation. I’ve always heard it as a nostalgic piece, perhaps depicting a long lost or unrequited love.
Volume 2 contains 7 pieces total, entitled as follows:
- Spring Song
- Meditation
- Lullaby
- Amaryllis
- Romanze
- Country Dance
- Heart’s Ease
The entire album can be listened to here
This music video has been a long time in the making. We originally recorded it for a university recording module assessment over a year ago, and then had the idea of turning it into a video later on. I hope to release the rest of the collection at some point onto streaming platforms, so keep an eye out for that.
Many thanks to everyone who helped out making this one happen!
Socials#
Violin/editing: Adrian de Lima
Piano: Toby Baker
Recording Engineer: Nicole Gisbourne
Videography: Matthew Abesamis
Mixing: Wesley Lopes
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