Frank Bridge: Cherry Ripe for orchestra (1916)

Frank Bridge’s Cherry Ripe is a delightful piece that forms the second of his Two Old English Songs for string quartet, completed on 30 May 1916. This work, alongside Sally in Our Alley, displays his ability to blend traditional folk melodies with his own unique compositional style. Cherry Ripe is based on a popular English folk tune, and Bridge’s arrangement captures its pastoral and nostalgic qualities. Interestingly, he did not use folksong very often. The only other obvious example apart from these is Roger de Coverley.

Cherry Ripe is characterized by its lyrical melodies and rich harmonies, which evoke a sense of simplicity and elegance. Bridge’s use of the string quartet format allows for intricate interplay between the instruments, creating a delicate and intimate soundscape. This has been replicated in the orchestral transcription.

Paul Hindmarsh (2016, p.141) explains that “Cherry Ripe is a miniature technical tour-de-force. The bustling opening gives no hint of the tune, and this eventually eases in unannounced, emerging out of the contrapuntal texture as the second subject. There is a touch of class in the way Bridge towards the end combines his own energetic subject with the more sustained phrases of the traditional melody.”

On the afternoon of 17 June 1916, the London String Quartet premiered the chamber version of the Two Old English Songs at the Aeolian Hall. The orchestral transcription, enhanced with an added bass part, had its debut at a Queen’s Hall Promenade Concert on 26 September 1916, conducted by Henry Wood.

Leonard Rees (The Sunday Times, 1 October 1916, p.4) noted “that [there] was a quasi-novelty on Tuesday night when Mr Frank Bridge’s skilful and genial arrangement of Sally in our alley and Cherry Ripe for string orchestra was given for the first time under the composer’s direction.”

Sadly, the critic of the Westminster Gazette, (27 September 1916, p.9) was unimpressed – “If, therefore, there was not an overflowing audience last night, it was really not very surprising—for it is to be feared that the "first performance "of Mr. Frank Bridge's perversions of Sally in Our Alley and Cherry Ripe were hardly compensation, in the opinion of most, for the absence of works more famous.”

For me, Cherry Ripe remains a good example of early 20th-century English music, highlighting Bridge’s talent for crafting beautiful and evocative arrangements.

Listen to the orchestral version of Frank Bridge’s Cherry Ripe on YouTube, here. The English Northern Philharmonia is conducted by David Lloyd-Jones.

Bibliography
Hindmarsh, Paul, Frank Bridge (1879-1941) The Complete Works, PHM Publishing, 2016. eBook.

Select Discography

1. Bridge, Frank, Cherry Ripe, with Enter Spring, The Sea, Lament and Summer, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Sir Charles Groves EMI 566855-2 (1998) (original LP release: EMI ASD 3190) (1976)
2. Bridge, Frank, Cherry Ripe, with Threads: 2 Intermezzi, Suite for Strings, Sally in Our Alley, Rosemary, Canzonetta, Valse Intermezzo à Cordes, Sir Roger de Coverley, Todessehnsucht {after J.S. Bach}, The Hag and Two Songs of Robert Bridges), BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox, CHANDOS CHAN 10246 (2004)
3. Bridge, Frank, Cherry Ripe, with Sir Roger de Coverley, Sally in our Alley, Vaughan Williams: Charterhouse Suite, Haydn Wood: Fantasy-Concerto, Ireland: The Holy Boy, Delius: Air and Dance, Elgar: Sospiri, Warlock: Serenade, G. Bush: Consort Music), English Northern Philharmonia/David Lloyd-Jones NAXOS 8.555068 (2001) 

With thanks to Paul Hindmarsh for permission to use the musical example.