Frank Bridge: Valse Intermezzo for strings (1902)

When Paul Hindmarsh published the first edition of his indispensable Frank Bridge: A Thematic Catalogue in 1983, he noted that the composer’s Valse Intermezzo for strings had neither been performed or published. The piece had been completed on 22 August 1902, whilst the composer, still a student, was holidaying at Eastbourne.

On his website, Hindmarsh takes up the story: “In the autumn of 1999, John Bishop (1931–2000) the administrator of the Royal College of Music’s Frank Bridge Bequest music committee, invited me to assemble a suite of pieces as a “home” for an attractive early waltz for strings. We had both long admired this work but were undecided how best to promote it. As I considered some of Bridge’s early piano pieces to be more like sketches for string works than genuine keyboard music, I looked for suitable items from his early instrumental music.”

This resulted in Four Pieces for String Orchestra (Frank Bridge), arranged by Paul Hindmarsh. This included 1. Prelude in E minor [H.29], 2. Valse Intermezzo in E minor [H.17], 3. Song without Words [H.22] and 4. Scherzo Phantastick [H.6]. The score was published in 2001 and was soon after recorded in its entirety on the Delos Record label.

Fabian Huss (The Music of Frank Bridge, Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2015, p.24) noted this early work as “an elegant minor-key waltz” which revealed “his idiomatic string writing, and looks ahead to the refined polished style of the Suite for Strings of 1909-10.”

Listeners will enjoy this remarkable homage to the waltz. Despite the obvious influence of French and Russian models, Frank Bridge has made a uniquely English take on this form. The entire piece is wistful, never sentimentally sweet, and always sophisticated. Of equal importance is the confidence that Bridge brings to the string writing.

The Valse Intermezzo has received three recordings: Northern Sinfonia/David Lloyd-Jones, English String Miniatures, vol. 4, Naxos 8.555070, (2000); Moscow Chamber Orchestra/Constantine Orbelian, The Music of Frank Bridge, Delos DE3263, (2001) and BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox, Bridge Orchestral Music, vol. 5, Chandos, CHAN 10246, (2004). This final version has been uploaded to YouTube.

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