John S. Bridge
A Manchester Musician
By Stuart Scott
John S. Bridge c.1918
An important figure in Manchester music
and much in demand, John Bridge progressed through the Hallé
ranks to become leader, whilst at the same time earned a reputation
for himself as a chamber musician being associated with two
of the best string quartets of the early twentieth century.
Among the first musicians to be employed by the BBC for their
2ZY Manchester station, Bridge held important posts as an
early broadcaster and also found time for teaching and conducting.
From the beginning of his professional life his talent was
recognised by his colleagues and critics often singled him
out with kind words.
John
Sedgwick Bridge was born on 22nd December 1872
at Bury in Lancashire. From an early age he was always known
as Jack and as a lad lived with his grandfather, John Sedgwick,
as part of a large musical family at 10, Haymarket Street,
Bury. Music and the arts had obviously played a part in the
family life of the Sedgwicks long before Jack was born. His
grandfather had taken in borders including the opera singer,
Charles Mallett. Jose and Hortensia Ramirez, two Spanish minstrels,
also lodged with him for a time.
Jack’s
brothers were musicians too. Harry (b.1879) was a violinist
and conductor/director of the Bury Theatre Orchestra. Sam
(b.1881) was a good amateur cellist and Herbert (b.1883) became
a professional double bass player and he was said to have
belonged to ‘Richter’s Band’, although it appears that he
was never a permanent member of the Hallé Orchestra. However,
he was a member of the Royal Opera House Orchestra and spent
summers at Torquay where he played with the municipal band.
Through
the tuition and professional guidance of his uncle Henry,
Jack began playing publicly at the age of 16 in the old theatre,
Bury. Between the ages of 16 and 20, he found a new teacher
in Willy Hess who prepared him for a professional life in
a symphony orchestra. In 1893, at the age of 20, the young
Bridge found a place in the first violins of the Hallé Orchestra
sitting alongside so many well established and revered musicians.
He must have been a first class player at an early age and
he maintained his position over a long period of time surviving
Richter’s purge of personnel in 1900. Being a member of the
Hallé must have meant much to the young man. At concerts Willy
Hess sat at the front desk, his uncle and first teacher, Henry
Sedgwick sat close by in the second violins and his cousin,
Frank Sedgwick, looked over him from the ranks of the Hallé
Choir during a performance of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony
on November 30 1893. One can perhaps also imagine Jack’s excitement
when playing his very first concert in which Sarasate appeared
as soloist in Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole.
In
the same month (October 1893) the Royal Manchester College
of Music opened its doors for the first time and staffed by
Hallé Orchestra principals, the college would have much significance
for the future of Manchester music. In the coming years Jack
Bridge was to play an important part in maintaining the high
standards of the establishment.
Jack
Bridge’s first season with the orchestra was conducted by
Charles Hallé and his teacher, Willy Hess, appeared regularly
as soloist and leader. There was a performance of Flying
Dutchman (Nov.16) and Hallé played what was to be his
last performance in Manchester of the Emperor Concerto.
The music of that first season was probably all new repertoire
for the young player and for many of the audience too.
Bridge’s
second Hallé season (1894-95) ended on May 4 when Charles
Hallé conducted Mendelssohn’s Elijah in aid of a charity.
It was to be Hallé’s last Manchester concert as he died the
following October. Bridge and his colleagues played at his
funeral which took place at the Church of the Holy Name on
Oxford Road, close by the college of music. Appropriately,
Brodsky conducted Mozart’s Requiem and the funeral march from
Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. With little or no time
to mourn, Bridge and the rest of the orchestra played the
following day (Oct.26) in Simon Speelman’s Saturday Popular
Concert at the Free Trade Hall which included Greig’s Piano
Concerto played by Leonard Borwick. Curiously enough,
there was no tribute to Hallé in the programme. For this concert
Jack’s uncle Henry took his usual position in the second violins
but Jack played alongside Simon Speelman’s brother, Sam, as
sub-principal. Already his talent was beginning to be recognized.
At the third Speelman Concert of the series he found he had
a closer look at the great Sarasate, soloist in the Mendelssohn
concerto.
When
the season in Manchester came to an end in may 1896, Jack
Bridge managed to find work on the North Wales coast, like
many other Hallé players. He left behind him a busy and successful
season in which he had given such a good account of himself
as a professional that he was now in demand as a chamber music
player too. Only a few months before, he had been asked to
play second violin in Tchaikovsky’s String Sextet Op.70
at Wilhelm Bauerkeller’s
Chamber Concerts (Monday, March 30 1896) in the Gentlemen’s
Concert Hall on Peter Street but now all his attention was
given to music at the seaside and marriage.
He
married musician, Enid Stuart Jones (1868-1937) on 25 July
1896 at Brunswick Chapel (Wesleyan Methodist), Rhyll. Bridge
had known her work in Manchester where she was busy building
her own career as pianist and accompanist in chamber music
concerts, often in the company of well established musicians
such as Willy Hess and Carl Fuchs. From the 1890’s she provided
music for Ancoats Brotherhood meetings and concerts.
On 4 January 1890, Herbert Gladstone M.P. addressed the meeting
giving a talk on India and Enid played in piano quartets by
Rheinberger and Mozart with Carl Fuchs and others, before
and after the lecture. She was there again on 5 October when
she joined Ettie Wraith (violin) and Carl Fuchs (cello), playing
trios by Gade and Mendelssohn. She also sang two songs at
the same concert but doesn’t seem to have pursued singing
as a career. It was Ancoats Brotherhood meetings that were
to provide Enid with much work in the future but she was in
demand by other concert promoters too. The Schiller-Anstalt
Concert on 14 May 1892 was billed as an event given by Enid
Jones ‘assisted’ by Willy Hess and Carl Fuchs. Schumann’s
Trio Op.63 was played and Enid gave Beethoven’s Moonlight
Sonata and other solos. Throughout 1903-04 Enid acted
as accompanist at the Ladies’ Concerts given at the Midland
Hotel Concert Hall. She may have been the resident accompanist
there as she appeared with a number of different ensembles.
It is clear that she too had a growing reputation in the city.
In
the early 1900s, Guardian critic Samuel Langford (1863-1927)
seemed to be leading a campaign for the acceptance and performance
of chamber music in the city. Through his writings he repeatedly
emphasized its importance in the musical education of Mancunians.
Bridge and his wife obviously felt the same and after the
birth of their daughter, Barbara Enid Bridge (b.1900) on 18
January 1900, they appeared together at the Schiller-Anstalt
Concert on Saturday October 20 along with other Hallé players
led by Rawdon Briggs. Jack and Enid continued to appear together
in chamber music concerts throughout their careers but Jack
also made regular solo appearances. On one occasion at a Sowerby
Bridge Choral Society Concert on Tuesday, 21st
February 1899, he “delighted the audience with a violin solo,
and gratified them greatly by re-appearing in response to
a not-to-be-denied recall”.
However,
Jack Bridge’s orchestral work of this period was of no less
interest or importance to him as any other kind. It has been
said that he admired very much the playing of Fritz Kreisler.
Between 1902 and 1909 the famous violinist made several visits
to Manchester playing concertos with the Hallé Orchestra.
The Brahms, Mendelssohn and Mozart A major concertos were
popular. As a member of the orchestra Bridge was, no doubt,
very happy to be part of these performances and learned much
from them as later in his career he performed these same concertos
to much acclaim and often included Kreisler arrangements in
his chamber music concerts.
Richter
was now in charge of the Hallé and on 2 March 1905 he gave
the British premiere of Sibelius’s second symphony in Manchester.
Sibelius was present at rehearsals and Bridge would have gained
valuable insight into the new work. In the same way he would
have met other composers of his day. There was Elgar of course,
Bantock, Richard Strauss and John Foulds, one of his colleagues
with whom he played quartets, who was then becoming recognised
as a composer.
At
the close of the 1904-05 season Bridge probably felt quite
honoured that Richter had selected him to go to London’s Covent
Garden with him once again for his spring/summer opera season
which started on 1 May, ending on July 25th. Previously
he had played in the Ring Cycle of 1903 but this season
he played in nineteen different opera plus two Ring Cycles,
with Tristan and Tannhäuser in addition. Highlights
of that season included the appearance of Melba in Traviata
(17 May), the production of Franco Leoni’s new opera,
L’Oracolo (28 June) and Madama Butterfly (10 July)
with Emmy Destinn and Caruso. There was also a Gala Concert
on 8 June in honour of the King of Spain. Bridge probably
found it all a little more demanding than his previous summer
work on the North Wales coast. Nevertheless, he was adding
to what was later recognised as a profound musical knowledge
and memory. He had a very retentive memory and it is reported
that once, whilst at Covent Garden, he played through from
memory, the whole of the fire music from the Valkyrie
while in the ‘green room’, before a performance.
The
following summer, Bridge made his way back to the seaside,
although this time it was not to one of the Welsh resorts.
He played a summer season with the Devonshire Park Orchestra,
at the Floral Hall, Eastbourne. On Saturday 5 September, Mr
Norfolk Megone’s Grand Concert was given with an orchestra
of 54 players. In addition there was the Band of His Majesty’s
Coldstream Guards, the Band of the 2nd Sussex R.G.A.
Volunteers, the pipers of the Scots Guards and the municipal
orchestra and military band. The military presence was reflected
in the programme which included Grand March from Le Prophète
by Meyerbeer, Wagner’s Rienzi and Tchaikovsky’s 1812
overtures. The concert ended with Jullien’s popular The
British Army Quadrilles.
As
the first decade of the century rolled on towards its conclusion,
Bridge enjoyed Kreisler’s visit to Manchester in 1908 when
he played the Mendelssohn concert once again and Mrs Enid
Bridge pursued her career as accompanist to various chamber
ensembles and singers. Music was providing a reasonable living
for them as they were soon to move to a new home in Goulden
Road, Withington where they employed one domestic servant.
More
work was assured when Ancoats Brotherhood introduced a regular
series of chamber concerts in 1911, mostly given by Hallé
players and college staff. In the same year, Bridge took on
the position of second violin with the Rawdon Briggs Quartet
(Rawdon Briggs, John Bridge, Mrs Rawdon Briggs and Walter
Hatton) and first played with that ensemble on 10 April 1911
at a concert given in the Memorial Hall, in aid of the Manchester
Domestic Mission. In November Kreisler played the Elgar concerto
at a Hallé concert conducted by Henry Wood and in the same
month Jack Bridge came face to face with Elgar as conductor
when, on November 23, he visited the Hallé to conduct his
second symphony, its first Manchester performance.
The
following year he prepared himself for one of the biggest
undertakings of his career. He was to tour the USA and Canada
with the London Symphony Orchestra, under Arthur Nikisch,
8 – 28 April 1912. Hallé colleagues Arthur Gaggs, Joseph W.
Gaggs, Walter Hatton and Harry Barlow also played in the LSO
for the duration of the tour and the American immigration
form described Bridge at that time as aged 39, height 5’81/2,
complexion fair, hair brown, eyes grey. Originally booked
to sail on the Titanic, the orchestra most certainly avoided
catastrophe when the arrangements were changed and they sailed
from Liverpool on the White Star Liner, Baltic, for New York
on March 28. On April 2 the orchestra gave a concert on board
ship in aid of seamen’s charities in Liverpool and New York.
Arthur Payne, leader of the orchestra, conducted and two days
later gave an evening concert at which members of the orchestra
contributed solos. Whether or not Bridge made his own contribution
is not known.
Once
in the USA the twenty-one day tour itinerary consisted of
twenty-eight concerts in twenty-three cities. The orchestra
travelled by train, berthed 32 to a carriage, stopping for
meals and baths at hotels en route. However, the latter needs
were often missed through train delays. One can’t help thinking
that Bridge’s usual list of anecdotes was lengthened considerably
by the events of this journey. He had a genial presence and
often related stories of the many famous musicians he had
met, and of the varied nature of rehearsals and concerts in
which he had played.
Between
1913 and 1919 Bridge played under Michael Balling and Sir
Thomas Beecham. The Hallé programmes represented a wider repertoire
mainly through the efforts of Beecham to include French, Italian,
Russian and English works. During the same period he did much
to enhance his reputation as a chamber music player too. He
travelled to London with the Rawdon Briggs Quartet in the
first week of July 1913 for a Bechstein Hall concert given
on Monday, July 7. A quartet by Haydn and the Brahms Quartet
in B flat Op.67 were included in the programme and one
London critic was moved to write that, “John Bridge’s playing
had excellent qualities”.
The
following year he was appointed principal second violin in
the Hallé Orchestra and continued to appear at the usual venues
in the city playing chamber music with available colleagues.
At Ancoats in February 1914 he played trios with R.J. Forbes
and John Foulds. In October he formed his own quartet with
T. Barrett, S. Gibbons and John Foulds to play concerts for
Ancoats Brotherhood. Later the personnel of this quartet changed
when Arthur Stewart and Seth Lancaster replaced Gibbons and
Foulds. He appeared in programmes with Ethel Midgley and his
wife, Enid, providing piano parts and he increased his repertoire
to include more trios and solos.
The
onset of war dictated that Hallé players were on half pay
for a while and Jack’s brother, Herbert enlisted and joined
the 7th Bn, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
Nevertheless,
concerts in Manchester went ahead under various conditions
and whilst still playing with Rawdon Briggs, Bridge became
a member of the Catterall Quartet, first appearing with the
ensemble at the Birmingham Chamber Concerts Society meeting
on 12th October 1915, replacing Hallé colleague, Ernest O’Malley.
He was now a member of two reputable quartets and after playing
in the first of four winter concerts of the Catterall Quartet,
held at the Midland Hall on November 17, 1916, Guardian critic
Samuel Langford readily recognized that Bridge was an excellent
player and now one of the leading violinists of his day, in
writing, “Mr Bridge is worthy of a more honourable place amongst
our leading violinists than has been yet awarded him”. The
programme included a performance of Bach’s Double Concerto
with Catterall and Forbes (piano) of which Langford particularly
noted the “intensity and refinement” of Bridge’s playing.
The Bach concerto was later to become a favourite vehicle
for the display of his musicianship.
The
Catterall Quartet, 1918
In
1917 Bridge made another journey to London with the Catterall
Quartet which made its first appearance at the Leighton House
Concerts
on Thursday 15 February. Other venues for the quartet that
year included the Midland Hall, Windmill Street, Manchester
where on Friday 9 March they placed themselves in the centre
of the room rather than on the platform. Debussy’s Quartet
and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet were performed with
E. Mills (Hallé principal) taking the clarinet part. On the
21 March Bridge was back in the same hall playing Bach’s Concerto
for two violins with Ottoline Walker and Archie Camden
(piano) and a further opportunity for solo work was taken
up in an evening orchestral concert conducted by Baguley Waters
at Fernilee Schools, Whaley Bridge on 21 November. Exactly
two months previous to this date, Bridge had learned that
his youngest brother, Herbert had been killed in action in
Belgium and that another brother, Harry, formerly Director
of the Bury Theatre, was then serving with the Machine Gun
Corps. One can only hope that he found some solace in music.
Maybe in recognition of his increased credibility as a chamber
musician, Bridge was admitted to the Royal Society of Musicians
of Great Britain on January 6 1918. In the same month, Langford
noted that “Bridge plays with an increasing warmth of style”,
after hearing him perform the Brahms Sonata No.1 in D minor
at a Friday Noon Concert with Ethel Midgley. A later performance
of the same work with the Ethel Midgley Trio at a Friday Noon
Concert on April 14 brought him a further complement from
Samuel Langford who thought that “Bridge played as always,
with a fervour that at no time overwent the limits of pure
musical beauty”. The following month (March 22) he was no
less enthusiastic after their performance of Tchaikovsky’s
Elegy Trio in writing, “John Bridge never fails to
match the ardour of his colleagues. His reputation …. is enhanced
by every concert at which he appears”. The Ancoats Brotherhood
concerts continued regularly throughout the year offering
Bridge and Frank Park the opportunity to give Mozart’s Concerto
for Violin and Viola in E flat accompanied by Enid in
February and November.
In
addition to orchestral duties, Bridge and his wife were heavily
committed to chamber music performances in Manchester with
various ensembles at the Tuesday Midday Concerts, the Friday
Noon Concerts and the New Islington Hall concerts. However,
both appeared as soloists and Bridge took on some conducting
in 1919. On February 7 he and Archie Camden shared the conducting
of the opening night of the New Mills Orchestral Concerts
season as their regular conductor, Baguley Waters, was indisposed.
Not refusing the challenge, Bridge also appeared as soloist
in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto before ending the
concert by conducting Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. His
performance of the Mendelssohn, according to Langford had
“rich expression” and showed “polished execution”.
During
May 1919 Bridge turned his attention to Elgar and played the
new Violin Sonata with Ethel Midgley at the Houldsworth
Hall on May 9. Later in the month he took part in the first
Manchester performance of Elgar’s Quartet when the
Catterall Quartet played it at an afternoon concert on May
27. Once again Bridge’s contribution was singled out by Langford
noting that in the slow movement, “The first violin is kept
in reserve during the opening section, and Mr Bridge has rarely
performed a delicate task so well as in the introduction of
the main melody”. The Catterall Quartet played the work again
on 17 November at the first concert of the newly formed Rochdale
Chamber Concerts Society.
Enid’s
opportunity to appear as soloist came at a Tuesday Midday
Concert on June 3 at the Houldsworth Hall. The programme given
by Walter Mudie’s String Orchestra included Bach’s Concerto
in F minor and Piece for Piano and Strings by Julius
Harrison.
Any
Manchester violinist would have been hugely honoured and delighted
to have been a member of the Brodsky Quartet. In 1920, Jack
Bridge was invited to play second violin in that very quartet
and soon he had his friend and colleague, Frank Park (viola)
sitting next to him. This came about through the death of
Simon Speelman and the resignation of Rawdon Briggs. Park
and Bridge were now playing as regular members of both the
Catterall and the Brodsky Quartets. When not playing with
the Hallé, Bridge played chamber music on most other days
of the week. It was a very busy period requiring much stamina
and enthusiasm. On January 23 he played Schubert’s Rondo
in B minor with Ethel Midgley at the Friday Noon Concert
and according to Langford, “Mr Bridge and Miss Midgley gave
a spirited performance of the work”.
Friday
Noon Concerts and Tuesday Midday Concerts continued to give
Bridge a platform for his talent and his reputation as a chamber
music player. On March 26 he performed Dvorak’s Trio in
F minor Op.65 with the Ethel Midgley Trio and once again,
Langford was enthusiastic in writing, “Mr Bridge kept the
full fervour of the natural style and his playing has rarely
sounded more beautiful”. Two months later after a performance
of the Brahms Piano Quartet in A on May 4 with Enid
at the piano, the same critic recognized that, “Mr Bridge
has never played with more beauty. His tone had warmth and
a flush of beauty not always realized in his playing”. It
is clear that Bridge held a respected position in Manchester
music making appreciated by colleagues, critics and audiences
alike.
After
the Catterall Quartet concert for the newly formed British
Music Society in Manchester on October 1 1920, Langford noted
in the Guardian next day that, “the quartet has never shown
itself a more finely balanced body”. Later in the same month,
in response to a performance of Beethoven’s Quartet in
B flat given at the Tuesday Midday Concert (Oct.26 1920),
he found “Mr Bridge in his finest mood”. The Catterall Quartet
was going from strength to strength, gaining a wide reputation.
In December 1920 they played in Dublin at the Royal Society
Hall and Bridge played trios by Brahms, Schubert and Arensky
with Beatrice Hewitt (piano) and Johan Hock (cello) in the
same hall on December 13.
To
end the year, Bridge joined Hallé flautists Joe Lingard and
Joseph Ridgway in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.4,
conducted by Baguley Waters on December 1st, of
which Neville Cardus noted that, “Mr Bridge played the solo
violin, and his tone was keen and perfectly phrased”. Before
the Christmas break, Jack and Enid, along with Frank Park
and William Warburton gave the Brahms Piano Quartet in A Op.26
at the Tuesday Midday Concert in the Houldsworth Hall, bringing
to a close a very busy and successful year.
The
winter programmes of the Ancoats Brotherhood at the New Islington
Hall continued on January 9 1921 when Bridge played with the
Brodsky Quartet. Brodsky was very happy giving concerts for
Charles Rowley’s Ancoats Brotherhood, introducing the arts
to an area deprived of any beauty. Rowley subscribed to Brodsky’s
college and so there was a two-way benefit in the arrangement.
However, it wasn’t long before Bridge had to make some decisions
about his work as a quartet player. Because of the increasing
workload with the Catterall Quartet, both Bridge and Frank
Park decided to resign from the Brodsky Quartet in favour
of work with Catterall which involved concerts in the city
and at other venues including Birmingham and Dublin as well
as future recording contracts. In June Brodsky reformed his
quartet with Alfred Barker (his pupil), Mrs Rawdon Briggs
(viola) and Walter Hatton (cello). The following month, the
Catterall’s first recording for HMV was issued, helping the
quartet to gain an even wider audience. Later in the year
they travelled to London’s Wigmore Hall where they gave performances
on 15 and 22 November.
However
successful the ventures of the Catterall Quartet had become,
Bridge was always loyal to the Hallé and local music making.
In 1922 he became a member of the Management Committee of
the Hallé Orchestra Pension Fund and later, Chairman of the
same body. He continued to appear at Ancoats as soloist or
quartet member on a regular basis, and was joined there on
one occasion by his daughter, Barbara, who accompanied her
father in four Kreisler arrangements at the meeting of January
29. In August further recordings of the Catterall Quartet
were issued by HMV and several more the following year. The
quartet had become a household name.
The
quartet members travelled to Dublin at the beginning of 1923
for a Monday afternoon concert at the Royal Society of Arts
on January 15. With little or no time to spare, the players
found themselves back in Manchester ready to play at the Midday
Concert the next day. Such was the size of the audience to
welcome them that Langford found it difficult to get in or
out of the Memorial Hall that day and reported that, “Mr Bridge,
the second violinist, played many phrases of melody with an
especial sweetness and beauty”. In a later column he went
on to say that, “The enthusiasm displayed by the public over
the performances of the Catterall Quartet is one of the most
gratifying signs of musical appreciation now to be found in
Manchester music”. He felt that the players had a fine unity
of feeling and tone and technical achievement of the highest
order. Clearly, the quartet had reached a high point of fine
playing, their recordings and travels helping to spread the
word.
Bridge
took on further responsibilities that year. He became Deputy
Leader of the Hallé Orchestra on 18 October 1923. He had adjudicated
at the Buxton and North Derbyshire Musical Festival in May
(Bantock was there at the same time, adjudicating choral classes)
and made recordings for HMV with the quartet in June. Nevertheless,
the following year the Gramophone Company formed their own
quartet, the Virtuoso Quartet, ending the Catterall Quartet’s
association with HMV.
The
quartet concert at Rochdale Chamber Concerts on Saturday,
January 12 1924 included a performance of the Bach Double
Concerto played by Bridge and Catterall. Their Columbia
recording of this work with the Hallé under Harty (Col.L1613-15)
soon became popular and a large number of copies were sold.
The reviewer in the March 1925 issue of The Strad enthusiastically
noted that “the two violinists both played from the first
desk in the Hallé Orchestra, thus the complete unanimity with
which they play together will be understood and the general
effect very fine”. On March 29 the same soloists were to be
heard in a performance given at the Brand Lane Concert in
the Free Trade Hall, and Neville Cardus remarked that, “By
the time the noble slow movement was reached his [Bridge]
playing had come into a warmth of tone and an eloquence of
phrasing far beyond anything we have heard from him in the
past”.
Bridge
had played a s a member of the 2ZY Wireless Station Orchestra
on occasion but in May 1924 T.H.Morrison, leader of the orchestra
became its conductor on the resignation of Dan Godfrey (jnr)
and Bridge took on the leadership. This was the beginning
of a new departure and an important contribution to early
broadcasting. By the end of the year another important contribution
was recognized when E.W. Grommé, president of the Hallé Society,
presented Bridge with the Hallé Medal for long service on
October 16. Bridge had been a member of the orchestra for
31 years. It seems that he was much appreciated in the city
and never more so than by Guardian critic Samuel Langford
who, after hearing him play with the Midgley Trio at the Tuesday
Midday Concert on September 23 1924, exclaimed that, “Mr John
Bridge, all musical feeling and refinement. Never before have
we found Mr Bridge play with such a full-blooded intensity
of style, and his tone shone with a brilliance of which we
had hardly suspected him capable”.
At
this time the Catterall Quartet were planning a tour of Russia,
Germany and Poland, and Langford’s Guardian column of July
10th 1924 had already made it clear that any such
tour would bring recognition of the Quartet’s abilities and
was well deserved. The tour went ahead in January 1925 when
the quartet gave concerts in Berlin, Crakow, Warsaw, Lodz,
Moscow and the Ukrainian towns of L’viv and Kiev. On their
return changes were soon to be made in the Hallé ranks. Catterall
resigned the leadership at the end of the season and Bridge
was appointed in his place. Bridge gave up his position in
the Catterall Quartet but travelled to Dublin once again to
play trios with Clyde Twelvetrees (cello) and Dr. Esposito
(piano). Works by Brahms and Beethoven were played and according
to the writer in The Strad (April 1925), they were “given
by three great masters, brilliant equally in solo work and
chamber music”. Bridge spent the summer at Llandudno. He was
leader of the pier orchestra for Arthur Payne’s last season
as conductor there before facing the start of his first Hallé
season as leader.
Catterall
returned as soloist and joined Bridge in a performance of
the Bach Double Concerto, conducted by Beecham on November
21 at the start of the new Hallé season. Two days before that,
Bridge had faced a difficult task as new leader of the orchestra
in a performance of Don Juan by Richard Strauss but
Langford noted that, “Bridge came well out of the important
solo passages, which in their precipitate nature are as much
a test of nerves as of a player’s execution”.
On
Monday 23 November 1925 Bridge appeared as soloist with the
orchestra playing the Mendelssohn concerto at the Municipal
Concert in the Free Trade Hall and gained the approval of
the Guardian critic yet again. “Mr John Bridge aroused the
audience to the greatest enthusiasm”, wrote Langford, “He
kept the tone refined in quality and free from the garishness
which has too often been the undoing of this music. He played
the rapid finale at a fine speed, and at the close worked
up a quite brilliant climax”. From such comment one may be
certain that Bridge had made an impressive start as the Hallé’s
new leader. In addition to this, broadcasting continued throughout
the year and Bridge not only led the 2ZY orchestra but now
organized the 2ZY Quartet (John Bridge, T.B. Sidebottom, Norman
Cunliffe, and Haydn Rogerson).
As
the Hallé season moved on into the New Year, Bridge gave Bach’s
Double Concerto once again with Alfred Barker at a
Thursday Concert on 28 January 1926. On the same day the Guardian
announced Bridge’s appointment as conductor of the Llandudno
Pier Orchestra. His association with the Pier Orchestra stretched
over many years. In 197 he was playing under Jules Rivière
and continued to spend summers there becoming leader and deputy
conductor under Arthur Payne and then under Sargent, eventually
taking over as conductor himself in 1927. With two performances
a day, summer music kept the players busy enough but the repertoire
was not quite as demanding as the Hallé season or the chamber
music performed at other times of the year. There were of
course certain periods for relaxation and it is reported that
in his early days at the resort, Bridge took part in a cricket
match, Pier Orchestra Strings v Pier Orchestra Wind at the
Llandudno Cricket Club Ground in August 1897. Wind players
won by seven wickets. Apparently Bridge had a little more
luck with golf club and billiard cue in his younger days.
Returning
to Manchester for his second season as leader he was again
in the limelight on the weekend of October 3 playing a half
hour recital broadcast from 2ZY station at 4.00pm. Later that
same evening he was performing as leader of the augmented
Wireless Station Orchestra conducted by T.H. Morrison in the
Manchester station’s Red Rose Concert given in celebration
of Civic Week. The concert was relayed from the Hippodrome,
Manchester and included solos from Arthur Catterall, Isobel
Baillie and Norman Allin. A full day of broadcasting was not
to be unusual for Bridge from then on. The BBC was making
more demands on his time and he had probably reached a point
where, like many of his colleagues at that time, a decision
had to be made concerning workload, conditions and making
a better living. It is not clear whether Bridge was appointed
Hallé leader on a temporary or permanent basis but his tenure
lasted for only two seasons. Memorable occasions of his last
season must have included playing under Richard Strauss at
a Brand Lane Concert on November 14 and Elgar’s visit to Manchester
to conduct a programme of his own music on January 20th.
Bridge
continued to play in the Hallé as first violinist after March
1927, and later in the year he was once again busy with broadcasts.
He gave a broadcast recital at 8.30pm on September 3, titled
“The Violin in Lighter Mood”. On September 21, following music
by the station quartet broadcast at 3.00pm, Bridge and his
wife, Enid, along with Winifred Bury (mezzo), provided chamber
music and songs at 7.30pm on the same day. The following month
the station announced the new John Bridge Quartet (John Bridge,
T.B. Sidebottom, Norman Cunliffe, Haydn Rogerson). The first
broadcast of the 2ZY Quartet under the new name took place
on Sunday October 23. Bridge also conducted on occasion and
perhaps his resourcefulness as a conductor and broadcaster
is demonstrated by the story told of him conducting the Northern
Wireless Orchestra when the lights failed. As hero of the
drama, Bridge hurriedly lit a cigarette and used the glowing
end to lead the players through the music.
In
1929 Bridge turned his attention to the business of teaching
and joined the staff at the RMCM under Catterall who was then
senior professor. Nevertheless, his demanding work schedule
still included broadcasting, orchestral playing, appearances
as soloist and chamber music concerts with various ensembles
in the city. He resigned from the Hallé Orchestra the following
year playing his final concert with them on March 13 1930
and took up an appointment as leader/conductor of the BBC’s
Northern Studio Orchestra, a nine piece ensemble used only
for broadcasting. Its members were John Bridge, Don Hyden
(violin), Frank Park (viola), Clyde Twelvetrees (cello), Alfred
Stott (double bass), Pat Ryan (clarinet), Otto Paersch (horn),
Sam Holt (trombone) and Eric Fogg (piano). The ensemble replaced
the disbanded Northern Orchestra which Bridge had previously
served as leader and deputy conductor.
The
Sunday afternoon broadcast on November 9 featured Bridge as
soloist in the Violin Concerto in D by Brahms. It was to be
his last performance of a concerto and by all accounts one
of his most successful. Neville Cardus remarked that, “the
cadenza was a brilliant piece of fiddling”, and then went
on to say, “Mr Bridge played the adagio with great beauty
of tone and style. The finale was very masterful and enjoyed
a freedom of rhythm”. He paid further tribute to Bridge in
writing, “The performance was a personal triumph for a Manchester
artist who is as modest as he is clever and experienced and
musicianly.”
Over
the next few years Bridge involved himself in the chamber
concerts at the college and continued his duties for the BBC.
He must have particularly welcomed the broadcast made from
Manchester on September 29 1935 when Catterall met up with
the old members of the quartet to play Mozart and Ernest Walker’s
Fantasie Quartet. That same year Bridge taught pupils
in his studio at Ogden Chambers on Deansgate.
After
the death of his wife, Enid, on November 28 1937 and now approaching
the age of 65, it was time for further changes to be made
in his busy life. Two days after a short tribute broadcast
(The Orchestra in Person: John Bridge) lasting only fifteen
minutes on March 28 1938, the BBC announced his retirement,
and Bridge contented himself with the odd opportunity of chamber
music. By 1940 he had set up a new teaching studio at 328,
Oxford Road, opposite the Royal Infirmary but he had not given
up the idea of playing professionally. For the 1941-42 season
the Hallé found their numbers were depleted because of war
demands and Bridge returned to his old orchestra for one season
as a second violinist.
Four
years later his life’s work was at an end when he died at
his home in Didsbury on July 2 1945, aged 72. Once described
as the little man with the twinkling eye, the shy manner and
the touch of an angel, Bridge had a professional career spanning
more than 50 years. During that time he freely shared his
talents with others to bring about important artistic events
in Manchester music.
© Stuart Scott, 2011
Acknowledgement: Catterall Quartet photograph from Wigmore
Hall programme, Feb.25 1918. Source: GB-LrcmCPH/GB-Lwh
The author is indebted to Frank Rutherford for his extensive
and diligent research.
