Scan 419
Grove's Dictionary Of Music And Musicians Vol I A. To E., 1904
22 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. Printed page 401. See the scan on archive.org.
1treble foot over those fibres of the belly which pass over the top of the sound-post (the sound-post itself standing a little in the rear). The width of the bridge, as a rule, should not exceed the width between the sound-holes, and it should stand on a line exactly bisecting the superficial area of the belly, and precisely at right angles to the axis of the violin. Violin-makers make two nicks in the middle of each sound-hole which are supposed to indicate such a line, but these are not always to be relied on.
3E. J. P.
5BRIDGE, SIR JOHN FREDERICK, was born at Oldbury, near Birmingham, Dec. 5, 1844. Six years later his father, John Bridge (who died at Chester, Sept. 1, 1893) obtained a lay clerkship at Rochester Cathedral, and to Rochester the family removed. At the tender age of six Master Bridge entered the Cathedral choir as a 'practising boy' (i.e. a probationer) under the then organist J. L. Hopkins. He remained in the choir till soon after he was fourteen, and was then articled to John Hopkins, who had succeeded his cousin in the organistship of the Cathedral. His first organist appointment was at Shorne Church, a village between Rochester and Gravesend. A year later (in 1862) he became organist of Strood Parish Church; in 1865 he removed to Holy Trinity Church, Windsor, and became a pupil of John Goss. During his Windsor period he qualified for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists (1867), and took the degree of Mus.B. at Oxford (1868).
7In 1869 Bridge was appointed organist of Manchester Cathedral, a post he held with distinction for six years. At Manchester he held the Professorship of Harmony at Owens College from 1872 to 1875, and took his doctor's degree (at Oxford) in 1874; for his exercise he composed the oratorio 'Mount Moriah.'
9Upon the retirement of James Turle from the active duties appertaining to the organistship of Westminster Abbey, Bridge was appointed Permanent Deputy-organist in the autumn of 1875; on the death of Turle (June 28, 1882) he succeeded to the full title. In virtue of his ancient office of organist of Westminster Abbey he has taken part in many important services held within those historical walls. Chief among these were Queen Victoria's Jubilee Service (June 21, 1887), and the Coronation of King Edward VII. (August 9, 1902); for each of these events he arranged all the music that was performed, and composed an anthem.
11In May 1890 he was elected Gresham Professor of Music; in 1896 he succeeded the late Sir Joseph Barnby as conductor of the Royal Choral Society; and in 1903 he was appointed First King Edward Professor of Music in the University of London. As an examiner for degrees in music his services have been in great request—e.g. the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London, Durham, and Victoria; the Royal College of Organists, etc. He conducted the Highbury Philharmonic Society from 1878 to 1886, and the Western Madrigal Society, and he is the present conductor of the Madrigal Society. He is a prominent member of the Musicians' Company.
13On the occasion of Queen Victoria's Jubilee (1887) he received the Jubilee medal; at the Diamond Jubilee of her late Majesty (1897) he received at her hands the honour of knighthood, and the clasp to the Jubilee medal; and in acknowledgment of his services at the Coronation of 1902, King Edward VII. made him a member of the Victorian Order.
15His compositions, which are strongly impregnated with that vivacity so characteristic of his mercurial temperament, include the following: 'Mount Moriah,' oratorio, composed for the degree of Doctor of Music, 1874; 'Boadicea,' cantata, Highbury Philharmonic Society, May 31, 1880; 'Hymn to the Creator,' motet for soprano solo and chorus, Highbury Philharmonic Society, May 7, 1883; 'Rock of Ages,' Mr. Gladstone's Latin translation of Toplady's hymn, Birmingham Festival, August 27, 1885; concert overture for orchestra, 'Morte d'Arthur,' Mr. Stockley's concert, Birmingham, May 6, 1886; 'Callirrhoë,' cantata, libretto by W. Barclay Squire, Birmingham Festival, August 30, 1888; 'Repentance of Nineveh,' dramatic oratorio, libretto by Joseph Bennett, Worcester Festival, Sept. 11, 1890; 'The Lord's Prayer,' Gloucester Festival, Sept. 7, 1892; 'The Cradle of Christ' (Stabat Mater Speciosa), Hereford Festival, Sept. 12, 1894; 'The Flag of England,' a setting of Rudyard Kipling's poem, Royal Choral Society, May 6, 1897; 'The Ballad of the Camperdown,' Rudyard Kipling's words, Royal Choral Society, Dec. 7, 1899; and 'The Forging of the Anchor,' dramatic scene for baritone solo and chorus, Gloucester Festival, Sept. 11, 1901.
17In addition to the foregoing must be added two choral ballads, 'The Festival' (men's voices) and the 'Inchcape Rock'; a minuet and trio for orchestra; many anthems, church services, hymn-tunes, etc.; organ music (Sonata in D, etc.); part-songs, humorous and otherwise. Sir Frederick Bridge has edited the Westminster Abbey Chant Book, the Westminster Abbey Hymn Book; and he is author of Primers on Counterpoint, Double Counterpoint, Organ Accompaniment, and Musical Gestures; as well as of Samuel Pepys, Lover of Musique (1903), and A Course of Harmony (1899), in collaboration with Dr. F. J. Sawyer.
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21BRIDGE, JOSEPH COX, brother of the foregoing, and youngest son of John Bridge, was born at Rochester, August 16, 1853. He became a chorister in Rochester Cathedral, and subsequently assistant organist to his master, John Hopkins. He was afterwards a pupil of and assistant to his brother John Frederick at Manchester Cathedral. In 1871 he obtained the
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