In the old music school game of "Name That Composer," this piano music disc would have stumped everyone. Go ahead -- start it anywhere and try to guess who it is. Is it Claude Debussy? Could be: the pellucid melodies and whole tone harmonies are the hallmarks of the French composer. Is it Alexander Scriabin? Could be: the rhapsodic forms and chromatic harmonies are the trademarks of the Russian composer. But while it could be Debussy or Scriabin, the composer is, in fact, Frank Bridge, the most cosmopolitan composer of the ...
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In the old music school game of "Name That Composer," this piano music disc would have stumped everyone. Go ahead -- start it anywhere and try to guess who it is. Is it Claude Debussy? Could be: the pellucid melodies and whole tone harmonies are the hallmarks of the French composer. Is it Alexander Scriabin? Could be: the rhapsodic forms and chromatic harmonies are the trademarks of the Russian composer. But while it could be Debussy or Scriabin, the composer is, in fact, Frank Bridge, the most cosmopolitan composer of the English revival of the early twentieth century. And although these works don't represent Bridge at his most characteristic -- try the slightly later sonata for that -- they do reveal a composer of astounding facility and astonishing sensitivity. Although one might guess that A Fairy Tale has enough warmth and whimsy to be by the composer of The Children's Corner, there is an undeniable Englishness in its cozy cadences and sepia-toned colors. And although one might guess that In...
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