Frank Bridge (1879-1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor whose music moved from Edwardian lyricism toward a more searching modernist language. Born in Brighton, he studied at the Royal College of Music with Charles Villiers Stanford.

Bridge wrote orchestral works, chamber music, songs, piano pieces and choral music. He was also an influential teacher, most famously of Benjamin Britten, who retained deep admiration for him throughout his life.

His early music is finely crafted, lyrical and warmly Romantic, while later works such as the Third and Fourth String Quartets explore a more concentrated and dissonant idiom. The change reflects both artistic development and the shadow cast by the First World War.

Bridge’s reputation long rested partly on his connection with Britten, but his own music has increasingly been recognised as major and distinctive. He is one of British music’s most compelling figures of transition.