Bridge's Piano Sonata.

This article focuses on Frank Bridge's Piano Sonata, composed between 1921 and 1924, a work initially met with critical ambivalence but now recognized as a significant composition of Western classical music between the World Wars. It traces the sonata's challenging reception history, stylistic influences from European modernism, and its formal structure, highlighting its three movements and innovative "arch form." The article surveys key recordings from the 1970s to the present, recommending interpretations by pianists Eric Parkin, Kathryn Stott, Mark Bebbington, and Alexander Soares for their distinctive insights into the sonata's formal coherence, textural nuance, expressive integration, and emotional acuity. It concludes by encouraging renewed interest and advocacy for the sonata among contemporary pianists worldwide, emphasizing its importance in the evolution of early 20th-century piano literature.