Piano Concerto No. 1 in a minor

• Bright composed this concerto in 1888. It was followed by a second piano concerto in 1892.¹
• This concerto premiered at a concert at the Royal Academy of Music in 1888, while Bright was a student there.²
• She also toured Germany several times with this concerto, performing it there in 1889, 1890 and 1892.³ Bright appeared as soloist in this concerto multiple times in London, where her playing and the composition were favorably received.⁴

“The concert on Saturday was a most enjoyable one, the programme included the names of Handel, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Wagner, besides that of a gifted young English composer, and withal one of our best pianists, Miss Dora Bright. This young lady made her first appearance in the Crystal Palace concert room, playing a Concerto of her own composition, a more than creditable work…Miss Bright played her work with taste and brilliancy [and] she was deservedly recalled to acknowledge the greeting of the audience for her and her work.”

From a review of Dora Bright’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in Musical News, April 3, 1891.⁵

1. Sophie Fuller, “Bright [Knatchbull], Dora,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed November 24, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000045631.
2. “Dora Bright (1863-1951),” Hildegard Publishing, accessed November 24, 2021, https://www.hildegard.com/composer_detail.php?id=36.
3. “Dora Bright: Biography,” British Music Collection, accessed November 24, 2021, https://britishmusiccollection.org.uk/composer/dora-bright.
4. Fuller, “Bright [Knatchbull], Dora,” Grove Music Online.
5. Musical News, Vol. 1 (United Kingdom: N.D.), 85.