The middle period of Frank Bridge's compositional career consists of four works, the first of which is the tone poem for orchestra, Summer (1915). This work was the first to be completed after the success of another orchestral piece, Dance Poem (1913), in which the composer made considerable progress toward an individualized style. The next two compositions of Bridge's middle period were Two Poems for Orchestra (1915), a work based on a couple of poems by Richard Jefferies, and the Second String Quartet, also completed in 1915. The final composition of this period is the Cello Sonata (1917), which Bridge actually began sketching in 1913. In the next ten years, the composer would not finish another major work on a similar level of the Cello Sonata. Each subsequent work of the middle period, including Summer, showed some indications of the eventual path that the composer was to take.

Summer is a lushly written piece for orchestra in which the extremely lyrical melodic material in many respects resembles the themes found in Bridge's other compositions up to this point. Also similar to previous works is the way in which Bridge presents a countermelody to promote melodic development. Also characteristic of the composer is the technically perfect part-writing. Yet Summer has distinctive and attractive qualities. By mimicking the harmonic language of the previous English generation, Bridge achieved a sense of a pastoral setting in his piece. By using modal harmonies and incorporating diatonic dissonances, Bridge achieved something like the robust English pastoral sound of Frederick Delius, among others. Bridge had recently come into contact with the works of Delius, as well as John Ireland and Arnold Bax. Formally, Summer likewise owes something to the ideas of these composers; its form is largely dictated by alternating moods or sonorities, in which the orchestration used is widely varied from section to section.

Bridge's familiarity with the orchestra had greatly increased since he had begun to be invited to accept conducting engagements with such groups as the New Symphony Orchestra. He also was desired as a conductor of operas, appearing in this fashion at the Savoy Theatre and at Covent Garden. He was even asked to fill in at Promenade Concerts when the regular conductor, Henry Wood, was not able. Bridge was so skilled at score-reading and musical interpretation that he was available to accept conducting assignments on very short notice. Fittingly, Bridge himself conducted the first performance of Summer on March 13, 1916.

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