Arnold Bax

Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO (November 8, 1883 — October 3, 1953), was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of Romanticism and Impressionism, always with a strong Celtic influence. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colorful instrumentation. Bax’s poetry and stories, which he wrote under the pseudonym of Dermot O’Byrne, reflect his profound affinity with Irish poet William Butler Yeats, and are largely written in the tradition of the Irish Literary Revival.

Early years
Bax was born in Pendennis Road, Streatham, London, into a Victorian upper-middle-class family, of Dutch descent. In Bax, A Composer and His Times (2007) Lewis Foreman clarifies that because of the family affluence, Bax never had to take a paid position, and was free to pursue most of his interests; a sharp contrast to the life of too many Britons, who suffered abject poverty in the infamous slums. Bax displayed early that he was fitted with a powerful intellect and a great musical talent, especially at the keyboard. Playing the Wagner operas at the piano were amongst Bax’s favorite activities – one of Bax’s first intimate meetings with art music was Tristan und Isolde and its influence is seen in many of Bax’s later works (e.g. Tintagel). Bax was taught at home, but received his first formal musical education at age 16 from Cecil Sharp and others at the Hampstead Conservatory. Bax was accepted to the Royal Academy of Music in 1900 where he remained until 1905. At the Academy, Bax was taught composition by Frederick Corder, the Piano by Tobias Matthay, and the Clarinet by Egerton. In his composition classes, Corder emphasized the examples of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, and pointed to their liberal approach to classical form, which led Bax to develop a similar attitude. Bax also had an exceptional ability to sight-read and play complex orchestral scores at the piano, which won him several medals at the Academy. He also won prizes for best musical composition, including the Battison-Haynes prize and the competitive Charles Lucas medal.

Conglomerate of influences
The Irish influence is only one of many found in Bax's music. An early affinity with Norway and the literature of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson brought themes and moods from the Nordic countries into his music. From 1905 to 1911 Bax constantly alternated between using Nordic and Celtic themes in his compositions. Bax even attempted to teach himself some Norwegian, and in the song The Flute (1907) for voice and piano, Bax set an original poem by Bjørnson successfully to music. Later and fine examples of Bax’s Nordic affinity are Hardanger for two pianos (1927) and the orchestral tone-poem The Tale the Pine-Trees Knew (1931).

In 1910, a youthful fling with a Ukrainian girl, Natalia Skarginska, brought Bax to St Petersburg, Moscow and Lubny near Kiev, which led to a fascination for Russian and Slavonic themes. The relationship with Skarginska resulted in an emotional agony from which Bax never completely recovered. His conflicted feelings are perhaps reflected in the First Piano Sonata in F sharp (1910, revised 1917-20). The influence from Russia and the Ukraine can also be seen in two works for solo piano from 1912; Nocturne–May Night in the Ukraine, and Gopak (Russian dance). In 1915 appeared In a Vodka Shop also for solo piano. In 1919 Bax was one of four British composers to be commissioned to write orchestral music, which was to serve as interludes at Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in London this season. For the commission Bax incorporated the three above-mentioned piano works of Russian themes into Russian Suite for orchestra. In 1920 Bax wrote his final score of a clearly Russian theme. It was incidental music to J. M. Barrie’s whimsical play The Truth About the Russian Dancers. The Russian influence is found in many of Bax's further scores, and especially predominant in Symphonies No. 1 to 3.

Recordings
After his death, Bax's music fell into decline. There are several reasons for this: Bax maintained that his was a Romantic outlook and he distanced himself from musical modernism and especially Arnold Schoenberg's Serialism, which was embraced by institutions world wide. Bax was increasingly pigeon-holed as a 'musical pastoralist' together with Vaughan-Williams and others, and this style fell out of fashion with orchestras. Also, Bax never did much to champion his own music. As a result, Bax's music was slow to reach recording. As late as the mid-sixties, there were only two recordings of his symphonies, one long deleted and the other on an obscure label. But from 1966 onwards, a revival of his music was begun by a series of recordings on Richard Itter's Lyrita Label, and by the centenary of his birth in 1983 much of his music was available in modern recordings. The Naxos label have released a complete cycle of Bax’s symphonies and tone poems, and also much of his chamber music. Chandos records have also provided two complete symphony cycles. The first, released throughout the 1980s and 1990s with Bryden Thomson and the London Philharmonic Orchestra for all except Symphony 4, there played by the Ulster Orchestra and the second, released in 2003, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra with Vernon Handley. However, even today Bax’s music is not frequently performed in concerts. Although Bax was an able pianist, his appearances as a performer were few and far between. There are recordings of him partnering with May Harrison and Lionel Tertis in sonatas by Frederick Delius and himself. He made a rare concert appearance at the memorial concert for Peter Warlock in 1930.

As of March 2007, five discs are waiting to be issued, though a release date has not yet been announced:

(1) A second disc of Tone-Poems from Vernon Handley and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Chandos). The Happy Forest still to be added.
(2) Violin Sonatas in G minor, F, and No.2 from Laurence Jackson and Ashley Wass (Naxos).
(3) Works for two pianos (including a first recording of the Festival Overture in that form) from Ashley Wass and Martin Roscoe (Naxos).
(4) Overture to Adventure, Rogue's Comedy Overture, Work in Progress from Vernon Handley and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (recorded 1994). (Lyrita)
(5) Reissue of the Second Symphony from the LPO and Myer Fredman, and the Fifth Symphony from the LPO and Raymond Leppard. (Lyrita)

Works

Ballets
Tamara (1911)
From Dusk till Dawn (1917)
The Truth about the Russian Dancers (1920)

Orchestral

Symphonies
Symphony No. 1 (1921)
Symphony No. 2 (1926)
Symphony No. 3 (1929)
Symphony No. 4 (1931)
Symphony No. 5 (1932)
Symphony No. 6 (1935)
Symphony No. 7 (1939)

Tone Poems
Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan (1905)
Into The Twilight (1908)
In The Faery Hills (1909)
Rosc-catha (1910)
Spring Fire (1912)
Christmas Eve (1912, revised c.1921)
Nympholept (1915, revised 1935)
The Garden of Fand (1916)
In Memoriam (1916)
November Woods (1917)
Tintagel (1919)
Summer Music (1921, revised 1932)
The Happy Forest (1922)
The Tale the Pine Trees Knew (1931)
Northern Ballad No. 1 (1931)
Northern Ballad No. 2 (1934)
A Legend (1944)

Other Orchestral Works
Variations for Orchestra (Improvisations) (1904)
A Song of War & Victory (1905)
On the Sea Shore (1908, orch. 1984)
Festival Overture (1911, revised 1918)
Dance of Wild Irravel (1912)
Four Orchestral Pieces (1912-13)
Three Pieces for Small Orchestra (1913, revised 1928)
Symphonic Scherzo (1917, revised 1933)
Russian Suite (1919)
Mediterranean (1922)
Cortège (1925)
Romantic Overture (1926)
Overture, Elegy and Rondo (1927)
Three Pieces (1928)
Overture to a Picaresque Comedy (1930)
Sinfonietta (1932)
Saga Fragment (1932)
Prelude for a Solemn Occasion (1933)
Rogue's Comedy Overture (1936)
Overture to Adventure (1936)
Paean (1938)
Salute to Sydney (Fanfare) (1943)
Work in Progress (Overture) (1943)
Victory March (1945)
The Golden Eagle (Incidental Music) (1945)
Two Royal Wedding Fanfares (1947)
Coronation March (1952)

[edit] Concertante
Symphonic Variations, for piano and orchestra (1918)
Phantasy for Viola and Orchestra (1920)
Winter Legends, for piano and orchestra (1930)
Cello Concerto (1932)
Violin Concerto (1938)
Piano Concertino (1939)
Morning Song, for piano and orchestra (1946)
Concertante for Three Solo Instruments and Orchestra (1949)
Concertante for Orchestra with Piano (Left Hand) (1949)
Variations on the name Gabriel Fauré for Harp & String Orchestra (1949)

Chamber

One Player
Valse, for harp (1931)
Rhapsodic Ballad, for cello (1939)

Two Players
Violin
Violin Sonata No. 1 (1910)
Legend, for violin and piano, in one movement (1915)
Violin Sonata No. 2 (1915, revised 1922)
Ballad, for violin and piano (1916)
Violin Sonata No. 3 (1927)
Ballad, for violin and piano (1929)
Violin Sonata in F (1928)
Viola
Viola Sonata (1922)
Legend, for viola and piano (1929)
Cello
Folk-Tale, for cello & piano (1918)
Cello Sonata (1923)
Cello Sonatina (1933)
Legend-Sonata, for cello & piano (1943)
Four Pieces for Flute and Piano (1912, revised 1915 & 1945)
Clarinet Sonata (1934)
Fantasy Sonata, for viola & harp (1927)
Sonata for Flute and Harp (1928)

Three Players
Trio in One Movement for Piano, Violin, and Viola (1906)
Elegiac Trio, for flute, viola, and harp (1916)
Piano Trio in Bb (1946)

Four Players
String Quartet No. 1 in G major (1918)
Piano Quartet, in one movement (1922)
String Quartet No. 2 (1925)
String Quartet No. 3 in F (1936)

Five Players
Quintet in G (1908)
Piano Quintet in G minor (1915)
Quintet for Harp and Strings, in one movement (1919)
Oboe Quintet (1922)
String Quintet (1933)
String Quintet, in one movement (1933)

Six or More Players
In Memoriam, sextet for cor anglais, harp & string quartet (1916)
Nonet (1930)
Octet (1934)
Threnody and Scherzo, octet in two movements (1936)
Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Harp and String Quartet (1936)

One Piano
Clavierstücke (Juvenilia) (1897-8)
Piano Sonata, Op. 1 (1898)
Piano Sonata in D minor (1900)
Marcia Trionfale (1900)
White Peace (Arranged by Ronald Stevenson 1907)
Concert Valse in Eb (1910)
Piano Sonata No. 1 (1910, revised 1917-20)
Piano Sonata in F# minor (1910, revised, 1911, 1919 & 1921)
Two Russian Tone-Pictures (1912)
Nympholept (1912)
Scherzo for Piano (1913)
Toccata for Piano (1913)
From the Mountains of Home (Arranged by Peter warlock) (1913)
The Happy Forest (1914)
In the Night (1914)
Apple-Blossom-Time (1915)
In a Vodka Shop (1915)
The Maiden with the Daffodil (1915) )
A Mountain Mood (1915)
The Princess’s Rose Garden (1915)
Sleepy-Head (1915)
Winter Waters (1915)
Dream in Exile (1916)
Nereid (1916)
On a May Evening (1918)
A Romance (1918)
The Slave Girl (1919)
What the Minstrel told us (1919)
Whirligig (1919)
Piano Sonata No. 2 (1919, revised 1920)
Burlesque (1920)
Ceremonial Dance (1920)
A Country-Tune (1920)
A Hill Tune (1920)
Lullaby (1920)
Mediterranean (1920)
Serpent Dance (1920)
Water Music (1920)
Piano Sonata in E flat (1921)
Piano Sonata No. 3 (1926)
Pæan (c.1928)
Piano Sonata No. 4 (1932)
A Legend (1935)
Piano Sonata in B flat Salzburg (1937)
O Dame get up and bake your pies (1945)
Suite on the Name Gabriel Fauré (1945)
Four Pieces for Piano (1947)
Two Lyrical Pieces for Piano (1948)

Two Pianos
Fantasia for Two Pianos (1900)
Festival Overture (Arrangement of orchestral work 1911)
Moy Mell (1916)
Mediterranean (Arranged for three hands by H. Rich 1920)
Hardanger (1927)
The Poisoned Fountain (1928)
The Devil that tempted St Anthony (1928)
Sonata for Two Pianos (1929)
Red Autumn (1931)

Film music
Malta, G. C. (1942)
Oliver Twist (1948)
Journey into History (1951)

Choral
Fatherland (Runeberg, tr. C. Bax) [tenor solo] (1907, revised 1934)
A Christmas Carol (Anon.) [arranged for SATB by Hubert Dawkes] (1909)
Enchanted Summer (Shelley) [two soprano solos] (1910)
Variations sur ‘Cadet Rousselle’ (French trad.) [arranged by Max Saunders] (1918)
Of a rose I sing a song (Anon.) [SATB, harp, cello, double bass] (1920)
Now is the Time of Christymas (Anon.) [TB, flute, piano] (1921)
Mater, ora Filium (Anon.) [SSAATTBB] (1921)
This Worldes Joie (Anon.) [SATB] (1922)
The Boar’s Head (Anon.) [TTBB] (1923)
I sing of a maiden that is makeless (Anon.) [SAATB] (1923)
To the Name above every Name (Crashaw) [soprano solo] (1924)
St Patrick’s Breastplate (Anon.) [SATB] (1924)
Lord, Thou hast told us (Washbourne) [hymn for SATB] (1930)
The Morning Watch (Vaughan) [SATB] (1935)
5 Fantasies on Polish Christmas Carols (trans. Śliwiński) [unison trebles] (1942)
5 Greek Folksongs (trans. Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi) [SATB] (1942)
To Russia (Masefield) [baritone solo] (1944)
Gloria [SATB] (1945)
Nunc Dimittis [SATB] (1945)
Te Deum [SATB] (1945)
Epithalamium (Spenser) [SATB in unison] (1947)
Magnificat [SATB] (1948)
Happy Birthday to you (Hill) [arr. SATB] (1951)
What is it like to be young and fair? (C. Bax) [SSAAT] (1953)

Songs with Orchestra
2 Nocturnes [soprano] (1911)
3 Songs [high voice] (1914)
Song of the Dagger (Strettell and Sylva) [bass] (1914)
The Bard of the Dimbovitza (Strettel and Sylva) [mezzo-soprano] (1914, revised 1946)
Glamour (O’Byrne) [high voice] (1921, orchestrated by Rodney Newton 1987)
A Lyke-Wake (Anon.) [high voice] (1908, orchestrated 1934)
Wild Almond (Trench) [high voice] (1924, orchestrated 1934)
Eternity (Herrick) [high voice] (1934)
O Dear! What can the matter be? (trad. arr. Bax)

Songs with Chamber Ensemble
Aspiration (Dehmel) [arranged for high voice w/violin, cello, & piano] (1909)
My eyes for beauty pine (Bridges) [high voice with string quartet] (c.1921)
O Mistress mine (Shakespeare) [high voice with string quartet] (c.1921)