Arnold Bax
Jeff Gower
>Any Bax fans have recommendations of what might be a good
> first piece to check out on CD?
I recommend "Tintagel" as a good starting point, and this piece is
included on a CD which also includes some other great Bax music like the
very fun "Festival Overture", "Christmas Eve", "Nympholept", and others.
I think this is one of my favorite Bax CDs - it is on Chandos and is by
Bryden Thomson conducting the Ulster Orchestra and London Philharmonic
(CHAN 9168, 1993).
Another favorite Bax CD is with the Nash Ensemble (Hyperion CDA66807,
1996) performing the Nonet, Oboe Quintet, Elegiac Trio, Clarinet Sonata,
and Harp Quintet. Marvelous music!
Happy Listening!
Jeff
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Music is a cry of the soul......It is a revelation, a thing to be
reverenced." (Frederick Delius)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hill
(not necessarily good or bad) and what little I know (and have heard)
from him. Any Bax fans have recommendations of what might be a good
first piece to check out on CD?
Chris Hill
--
Christopher R. Hill
Conductor & Double Bassist
Kalamazoo, MI
< Principal Bass >
University Chamber Orchestra, Western Michigan University
< Assistant Conductor, Assistant Principal Bass & Committee Member >
University Symphony Orchestra, Western Michigan University
< Assistant Principal Bass >
Southwest Michigan Symphony
< Member >
Conductors Guild of America
David Grayshan
Symphonies. They are shorter and more concentrated (sometimes).
You can't go wrong with Boult on Lyrita - if you can get it - or any of the
(more comprehensively complete) Chandos CD's conducted by Bryden Thomson.
A special recommendation goes to Barbirolli's Tintagel on EMI but that's
coupled with his (IMO) rather heavy VW 5th.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
David.
Lehobe
EMI and released on L.P. on His Master's Voice in a double album "Sir John
Barbirolli conducts English Music" is an unduly neglected masterpiece. I hope
it has been re-released on C.D. Bax's neglect in the States is simply
unfathomable to me. He uses a motto in the introduction built upon A, B flat
and C sharp. The main motive is reminiscent of the rhythm in Beethoven's
Seventh Symphony's First Movement. The second movement is a study is nameless
beauty, with diaphanous writing for harp, celeste, and strings. The Third
Movement is an angry one, much like Vaughan Williams' Fourth Symphony's First
Movement, but the serene Epilogue is a transfiguration that is as astounding
in its expressity as it is in its simplicity. Though comparisons are odious,
the Fourth Symphony is much in the same vein thematically and harmonically as
Vaughan Williams' Seventh Symphony, to my ears. An excellent recording on
Chandos by the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Bryden Thomson is recommended.
Before I get off my soap box, just one more appeal to conductors and program
planners, especially whose repertories end with the three Stravinsky symphonies
because of serialism: why not mine the gold in Nielsen, Bax, and Sibelius
(beyond the imperishable Symphonies One, Two, and Five)? Thanks for bringing
up the subject; may your expedition reap handsome reward.
Les Bernstein
Leh...@aol.com
David Grayshan
Great that there are other Bax-nuts out there.
I mentioned the symphonic poems as more suitable for a beginner. I started
the discovery of Bax with the 3rd. Symphony myself, the Bob o' Reilly
recording, and it was fairly hard to understand why such simple material
should be fascinating. It took me numerous hearings to get to understand
Bax a bit and this was because I was determined to understand what the fuss
was about.
So for a neophyte, who might be put off by this struggle, I suggest
something more compact which is still representative i.e. the Symphonic
Poems.
Only my opinion and experiences, of course.
David.
Lee/Nina Sandlin
Lehobe <leh...@aol.com> wrote:
>The Third Symphony recorded by Sir John Barbirolli and the Halle'
>Orchestra for EMI and released on L.P. on His Master's Voice in a double
>album "Sir John Barbirolli conducts English Music" is an unduly neglected
>masterpiece. I hope it has been re-released on C.D.
It has been released on CD, and is, or was, available in America as an EMI
special import. A great performance.
LS
Eric Schissel
some have had reservations about the recording quality.)
I recommend the Chandos CD of the piano quintet and 2nd string quartet-
wonderful works.
There's no need- imho- to attack serialism to "defend" Bax. One thing I
love about the 20th century is the co-existing (if sometimes fighting)
trends, with me at the end of it getting to enjoy the results of both!
-Eric Schissel
--
schi...@lightlink.com
http://www.lightlink.com/schissel ICQ#7279016
standard disclaimer
Adam Dubin
wrote:
>I was thinking the other day how much I have heard about this composer
>(not necessarily good or bad) and what little I know (and have heard)
>from him. Any Bax fans have recommendations of what might be a good
>first piece to check out on CD?
>
>Chris Hill
>
>--
>Christopher R. Hill
>Conductor & Double Bassist
>Kalamazoo, MI
I might also suggest two complementary CDs of Bax's chamber music, on
Chandos and Hyperion, released last year (I forget the catalog
numbers, but a search on their websites would probably be easy). These
contain gorgeous pieces, of varying instrumentation (strings and
winds).
Adam
David M. Cook
>I was thinking the other day how much I have heard about this composer
>(not necessarily good or bad) and what little I know (and have heard)
>from him. Any Bax fans have recommendations of what might be a good
>first piece to check out on CD?
I think I'd start with the 3rd Symphony. The Thomson on Chandos seems to be
the only version available at the moment, but it's very good.
Dave Cook
Alrod
knowledge).
Secondly, The Garden of Fand.
Alrod
TJ Bernard
>
> I'm told the Naxos recording of the first symphony is quite fine (though
> some have had reservations about the recording quality.)>>>>>>>
I discovered Arnold Bax just this year mostly as a result of info
garnered here in this NG. It was a great discovery and I have to say it
was the musical find of the year for me.
I bought the Naxos recording which has on it the Symphony No 1, In the
Faery Hills, and The Garden of Fand. The orch is the Royal Scottish
National Orch and the conductor is David Lloyd Jones. I really liked the
music and it has whet my appetite for more. I now have two Bax items on
my CD Now wish list which I hope to purchase soon. One is the 3rd
symphony and I forget what the other piece is. BTW there is lots of info
on the Net regarding Bax in terms of biography, repertoire and
discographies.
TJ
>
>
--
To reply please remove the word NOSPAM from my E Mail address.
Thank you
Rob Barnett
pleased to see this thread.
A few thoughts:-
Many people are rdecommending that you come to Bax via the tone poems
and many recommend Tintagel and The Garden of Fand.
These would not be my first recommendation. Fand is very
impressionistic and flimsy though extremely attractive. Tintagel I
have not always found very convincing though a recently issued CD
from the Danish firm ClassicO may have corrected that impression.
I would recommend you start with the Boult/LPO CD (SRCD231 Lyrita) of
November Woods. It also includes Tintagel, Fand, Mediterranean (a
hopelessly vapid little miniature) and the much more characterful
Northern Ballad No. 1. November Woods plays for circa 22 mins and is
a study in the violence of the elements reflected in the gales
sweeping through a stark winter woodland scene. The violence is
offset by a tranced middle section in which the celesta plays a
memorable tune of great evocative power.
I am afraid that Boult's performances of Tintagel and Fand on this
disc do not enthuse me. They strike me as rather stilted. His earlier
recording of Tintagel on Decca is very good.
As Eric Schissel has written the Chandos CD of the Piano Quintet
(written duriong the Gereat War) is well worth getting - a symphony
written for piano quintet forces with as one writer said a 'crippled
splendour' and superb melodic content. Not to be missed. I am afriad
I can't agree with Eric about the String Quartet No. 2.
I suggest you avoid the massive and rather underpowered Symphonic
Variations for piano and orchestra and try instead his Winter Legends
for piano and orchestra. WL has great poetry as well as a much more
tangible Northern violence (almost Scandianvian - indeed the piece
was highly regarded by Sibelius who dubbed bax 'my son in music').
The Chandos recvording of Winter Legends is well worth having.
The String Quartet No 1 is innocently tuneful with an Irish lilt.
There is a good recording on Chandos.
I would avoid the violin concerto and cello concerto for now. Neither
are rivettiong though I like the violin concerto very much.
Of the symphonies here are a few comments
No. 1 granitic and perhaps a bit Holstian. Echoes of the Great War
perhaps and the copnflict in Ireland - Bax was a decddicated Celt and
learnt irish gaelic well enough to write stories and plays in the
language. Not the place to start.
No. 2 a work of splendidly unbridled emotionalism and a shockingly
beautiful melody in the middle movement. Much of the symphony has an
apocalyptic power and stormy impressionism. One iof the best of the seven.
No. 3 - highly and articulately praised in this thread but with the
exception of the final epilogue I have found the work disappointingly static.
No. 4 - a cavorting festival of a symphony celebrating the sea in its
vartious moods. Ratrher a loose construction apparently and certainly
not the equal in concentration of No. 2 or its successors.
No. 5 - Bax had gone fully Northern with this symphony and the work
is dedicated to the composer whose voice is often evoked in its
barbaric pages - Sibelius. A grand symphony - not to be missed.
No. 6 - The peak of the seven. Violent (listen to the grinding and
thudding opening sea-swell), fantastic, poetic and finally submissive
to a world of such enchanted beauty you can only wonder at the
imagination which created such peaceful resignation. there is also a
keen sense of joy in beauty with that joy heightened by the knowledge
that it is transient. If this sounds all rather Delian it has SOME
parallels but there is much greater sense of dynamism and forward
movement in bax 6 than you will find in Delius.
No. 7 - a relaxed reflection on the passing of his world. Premiered
at the New York World Fair in 1939 and dedicated to the People of the
USA. The final pages have a similar sense of enchantment as the
epilogue to No. 3. lacks the concentration and motive force of Nos 2
and 6 but well worth hearing.
As for recordings - well - No 1 is well done by both Lloyd Jones
(Naxos) and Fredman (Lyrita coupled with No. 7 cond Leppard).
No. 2 - wait for Lyrita to issue Fredman's recording or later this
year Naxos's Lloyd Jones recording.
No. 3 - Barbirolli - mono but very powerful. I found Thomson on
Chados rather meandering though the sound is very good unlike the
congested over-rich sound of Thomson on Chandos for Nos 1 and 2.
No. 4 - defintiely Thomson and the Ulster Orchetsra - extremely fine
recording - what a pity that this spirit went out of the
interpretations and Chandos recordings after Thomson moved to record
with the much more prestigious LPO.
No. 5 - wait for Lyrita to reissue The Leppard recording with the
LPO. This was first issued circa 1971 but the sound is detailed and
flamboyant. The Chandos recording is respectable but still rather bloated.
No. 6 - all three recordings are fine butt he best to date is the old
1965 Lyrita recording cond by Norman Del Mar with the NPO. There are
rumours that this is to be reissued on CD but you could wait a
lifetime for that to happen. The new Bax recording by the Munich SO
conducted by Douglas Bostock is worth the investment though the
string quality is not the equal of the Norman del Mar. Somehow
however the symphony emerges in a new and commanding light. The lines
are easier to follow and many details come to the surface which were
lost in the general melos of the Del Mar.
No. 7 Leppard and Thomson are good but I prefer Leppard's acoustic.
I would be interested in hearing other people's impressions of this music.
I can provide you with the URL for the Bax site if anyone is
interested. Richard Adams, Colin Scott Sutherland and myself have put
a considerable amount of effort into the material now on the site and
would welcome feedback - welcoming and otherwise.
Richard and I are always happy to field enquiries and make recommendations.
If you would like to order the Bax ClassicO disc which contains
Tintagel, Bax Symphony No 6 and the world premiere recording of the
Overture to Adventure then please contact:-
You might be interested in the foollowiung review of that disc:-
ARNOLD BAX Symphony No 6 (1934) Tintagel (1920) Overture to Adventure
(1937) Munich SO/Douglas Bostock ClassicO CLASSCD 254 63:08 "
Of the cordillera of Bax’s seven symphonies the sixth is the
undoubted peak. Including this one there have been only three
commercial record-ings: Norman Del Mar’s Lyrita from 1965 never
transferred to CD and Bryden Thomson’s Sixth. Del Mar’s still
stunning account remains un-available and would be a strong contender
despite its vintage and the oddly spot-lit recording. The Thomson on
Chandos is a modern recording but is afflicted with a strange
lassitude. Bax’s symphonies tempt a certain Delian meandering but
benefit from a strong forward pulse even in the most lyrical moments.
Bostock (a Thomson pupil) captures the spirit of fantasy and
adventure so well in an account drenched in a potent blend of magic
and violence. He does not allow proceedings to descend into an
invertebrate dream but injects a sense of urgency and conflict and
keeps things moving. He is clearly sensitive also to Bax’s love
affair with beauty just out of reach and suggests this in the sense
of joy lost and the peaceful but enchanted resignation of the closing pages.
Tintagel is given the best performance I have heard bar only the
origi-nal Eugene Goossens set of 78s from the 1920s. Bostock and his
German orchestra are concentrated and passionate projecting a
sea-spattered and urgently romantic canvas. This vies only with the
early Decca Boult re-cording and is of course a much better recording
than the Decca. Lastly we have a recording premiere in the brightly
swashbuckling Overture to Adventure written for Dan Godfrey’s
successor at Bournemouth, Richard Austin.
The orchestra is enthusiastic and accomplished lacking only the last
ounce of sumptuous tone in the strings by comparison with Del Mar’s
mid-sixties Philharmonia. The overture is in the spirit of many
British overtures of the 1930s and 1940s having something in common
with Moeran’s ENSA-commissioned Overture to a Masque. Fine recording.
Good notes though anonymous. A very strong cross-section and a
rec-ommended collection featuring the key masterwork in the Bax
output. Confidently recommended. © Robert Barnett
Rob
--
Rob Barnett
Editor, Classical Music on the Web, Coventry University
Editor, British Music Society, Newsletter
British Music Society promoting neglected British Music. All
enquiries welcomed.
David Grayshan
On this basis the new recording of the 6th. is a mandatory acquisition. Do you
think it will be issued in Germany (the cheapest country in which to buy
classical CD's)?
Saturn in Cologne?
Regards,
David.
Rob Barnett
> On this basis the new recording of the 6th. is a mandatory acquisition. Do you
> think it will be issued in Germany (the cheapest country in which to buy
> classical CD's)?
> Saturn in Cologne?
If you would like to buy this I strongly recommend making contact
with Petetr Olufsen MD of ClassicO in Denmark
His e-mail is peter....@ejby.mail.telia.com
If there is any difficulty with this then please contact me.
Apologies for the usual litter of typing errors from my over-eager fingers!
Rob
************
> Rob Barnett wrote:
> > You might be interested in the following review of that disc:-
John Robicheau
>
> The Third Symphony recorded by Sir John Barbirolli and the Halle' Orchestra for
> EMI and released on L.P. on His Master's Voice in a double album "Sir John
> Barbirolli conducts English Music" is an unduly neglected masterpiece. I hope
> it has been re-released on C.D.
it hasn't been.
:(
.
--
John Robicheau
**
John, Lenore & Owen (11-3-98)
Jeff Gower
<bar...@zetnet.co.uk> wrote:
> Many people are rdecommending that you come to Bax via the tone poems
> and many recommend Tintagel and The Garden of Fand.
>
> These would not be my first recommendation...
While readily ceding to Rob's superlative Baxian expertise, I must say
that "Tintagel" and "Fand" were precisely the hooks that drew ME in. But
then again, I tend to love those "impressionistic and flimsy though
extremely attractive" type of works. ;-)
Jeff
Curtis Croulet
Fand, which should be standard repertory pieces, IMHO. Among the
symphonies, I'd particularly recommend the 6th. I've enjoyed Thomson's on
Chandos, but I still have a fondness for Norman Del Mar's recording for
Lyrita, once available in the U.S. on a Musical Heritage Society LP.
Marc Perman
>On this basis the new recording of the 6th. is a mandatory acquisition. Do you
>think it will be issued in Germany (the cheapest country in which to buy
>classical CD's)?
>
Um - have you shopped for CDs in Canada or the US?
Marc Perman
Eric Schissel
piano quintet, though I think that both works are great music. (Basically
I think the piano quintet is great music, but I'm inclined to say the 2nd
string quartet is one of the best things by Bax I've heard, with wonderful
themes wonderfully treated and a remarkable ending.) As to the symphonies
I find them all- except no. 4, regrettably- well worth hearing, but nos. 1
& 2 are to my ears the very, very best; I simply do not find no. 1 as
derivative as Rob seems to. Just my 2c.
Rob Barnett
Symphony No 3 cond Barbirolli WAS reissued by EMI some years ago on
CDH 7 63910 2. No longer available AFAIK.
Rob
Rob Barnett
There are many routes into Bax's large collection of works. If one
doesn't work then try another. The symphonies can seem interminable
in the wrong hands. Vernon Handley a superlative Bax conductor whose
Bax interpretations have been largely ignored by record companies
once said that because of the orchestration many conductors were
inclined to take Bax as if he was a mixture of Rachmaninov and
Strauss. This tempts conductors to linger whicvh is fatal to the
sense of forward movement necessary to a Bax symphony. Contrary to
the pictures of Bax in old age Bax was a dynamic composer, eager and
full of ideas, currents and cross-currents. This impression needs to
live in his music and that doesn't mean speeded up all the time but
to identify an inner pulse to the music and keep that in focus
through the quick passages and the slower ones.
Rob
Neil
>Any Bax fans have recommendations of what might be a good
>first piece to check out on CD?
Hardly a whole CD, but Barbirolli's recording of Tintagel is essential
listening, Coupled (in the UK) with an etherial RVW 5th.
Neil
------------------------------------------------------------
Neil (at home) |http://www.thump.org
ICQ# - 11875525 |AOL IM - "imheifetz"
Neil
>A few thoughts:-
Thanks Rob for writing all this. Invaluable !!
J.Klerk
Chris Hill heeft geschreven in bericht <369C541B...@wmich.edu>...
>I was thinking the other day how much I have heard about this composer
>(not necessarily good or bad) and what little I know (and have heard)
>first piece to check out on CD?
>
I bought the entire Bax/Thomson series in the 80ties and the intensive Bax
listening then made me quite baxed so I couldn't stand the music for a great
while. As a result of this thread I put the Winter Legends in my player and
YES this IS great music. After that the two discs with Tone Poems and those
are also ravishing. Thank you for putting me the dust of my discs.
Recommendations: Try the Garden of Fand.
Jan Klerk
jkl...@wxs.nl
David Grayshan
Matthew B. Tepper
pondered what I'm pondering as follows...
>
>Symphony No 3 cond Barbirolli WAS reissued by EMI some years ago on
>CDH 7 63910 2. No longer available AFAIK.
I've got it, and it's a good-un.
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/index.htm
My main music page --- http://www.deltanet.com/~ducky/berlioz.htm
And my science fiction club's home page --- http://www.lasfs.org/
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
Derek Haslam
Chris Hill <x96h...@wmich.edu> wrote:
> I was thinking the other day how much I have heard about this composer
> (not necessarily good or bad) and what little I know (and have heard)
> from him. Any Bax fans have recommendations of what might be a good
> first piece to check out on CD?
> Chris Hill
Many posters on this thread have recommended starting with the tone
poems rather than the symphonies, Tintagel and The Garden of Fand
being mentioned most often. Good though these (especially Tintagel)
are I feel that a stronger impression is created by November Woods;
absolutely top-drawer Bax with none of the diffuseness which, for me,
mars some of his other works (much as I love them). Boult's taut and
dramatic performance of this tone poem has been reissued on Lyrita
SRDCD231 along with more familiar fare such as Tintagel and Fand.
Some comments may have given the impression that the symphonies are
vast, lengthy works. Most of them are actually only about 35 minutes
long and in 3 movements. The cycle recorded for CD by Bryden Thomson
gets most of the publicity and certainly the first disc, containing
the 4th symphony (CHAN 8312) deserves the praise given. The only
other symphony in this cycle which I've heard is the 6th which I
found disappointing compared with Norman Del Mar's old analogue
Lyrita disc (not transferred to CD, unfortunately) which had much
more bite in the outer movements. Lyrita recorded the whole cycle in
the 70s but not all with the same conductor. The 2nd with Myer
Fredman is a splendid performance _and_ recording (but then nearly
all the '70s Lyritas still sound marvellous, yielding nothing to more
recent DDD recordings). All the Lyrita Bax discs are very fine indeed
but only a few have so far appeared on CD.
I have the Naxos disc of the 1st symphony plus Fand and In the Faery
Hills. These are good performances, well-recorded, and certainly
provide an introduction to Bax for very little money. I don't,
however, think that any of these three works show the composer on top
of his form; not when compared to November Woods and symphonies 2 and
6.
Hope this is of some help,
Derek
--
__ __ __ __ __
/ \ | ||__ |__)/ | | |_ Derek Haslam: Acorn Computer Enthusiast
\_\/ |__||__ | \\__ |__| __| que...@argonet.co.uk
\ Mastery of the rules is a pre-requisite for creatively breaking them.
Jos Hofman
especially the Nash Ensemble disk ). But I am surprised nobody suggests
the Spring Fire symphony or any choral works ?
Jos
Eric Schissel
among the very best of Bax's symphonies!
James K. Stevenson
(Eric Schissel) wrote:
> Well, it certainly seems that I am alone in thinking that the first is
> among the very best of Bax's symphonies!
> -Eric Schissel
>
Not at all! I also love the Bax first symphony most of all.
This is my first look into the Bax thread, but Bax is one of my favorite
British composers. He can be listened to repeatedly, and each time
something new leaps out. I really don't have a "least favorite" Bax
symphony, but I often get the "urge" to hear No. 1. :)
Jim Stevenson
Michael Fine
everything we expect from Bax and no hint of immaturity or lack of craft.
Michael Fine
Eric Schissel wrote in message <369ed...@news2.lightlink.com>...
>Well, it certainly seems that I am alone in thinking that the first is
>among the very best of Bax's symphonies!
>-Eric Schissel
>