Sir Arnold Bax

Started by tjguitar, April 15, 2007, 06:12:44 PM

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cilgwyn

Picking up on my earlier post. I like all the music on this Chandos cd  Everything I listened to kept my attention. I never felt there was any note spinning. Lots of lovely melodies and interesting ideas,and great to listen to when you're reading or writing,for example.



cilgwyn

This one is more sprightly. Quite different. Interesting! A different slant on this lovely,tuneful work.


vandermolen

Quote from: cilgwyn on January 26, 2017, 01:26:58 PM
Picking up on my earlier post. I like all the music on this Chandos cd  Everything I listened to kept my attention. I never felt there was any note spinning. Lots of lovely melodies and interesting ideas,and great to listen to when you're reading or writing,for example.


The beautiful Harp Quintet is my favourite chamber work by Bax.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Scion7

Bax, Bowen and Bliss - the "three B's" of England.  :)
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

André

This is another "three B"s winning combo - and a delightful disc to boot!


Scion7

Britten's sound is nothing like the previous three Romantics I listed.  Ugh.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

André

Absolutely right.  ;)

Still makes for a beautiful program.

Mirror Image

Has anyone heard this before?

https://www.youtube.com/v/gWtmvtuGZZA

Quite fascinating!

vandermolen

#728
Quote from: Mirror Image on January 27, 2017, 08:27:07 PM
Has anyone heard this before?

https://www.youtube.com/v/gWtmvtuGZZA

Quite fascinating!
Yes it's fascinating and love the upper class English accent of that period. Vaughan Williams's speech of thanks to the orchestra and Boult  at the end of the Decca recording of Symphony 6 (LPO/Boult) is equally fascinating and rather touching ('...I want to thank you all and when I say 'gentleman' I include the lady harpist etc....') I have a feeling that the Bax speech was included on the CD of historic Bax recordings which cilgwyn posted above. It's very interesting to hear the composer's voices. I recall a soviet LP of Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony which included a telephone call between the composer and maybe the conductor or Rostropovich (probably recorded by the KGB!  :(). Shostakovich, rather like Bax,  had a high pitched and nervous sounding voice.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Mirror Image

Quote from: vandermolen on January 28, 2017, 12:09:22 AM
Yes it's fascinating and love the upper class English accent of that period. Vaughan Williams's speech of thanks to the orchestra and Boult  at the end of the Decca recording of Symphony 6 (LPO/Boult) is equally fascinating and rather touching ('...I want to thank you all and when I say 'gentleman' I include the lady harpist etc....') I have a feeling that the Bax speech was included on the CD of historic Bax recordings which cilgwyn posted above. It's very interesting to hear the composer's voices. I recall a soviet LP of Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony which included a telephone call between the composer and maybe the conductor or Rostropovich (probably recorded by the KGB!  :(). Shostakovich, rather like Bax,  had a high pitched and nervous sounding voice.

I always enjoy hearing composer's voices, too, Jeffrey. It kind of brings them down to a more human level that makes me feel that they're just a regular guy like me. :)

Mirror Image

#730
Cross-posted from the 'Listening' thread -

Quote from: Mirror Image on January 29, 2017, 03:55:13 PM
First-listen to this recording which I've must have owned for a few years now:



Northern Ballad No. 1
Mediterranean
The Garden of Fand
Tintagel
November Woods


Extremely impressive so far. Getting my toes wet a bit in the shallow Baxian pool before I head off into the deep end. 8)

This is shaping up to be an outstanding disc. Of course, I'm only starting to get back into Bax and understand his style a bit better. Hopefully, a sign of things to come.

cilgwyn

You really are enjoying Bax,now?! Imho I think the Boult Lyrita cd is the finest collection of Bax tone poems. I think it is also the most consistent in terms of the quality of the music on it. Others here may disagree. But if I had to pick just one cd of this part of his output!

The recording of Bax speaking on the Symposium cd (and Youtube,apparently) is very interesting. He talks about his dismay at critics making comparisons with Debussy and Respighi,when he hadn't even heard those composers when he wrote the compositions referred to. He also talks about the influence of WB Yeats and Irish Mythology on his compositions. It's not that long a talk,but it is a must listen if you are interested in this composer.

Mirror Image

Quote from: cilgwyn on January 30, 2017, 08:29:19 AM
You really are enjoying Bax,now?! Imho I think the Boult Lyrita cd is the finest collection of Bax tone poems. I think it is also the most consistent in terms of the quality of the music on it. Others here may disagree. But if I had to pick just one cd of this part of his output!

The recording of Bax speaking on the Symposium cd (and Youtube,apparently) is very interesting. He talks about his dismay at critics making comparisons with Debussy and Respighi,when he hadn't even heard those composers when he wrote the compositions referred to. He also talks about the influence of WB Yeats and Irish Mythology on his compositions. It's not that long a talk,but it is a must listen if you are interested in this composer.

Yes, I'm getting into Bax a bit now it seems. I have a lot of catching up to do. I agree with you about the Boult CD. It is excellent.

vandermolen

#733
Quote from: cilgwyn on January 30, 2017, 08:29:19 AM
You really are enjoying Bax,now?! Imho I think the Boult Lyrita cd is the finest collection of Bax tone poems. I think it is also the most consistent in terms of the quality of the music on it. Others here may disagree. But if I had to pick just one cd of this part of his output!

The recording of Bax speaking on the Symposium cd (and Youtube,apparently) is very interesting. He talks about his dismay at critics making comparisons with Debussy and Respighi,when he hadn't even heard those composers when he wrote the compositions referred to. He also talks about the influence of WB Yeats and Irish Mythology on his compositions. It's not that long a talk,but it is a must listen if you are interested in this composer.
I totally agree about the Boult CD and I loved the LP, which did not feature 'November Woods' as that was coupled with Moeran's Sinfonietta and Holst's Fugal Overture. I also like Boult's earlier version of Tintagel:
[asin]B00002652F[/asin]
The CD above features the earlier Boult recording of Tintagel. It is also on a more recent Heritage CD but now ridiculously priced. The CD above also features works by Holst, Butterworth and Elgar. Many prefer Barbirolli's more emotional recording of 'Tintagel' but as with Vaughan Williams I prefer Boult's more dispassionate approach to this music.
The review under the CD on US Amazon is interesting too.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

cilgwyn

There is a Belart cd of these same recordings,isn't there? I've mulled over buying it several times in the last few years but never have,so far!! I do have the Belart cds of VW's mono recordings of 3 & 5 and 7 & 8. I would have had the Sea Symphony,too;but the cd was faulty!!

vandermolen

Quote from: cilgwyn on January 30, 2017, 02:09:43 PM
There is a Belart cd of these same recordings,isn't there? I've mulled over buying it several times in the last few years but never have,so far!! I do have the Belart cds of VW's mono recordings of 3 & 5 and 7 & 8. I would have had the Sea Symphony,too;but the cd was faulty!!
The one above is the Belart recording.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

'In Memoriam' features in a commemorative First World War themed CD coming out this month.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edward-Elgar-Arnold-Bax-Fallen/dp/B01MQNUMVR/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1485869200&sr=1-1&keywords=Sir+Arnold+Bax
Also, Boult's earlier recording of 'Tintagel' from 1954 features on this well-remastered CD:
[asin]B000068QRZ[/asin]
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

SymphonicAddict

#737
Recently I listened to his symphonies (Chandos, Thomson) and I had a 'bittersweet' experience. This composer gave me great expectations, but unfortunately I was dissapointed in some aspects: despite there are appealing works in this field, I felt many diffuse moments, there is no much connection of ideas, there is no integrity and I find an excessive use of percussion and other instruments (the same happened with H. Brian) as if he was trying to fill the lack of tunes with this method, and possibly I think that was one of his fails like composer of symphonies. On the other hand, I did feel many moments of power, subtle beauty and a magic depiction of Ireland and Celtic landscapes. Having said this, my favorite symphonies are the 1st, 3rd, 5th ones and maybe the 6th one and/or the 7th one. Also I've played some tone poems (Christmas Eve, The Garden of Fand, Tintagel, Roscatha and the fiery Paean), I can hear another different Bax in them, indeed they are more cohesive, more compact, more engaging. I will continue exploring his other works.

vandermolen

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on May 22, 2017, 07:21:45 PM
Recently I listened to his symphonies (Chandos, Thomson) and I had a 'bittersweet' experience. This composer gave me great expectations, but unfortunately I was dissapointed in some aspects: despite there are appealing works in this field, I felt many diffuse moments, there is no much connection of ideas, there is no integrity and I find an excessive use of percussion and other instruments (the same happened with H. Brian) as if he was trying to fill the lack of tunes with this method, and possibly I think that was one of his fails like composer of symphonies. On the other hand, I did feel many moments of power, subtle beauty and a magic depiction of Ireland and Celtic landscapes. Having said this, my favorite symphonies are the 1st, 3rd, 5th ones and maybe the 6th one and/or the 7th one. Also I've played some tone poems (Christmas Eve, The Garden of Fand, Tintagel, Roscatha and the fiery Paean), I can hear another different Bax in them, indeed they are more cohesive, more compact, more engaging. I will continue exploring his other works.
The Fourth is invariably thought to be the weakest of the cycle but I rather like it and No.2 - as well as the ones you mention (actually that covers them all I think!)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

calyptorhynchus

Funnily enough I think the 4th is greatest of the Bax Symphonies!

I also like 2, 5 and 7.

But I have always found 1*, 3 and 6 to be disappointing, with many of the diffuse moments that SymphonicAddict noted.

*(Disappointing despite the bass oboe  :D )

I think one of the reasons why Bax's works are uneven is that he had a formidable piano technique, and could could sight-read orchestral scores at the piano. I think that he composed the other way round, ie he improvised at the piano, then wrote the improvisation down as a sketch, and later orchestrated it. (The symphony no.1 originated as one of the piano sonatas (is it also 1?). I think this explains how in some of the works the inspiration carries through and in others it doesn't. Several times recently listening to the symphonies I came across passages where I thought "that would sound really well on the piano, but sounds too weak or mannered for orchestra".
'Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth.' Robert Burton