The second half of this pen portrait
of Arnold Bax contains several performance dates and a list of orchestral works
which Brook thinks demands the concertgoer’s attention. I have lightly
annotated the text.
‘[Bax’s] Symphony No. 1 was first
performed in London on December 4th, 1922 by Albert Coates and was described by
Nicolas Slonimsky as ‘a work of gloomy introspection with overtones of mystical
contemplation.’ [1] It was also performed at the Festival held by the
International Society for Contemporary Music in Prague in the summer of 1924. The
same Society's Supplementary Festival at Salzburg two months later gave the
critics their first opportunity of hearing Bax's Viola Sonata. [2]
The premiere of his Second
Symphony took place in America on December 19th, 1929 when it was played by the
Boston Symphony Orchestra under Koussevitzky. [3] Writing to Philip Hale about
it, Bax said that it should be ‘very broad indeed, with a kind of oppressive
catastrophic mood.’ [4]
The sombre Third Symphony
followed on March 14th, 1930 under the conductorship of Sir Henry Wood; the
Fourth Symphony was first performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
under Basil Cameron on March 16th, 1932; the Fifth received its initial
performance by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Thomas Beecham on
January 15th, 1934; and the Sixth, dedicated to Sir Adrian Boult, was first
heard at a [Royal] Philharmonic [Society] Concert conducted by Sir Hamilton
Harty on November 21st, 1935. Sir Arnold's Seventh Symphony, the last up to the
time of writing, was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult at the New York World's Fair
in 1939 and first heard in England on June 21st, 1940. [5]
One of Bax's latest works is his
String Quartet in G, which possesses a very beautiful slow movement. [6]
In recent years he has also
written occasionally for the films. His most popular works are the symphonic
poem The Garden of Fand, and that
fascinating orchestral work Tintagel,
[7] but I have good reason for believing that in the years to come we shall
hear more frequent performances of many of his other compositions for the
orchestra, including the Overture to
Adventure, Overture to a Picaresque
Comedy, Rogues' Comedy Overture, Summer Music, The Happy Forest, The Tale
the Pine Trees Knew, Two Northern Ballads,
the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, and London
Pageant, a march and trio dedicated to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and
written for the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. [8]
Sir Arnold's chamber music is
also of considerable importance, and his compositions for the piano, despite
the difficulty of most of them, appeal strongly to those who can play them,
because of their richness in colour.
Bax is undoubtedly a master of
melody and intricate rhythm, but his works demand very close attention. His
symphonies even more than his other orchestral works are proof of their
creator's brilliant technique and remarkable creative power. Robin Hull says of
them:
‘The meditative, deeply
penetrating character of Bax's invention ranges from the starkest ferocity to
idyllic enchantment. His wealth of romantic beauty is interwoven with much keener
austerities and tinged by more remorseless sentiments than any usually
associated with romance. He reveals an incomparable mastery of orchestral
colour in music which strikes to a depth unattainable by impressionism . . .
The nature of his strongly individual style, which attempts no compromise with
past or present fashions, receives scant illumination by direct contrast with
that of other composers; nor can his mature works be profitably compared with
any except those which he himself has written.’ [9]
Owing to its complexity of
structure and rhythm, Bax's work is often difficult to appreciate on its first
hearing. It is unrestrained and yet refined, and more often than not we find
that he has deliberately chosen to depict the more sombre aspects of life. Sir
Arnold wrote an article in Musical
America some years ago in which he confessed that he was a ‘brazen romantic’
and explained that by this he meant that his music was ‘the expression of
emotional states.’ He added that he was not interested ‘in sound for its own
sake or in any modernist "isms" or factions.’ [10]
He is of a quiet and retiring nature
and prefers to live unobtrusively in a little Sussex village not very far from
London. [11]
His brother, Clifford Bax, [12] is
the well-known poet and dramatist, by the way. Sir Arnold was knighted in 1937,
and four years later became Master of the King's Music after the death of Sir
Watford Davies. He has received honorary degrees of Doctor of Music from the
Universities of Oxford (1934) and Durham (1935).'
Notes:
[1] Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995)
a Russian-born American conductor, author, pianist, composer and lexicographer.
As can be seen, he died aged 101 years. I was unable to find the source of this
quotation.
[2] Not sure of the exact date of
the Prague performance, but between 31 May and 2 June 1924. Probably 1 June. Fritz
Reiner conducted the Festival Orchestra. The Viola Sonata was performed by
Lionel Tertis, viola and Harriet Cohen, piano at Salzburg on 6 August 1924.
[3] Actually 13 December 1929. It
was given another performance on the following day.
[4] Philip Hale (1854-1934) was
an American Music Critic.
[5] Bax’s Seventh Symphony was
premiered at the Carnegie Hall, New York on 9 June 1939. Sir Adrian Boult
conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The British premiere was at the
Colston Hall, Bristol on 21 June 1940. Sir Adrian conducted the BBC Symphony
Orchestra. It was indeed Bax’s final symphony.
[6] I am not sure what Donald
Brooks is driving at here. The String Quartet in G major was composed in 1918,
some 28 years before this book was published. Even the String Quartet No.3 in F
major was first heard in 1936.
[7] There are 18 recordings of
Tintagel and 8 of The Garden of Fand currently in the Arkiv Music CD catalogue,
so they have retained their popularity, some 72 year on. However, both these
works are rarely given a live performance. As to Donald Brook’s other
‘recommendations’ none have gained a foothold in the repertoire, though all
have received at least a single recording.
[8] Bax’s Coronation March (1952) was his last orchestral work. It
incorporated music featured in the film Malta
GC.
[9] Robin Hull: ‘Approach to
Bax’s Symphonies’ Music & Letters
April 1942
[10] Musical America 7 July 1928, p.9. This has been reprinted in Farewell my Youth and other writings,
ed. Lewis Foreman, Scolar Press, 1992.
[11] At the time of Donald Brook
writing his Composer’s Gallery (1946), Arnold Bax was living at The White Horse
Hotel, Storrington, Sussex.
[12] Clifford Bax (1886-1962) was
an English author, playwright, journalist, critic and editor, a poet, lyricist
and hymn writer.
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