Arnold Bax (1883-1953): Five Greek Folk Songs (1942)

Seventy-five years ago, tomorrow evening, (25 November 1946) the BBC Third Programme broadcast a remarkable concert of “Contemporary Music.” Sadly, it was late at night, beginning at 11.5 pm and concluding at midnight. The concert began with the “First Broadcast Performance” of Arnold Bax’s Five Greek Folk Songs. The BBC Singers were conducted by Cyril Gell. This was followed by Arnold Schoenberg’s “light-hearted” Suite for seven instruments, op.29. The soloists here were The London String Trio (Maria Lidka, violin, Watson Forbes, viola and Vivian Joseph, cello), Frederick Thurston and Frank Hughes, clarinets, Richard Temple Savage, bass-clarinet and Peter Stadlen, piano. The evening’s concert concluded with Anton Webern’s only a cappella work, the heart-breakingly beautiful Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen (Escape on Light Boats), op.2, sung by the BBC Singers once again under the direction of Cyril Gell. 

It must have been an interesting concert for those listeners who managed to stay awake. I wonder how well the Schoenberg and Webern would go down on Radio 3 nowadays, especially, late at night? 

The Five Greek Folksongs for unaccompanied chorus was composed during the Second World War and was completed in 1942. Graham Parlett in his essential Catalogue of Bax’s music quoted a letter written by the composer that succinctly sums up these settings: “I have been arranging some Greek folk-music…at the request of dear old Calvocoressi – such queer Balkan tunes that I have got quite a lot of amusement out of treating them…” Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi (1877-1944) was a French music critic and author. He had made several translations of Balkan folk songs. 

Five Greek Folksongs begin with the “modally inflected” Miracle of Saint Basil. This is followed by the poignant The Bridesmaid’s Song, which includes two soprano solos. In far-off Malta captures the wit of the tale of the deacon who stained his surplice with ink, whilst writing his “tale of my great love”. My favourite of the set is The Happy Tramp. This is thoughtful and ends when the wanderer is safely home with “warm dry clothes”, “plump partridges a-roasting” and “loving arms.” A Pilgrim's Chant brings this cycle to a close, by once again referring to St. Basil, and the tolling of the church bells. All five folk songs are beautiful and have been “realised” by Arnold Bax with skill and understanding, despite him being “rather bored” by the whole project. The composer is quoted as saying that "They are very quaint and rather barbaric tunes, but I think I made something interesting of them.” He did.

The premiere performance of the Five Greek Folk Songs had been given at a Contemporary British Music Society Concert at Cowdray Hall on 11 November 1946 by the BBC Singers, this time under Leslie Woodgate. The reviewer in The Times (12 November 1946, p.6) was ambivalent in his view about this new work: “the Greek songs are so melismatic that it seemed doubtful whether they lent themselves to harmonisation at all,” but perhaps this was because “they were hard to judge, since the idiom is unfamiliar.” Other music heard at this concert included part songs by Anton Webern, Michael Tippett, Lennox Berkeley, Edmund Rubbra’s Five Madrigals, Zoltán Kodály and Leoš Janáček’s Nursery Rhymes. One interesting item was the Sonatina for viola and piano, by Walter Leigh, who was killed in Libya in 1942. This work was written for Rebecca Clarke, who premiered it in 1932. The soloists were Watson Forbes, viola and Alan Richardson, piano. Alas The Times critic (op.cit.) felt that it was “disappointingly dry” and suggested that “the composer’s talent lay in the direction of comic opera, by which he won his reputation.” Based on Leigh’s music that I have heard, including this Sonatina, this is an opinion with which I wholeheartedly disagree.  

Arnold Bax’s Five Greek Folk Songs have been released on two recordings.  (1) BBC Northern Singers, Stephen Wilkinson. Hyperion LP: A66092; (2) Finzi Singers, Paul Spicer. Chandos CD: CHAN 9139.