Exploring Arnold Bax’s Phantasy for viola and orchestra (1920): Part 1

Introduction: Arnold Bax’s Concerto, later the Phantasy, for viola and orchestra, was written for, and dedicated to, the violist Lionel Tertis. It was premiered by him during a Philharmonic Society concert on 17 November 1921. The Phantasy was played several times in the ensuing years but was then largely forgotten until its revival in 1989 by Vernon Handley and Rivka Golani. This essay will examine the context, provide a non-technical description of the music, and examine the reaction to the premiere performance. It will conclude with an assessment of modern responses to the Phantasy seen through Bax’s biographers. The paper concludes with a bibliography and discography.

Context: Arnold Bax (1883-1953) had met Lionel Tertis at the Royal Academy of Music whilst studying piano and composition. This immediately resulted in the attractive Concert Piece for viola and piano (1904) penned when the student was aged twenty-one.

In his autobiography, Tertis (1974, p.33ff passim) mentions three composers who out of “pure generosity” wrote music for the viola: Benjamin Dale, York Bowen, and Arnold Bax. These men made significant contributions to the viola repertoire at a time when publishers regarded this as a “distinctly bad commercial proposition.” Some of these were “beautiful and [were] a powerful influence in the advancement of the viola.” As for Bax, Tertis considered that he was “extremely prolific in chamber music and composed a number of works of that category for me.” Turning to their relationship, Tertis recalled that “[Bax] was very shy and reticent, and although an extremely good pianist, he rarely played in public.” He was “reputed to have been an excellent cricketer, both batsman and bowler.” On a social note, he recalls that when Bax was living in Storrington in Sussex, he “could not be got at by anyone when he was composing – but at opening time he could usually be found in the bar parlour with a tankard of ale, smoking his pipe, in animated conversation with the village farm workers.”

Two years after the above-mentioned Concert Piece, Bax completed a Trio in one movement, op.4 for piano, violin, and viola (or clarinet), under the auspices of Tertis. He later referred to this as “that early derivative and formless farrago” and wished “that the devil would fly away with the whole remaining stock of the damned thing and give himself ptomaine poisoning by eating it!” (Parlett, 1999, p.63). This Trio was dedicated to the composer A.J. Rowan-Hamilton.

After the Armistice in 1918, Bax and Tertis re-established contact. The Phantasy score carries only the date ‘1920’. It was composed whilst Bax was living at 155 Fellows Road, Swiss Cottage, London. In late 1921, Bax began his Sonata for viola and piano, and duly dedicated it to Tertis. He considered that one of the best pieces Bax wrote for him. It was premiered at the Wigmore Hall on 17 November 1922 by the dedicatee and with Bax playing the piano part.

Other “Tertis Connections” include the Elegiac Trio for flute, viola, and harp (1916), the Fantasy Sonata for viola and harp (1927) and the Legend for viola and piano (1929). Sketches exist for a second Viola Sonata drafted during 1933-34. Graham Parlett (1999, p.210f) notes that the final page of the second movement of this work surfaced as the ending of the slow movement of the Symphony No.6 (1935).

Parlett’s chronological catalogue reveals Bax’s industry in 1920. There were some eighteen pieces penned, completed, or premiered during that year. Major works comprised the ballet The Truth about the Russian Dancers written for Tamara Karsavina, the third revision of the Violin Sonata No.1 originally dating from 1910, as well as the definitive version of the Piano Sonata No.2. Of equal interest were some piano solos that have retained their popularity, including A Hill Tune, Mediterranean, and the Country Tune.

The Title: The work was billed as ‘Concerto, in D minor’ for viola and orchestra at the premiere performance. The manuscript was originally inscribed as Concerto for viola and orchestra; however, ‘Concerto’ was scored out by an unknown hand on both the cover and the title page and replaced by ‘Phantasy.’ Parlett explains that in the programme notes for the second performance on 13 November 1922, “Eric Blom still refers to it by its earliest title, though elsewhere in the programme booklet it is called ‘Phantasy’, suggesting that the name was changed shortly before the booklet went to press.” (Parlett, 1999, p.150)

A Paradigm for Listening: Overall, the Phantasy is a “passionately lyrical and romantic score.” (Chandos Liner Note, CHAN 10829, 2014). It must be recalled that for Bax, Ireland was a place of enchantment with its people depicted as Heroes. It distressed him to see the destruction of this dream. The country had been embroiled in what was known as the War of Independence (1919-21). After atrocities on both the British and the Irish sides, a truce was agreed and finally the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed off on 6 December 1921. This led to the partition of the country and the creation of the Irish Free State. What Arnold Bax did not foresee at the time of the composition of his Phantasy was the acrimonious Civil War, which began on 28 June 1922 and lasted until 24 May 1923. It left a bitter legacy.

Arnold Bax provided the basic model for appreciating the Phantasy:

“This Concerto follows established classical tradition in that it consists of three distinct movements, though these are linked together without a break in the flow of the music. The orchestra employed is a comparatively small one, the only member of the heavier brass instruments admitted being one trumpet, occasionally used for solo purposes. (Parlett, 1999, p.151)

The movements are:[1] Poco lento - Allegro moderato molto ritmico, [2] Lento semplice and [3] Allegro vivace.”

The Phantasy is characterised by warm melodies and sensuous harmonies as well as its subtle orchestration and grateful instrumental writing. Key things to look out for are the Nationalist fingerprints of Irish music. This includes the “rhythms and inflections” of Irish folksong. These are common attributes of Bax’s oeuvre. Despite this, he rarely included a genuine, as opposed to a confected, folk tune. In the Phantasy he has quoted two Irish folksongs. The slow movement presents a loose reference to A chailín donn deas na gcíocha bána’ (The Pretty Brown-Haired Girl of the White Breasts). This occurs some nine bars before letter “L” in the score. In his programme note for the premiere performance, Bax translates the title modestly as “The Pretty Brown-haired Girl,” describing it as “a little-known folksong.” The other quotation occurs in the final movement. Graham Parlett (1999, p.151) explains that at the letter “X” in the score, Bax has quoted a phrase from the opening measures of the Sinn Féin marching song Amhrán na bhFiann" (A Soldier’s Song). This had been composed by Patrick Heeney (1881-1911) to words by Peadar Kearney (1883-1942). It was originally published in the journal Irish Freedom (Saoirse na hÉireann, No. 23, September 1912). In 1926, it became the national anthem of Eire. Parlett notes that this was some five years after the Phantasy had been first performed. In the liner notes for the Chandos recording (CHAN 10829), Lewis Foreman explains that it was “a political aside that was not noticed by its first audiences.” To be sure, it is not mentioned in the programme notes provided by Bax for the premiere performance or for Eric Blom’s note in the programme booklet for a Concert of Recent Works by Arnold Bax, given at the Queen’s Hall on 13 November 1922.

Brief Bibliography:
Foreman, Lewis, Bax: A Composer and his Times (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 1983, 1987, 2007)
Parlett, Graham, A Catalogue of the Works of Sir Arnold Bax (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1999)
Scott-Sutherland, Colin, Arnold Bax (London, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1973)
Tertis, Lionel, My Viola and I, (London, Paul Elek, 1974)
White, John, Lionel Tertis, The First Great Virtuoso of the Viola (The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2006)
The files of the Bax Society Bulletin Daily Mail, Daily Express, Musical Opinion, The Pall Mall Gazette, The Scotsman, The Times.

Additional information and contemporary reviews supplied by the late Graham Parlett with thanks.

To be continued…
With thanks to the Arnold Bax Website where this essay was first published.