Exploring Arnold Bax’s Phantasy for viola and orchestra (1920): Part 2

The Premiere: 

The Royal Philharmonic concert at the Queen’s Hall, on Thursday, 17 November 1921 was by any standards a varied programme. Opening with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Cortège des Noces from the popular three act opera, Le Coq D'or (The Golden Cockerel) (f.p. 1909). This was immediately followed by Arnold Bax’s ‘Concerto’ for viola and orchestra. The soloist was, as noted above, Lionel Tertis. Josef Holbrooke’s tone poem Ulalume (1909) came next. This was based on a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe. It was immediately followed by Frederick Delius’s On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912). After the interval, a single work was performed: Johannes Brahms Symphony No.3 in F major, op.90 (1883). Albert Coates conducted the Orchestra of the Royal Philharmonic Society.

A large section of The Times review (18 November 1921, p.8) considers the Bax premiere. The journalist (possibly H.C. Colles) noted that “the concerto is in a tripartite single movement, it is of clear structure, and it is refined music, full of melodies which appeal to educated tastes.” So far, so good. In a backhanded compliment, he suggests that “the middle section rises above this, and into it considerably the most work seems to have been put. The counterpoint is solid stuff and ‘comes off.’” Unfortunately, this means that the critic did “not care so much for either [the] exordium or peroration…”  It gets worse:

“Mr. Bax at his best has a kind of wistful poetry which is his very own, and at other moments he is no worse than others who fill music paper while they think what to say. He had a pretty folksong to give us, and he did not hammer it too much, but let it float in and out of the conversation on Mr. Tertis’s beautiful instrument.” 

The Brahms was not received too well either: it “filled one with despair and delight.” The problem here was that Albert Coates had his own ideas about texture and balance that are at variance with the composer’s.

The Times reporter did admit that he only heard part of the concert – the first two works and the final two movements of the Brahms Symphony. Cynically, he suggests that the Rimsky-Korsakov “served the purpose of ushering people to their seats for the Concerto.”

In the 21^st century it would be unlikely that the Daily Express (18 November 1921, p. 8.) would devote around 120 words to a premiere performance of a British composer. A century ago, it was different. The unnamed critic began by acknowledging that “Mr. Arnold Bax is discovering himself and that quickly. He has emerged from the imitative stage and is rapidly acquiring an individual habit of thought and expression.” This may seem unfair to Bax’s reputation: several important and successful pieces had appeared during and just after the end of the First World War. These include the tone poems The Garden of Fand, November Woods, and the most popular, Tintagel.

The Express commentator continued:

“[Bax’s] latest work…is cast in so unfamiliar a mould…conforming more or less to the practices of tradition is in itself a novelty - and is couched in so personal an idiom that, beyond saying that the music is constructed on unexpectedly definite melodic lines of the wistful and hearty order, one prefers to wait until a second hearing before venturing on details. Mr. Tertis is, of course, the last word in viola players, and, with Mr. Albert Coates conducting, Mr. Bax was handsomely served.”

Under the heading “Charming New Concerto by Mr. Bax,” the Daily Mail’s (18 November 1921, p.5) assessment demands to be reproduced in full. R.C. (Richard Capell) considers:

English music was given us by the Philharmonic Society at Queen’s Hall…last night, by Arnold Bax, Holbrooke and Delius, and the novelty was Bax’s Concerto in D minor for viola. Had anyone there ever heard a viola concerto before? The music was Bax’s, but a good deal of the responsibility must be Mr. Lionel Tertis’s. Mr. Tertis believes in the viola, just as some perfectly nice folks have an eccentric taste for begonias, Scandinavian novels, or holidays in caravans. The shy instrument does its best to overcome a natural diffidence and play up to his belief in it. (Notably it rewards Mr. Tertis’s bow and fingers with a beautiful, unique tone from the A string). But it is no good pretending; it does not shine in the drawing-room of the concerto. It would be happier at a task in the back of the house with cook’s apron or gardening gloves.  

Despite the witty tone of this assessment, it is unfortunate that Capell pedals the old myth that the viola is the Cinderella of the orchestral string section. It was through the passion of Lionel Tertis that the status of the instrument was raised considerably. Yet, even today, the viola is rarely heard in the concert hall performing a concerto.

Doyen of the musical establishment at that time, Edwin Evans in the Pall Mall Gazette (18 November 1921, p.9) stated:

“The viola is commonly regarded as a grave companion to the violin, fond of its lower register, and of solemn thoughts. But Lionel Tertis, the finest player of this instrument known to the musical world today, has always claimed attention for its upper notes, and Arnold Bax, whose concerto Tertis introduced last night, evidently does not regard it as necessarily a solemn instrument. Not that he lures it into unworthy frivolity. He makes of it a blithesome, intimate, and even confidential friend. The music is tinged with the warmer hues of Irish folksong and dance, though not to the extent of employing authentic folk tunes [sic]. The work is concise, none too long, hauntingly beautiful in its melodic outline, and it was played in masterly fashion by Mr. Tertis, with Mr. Albert Coates conducting. The only doubt arose at some points where the viola tone did not seem to come through the orchestra, but that may have been a matter of the listener’s position in the hall, for Tertis’s tone in solo passages was big enough to fill the building…There was great enthusiasm alike for Coates, Tertis and Bax.”  

On the same day, The Scotsman (18 November 1921, p.7) reported that the Phantasy is: “unquestionably Mr Bax’s greatest achievement, for he has not only composed a great work for a neglected instrument, but he has succeeded in a sphere where other composers have failed. The tone of the alto instrument is not powerful, but in his D Minor Concerto the orchestra is used with such skill that the tone of the solo instrument is never submerged.”

 A contemporary edition of Musical Opinion noted that “…the work follows the classical tradition in consisting of three distinct movements, though these are linked together without a break in the flow of the music.” The critic felt that “The viola, like the cello, does not make an ideal instrument for concerto purposes: Mr Bax’s fondness for ornament and arabesque have led him to write passages not altogether suited to the genius of the instrument.” Contrariwise, he felt that “The concerto…contains some very pleasing music, and the solo part was finely played by Mr Lionel Tertis.” (Cited without date, White, 2006, p.61). 

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.