Arnold Bax’s “Programme Notes” for The Garden of Fand (1916)

The Garden of Fand is an orchestral tone poem composed by Arnold Bax. It was completed in 1916. Inspired by Irish mythology, it evokes the enchanted island belonging to Fand, daughter of the lord of the ocean, Manannan. Although not directly depicting the mythical tale, the work captures the essence of Fand’s realm.

Lewis Foreman, in the sleeve for the Lyrita recording (SRCD.231) of Fand, wrote that: “The Atlantic was long source of inspiration to Bax. As soon as he had left the Royal Academy of Music, he “spent more and more time alone in places lorded by the Atlantic.” In Fand, the rise and fall of the waves, the undertow and the associated legends are realised in delicate patterns of figuration on wind and strings. Two harps divided strings [and] celesta are all employed to create an ever-changing iridescent musical fabric. This kaleidoscope of shifting colours is no mere unthinking wash of sound but is of formal importance in the work in a quite pictorial way. The blocks of colour are calculated to balance and contrast the musical ideas which follow the programme unusually closely for Bax.”

The work was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on 29 October 1920 under Frederick Stock. It was first heard in Britian on 11 December 1920 at the Kingsway Hall. Adrian Boult conducted the British Symphony Orchestra.

The score of Bax’s The Garden of Fand was published in 1922 by Murdoch, Murdoch, and Co. It is prefaced by the following explanatory note:

“The Garden of Fand is the sea. The ancient Saga called ‘The sick-bed of Cuchulain’ [1] tells how that hero (the Achilles of the Gael) was lured away from the world of deeds and battles by the Lady Fand, daughter of Manannan, lord of the ocean; and how in the time of his country's direst need he forgot all but the enchantments of an immortal woman.The tale goes on to relate that Cuchulain's wife, Emer, pursued him to that wonderland and pleaded with the goddess for her husband's return. Then, with one of those touches of modern romanticism which are continually occurring in the Irish pagan tales, the Saga ends with Fand's pitying renunciation of her human love, and we read that Manannan shook his ‘Cloak of Forgetfulness’ between Cuchulain and Fand, that the memory of each might be utterly blotted out from the mind of the other.

This tone-poem has no special relation to the events of the above legend. In the earlier portion of the work the composer seeks to create the atmosphere of an enchanted Atlantic completely calm beneath the spell of the Other World. Upon its surface floats a small ship adventuring towards the sunset from the shores of Eirinn, as St. Brendan [2] and the sons of O'Corra [3] are said to have sailed in later times. The little craft is borne on beneath a sky of pearl and amethyst until on the crest of an immense slowly surging wave it is tossed on to the shore of Fand's miraculous island. Here is unhuman revelry unceasing between the ends of time, and the voyagers are caught away, unresisting, into the maze of the dance. A pause comes, and Fand sings her song of immortal love enchaining the hearts of her hearers for ever. The dancing and feasting begin again and finally, the sea rising suddenly overwhelms the whole island the immortals riding in rapture on the green and golden waves and laughing carelessly amidst the foam at the fate of the over-rash mortals lost in the depths. Twilight falls, the sea subsides, and Fand's garden fades out of sight.”

A splendid performance of the work can be heard on YouTube, here.  Sir Adrian Boult conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Notes
[1] Cú Chulainn, an iconic figure in Irish mythology, is a warrior hero and demigod. Believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh, he defended Ulster against Queen Medb’s armies. His fierce combat spirit and exceptional martial skills have become legendary.

[2] St. Brendan, also known as Brendan of Clonfert, was an Irish Christian saint born around 484 A.D. in County Kerry. Renowned for his audacious seafaring and exploratory spirit, he set sail on a fabled journey in pursuit of the mythical ‘Promised Land of the Saints.’” His journey, filled with fantastical elements, included encounters with sea creatures, floating pillars, and lush paradises. 

[3] The Voyage of the Uí Chorra (O’Corra) is an ancient Irish voyage tale. It unfolds as three sons of Connall ua Corra, having made a pact with the Devil, set forth on a penitential ocean voyage, encountering symbolic adventures and eventually finding their home on the Iberian Peninsula.