Arnold bax vernon handley, royal philharmonic orchestra. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music. Find vernon handley credit information on allmusic. Other works from this period include nympholept 1912, orch 1915 and spring fire 19, both deserving wide performance. The surviving manuscript score numbers the movements i to v, though in the fair. The recording of spring fire is taken from a concert in 2010. Chandos abrd 1180 digital lp arnold bax spring fire, vernon handley exc uk. Mar 22, 1987 bax was born in london in 1883 and raised in comfortable middleclass circumstances. Tintagel needs no assistance, and the overture to a picaresque comedy seems a trifle out of character. This is a welcome recording of baxs underrated spring fire symphony which has rarely seen a recording, the most recent being bryden thomson on chandos in the late 1980s. She was devastated when he became a lutheran protestant at the age of twentyfour. November woods, the garden of fand, spring fire, the cello concerto.
Lewiss many books and articles include the standard biography of sir arnold bax, first published in 1983 and in an expanded third edition in 2007. Chandos records is one of the worlds premier classical music record companies, best known for its ground. Spring fire bax from cdhll7528 hyperion records mp3 and. He had a lifelong fascination with celtic culture, following the discovery of the writings of yeats. Oct 08, 2014 bbcl 41002 life with glorious john a portrait of sir john barbirolli by evelyn barbirolli robson books, 2002. It is the first lesbian paperback novel, and the beginning of the lesbian pulp fiction genre. A full time writer and repertoire advisor to record companies, he has produced over 250 cd booklets comprising notes on some 1,000 works, and contributed programme notes for the london symphony. Arnold bax, royal philharmonic orchestra, vernon handley discogs. Arnold bax is an english composer, who is mentioned in 5 events in the ausstage database composer. Arnold bax, vernon handley, royal philharmonic orchestra bax.
Bax did leave his wife in march 1918 and afterwards his name was associated with that of harriet cohen who performed many of his works. Was himself a brilliant pianist and wrote fluently and perceptively for the kbd. The evocative first chorus in swinburnes poem atalanta in calydon, then only recently set chorally by bantock, stimulated bax s imagination and he conceived spring fire, which was written during 19. Tell me more about arnold bax the classical music guide. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. During the war, bax left his wife and children for the british pianist harriet cohen. The visionary music of sir arnold trevor bax voegelinview. The beauty of baxs orchestration is brought out superbly by the halle the woodwind solos in woodland. Please turn off your phone, and applaud between threads, not individual posts. Drawing inspiration from swinburnes poem atalanta in calydon. Sir arnold edward trevor bax, kcvo 8 november 1883 3 october 1953 was an english. This is early bax at his most ecstatically impressionistic. A significant event in bax musicology was the publication of graham parletts exhaustive list of bax s works entitled a catalogue of the works of sir arnold bax 1999.
Enter spring is a brilliantly extrovert display of his skill as a colourist, sustained by an irresistible rhythmic energy. Bax, arnold composer 19991020 a performance staged at the collins street baptist church, melbourne, vic. The halle plays it with fabulous finesse, and the orchestra is equally assured in arnold bax s quasisymphonic spring fire. Spring fire arnold bax bax, arnold, 18831953 printed music. Arnold bax from wikipedia, the free encyclopedia jump to navigation jump to search english composer and. Arnold bax 18831953 spring fire 19 northern ballad no. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from irish literature and landscape. Elders version benefits from some fine recording balance and is of similar intensity with imaginative orchestral playing and superb power in selected passages. A number of orchestral works grew out of an abortive attempt to write an opera on the dierdre legend, and of these the atmospheric in the faery hills 1909 is the earliest of his orchestral works to have been published, while roscatha 190810, a vivid orchestral battle song is clothed. Print pdfthe name of sir arnold trevor bax 1883 1953 hardly qualifies as a household reference even among people with serious musical interests. The surviving manuscript score numbers the movements i to v, though in the fair copy score destroyed in 1964 bax had run the first two. Bacchus and pan themselves make an appearance in the final movement. Bax was born in london in 1883 and raised in comfortable middleclass circumstances. The evocative first chorus in swinburnes poem atalanta in calydon, then only recently set chorally by bantock, stimulated baxs imagination and he conceived spring fire, which was written during 19.
Chandos records is one of the worlds premier classical music record companies, best known for its ground breaking search for neglected musical gems. Buy bax, delius, bridge english spring online at low prices. However, this leads to considerations of other composers who have some emotional and spiritual connection with bax. Sir arnold edward trevor bax, kcvo 8 november 1883 3 october 1953 was an english composer and poet. Bax spring fire symphony this page lists all recordings of spring fire symphony by arnold edward trevor bax 18831953. In addition to a series of symphonic poems he wrote seven symphonies and was for a time widely. The ornithological combat of kings or the condor of the andes and the eagle of the cordilleras anthony philip heinrich christopher keene, syracuse symphony orchestra first movement. Aug 11, 2019 bax himself acknowledged the nonceltic nature of the ideas behind spring fire and the other scores and stated that the true ecstasy of spring and the affirmation of life were hellenic concepts, foreign to the celt. Bax regarded spring fire as a kind of freelyworked symphony. Adams barbirolli recordings were hard to come by when i first started collecting recordings in the late 1970s.
Bbcl 41002 life with glorious john a portrait of sir john barbirolli by evelyn barbirolli robson books, 2002. Bax, sir arnold edward trevor b streatham, london, 1883. Arnold baxs spring fire in the forest before dawn youtube. Like vaughan williams he was born into wealth so never had to worry about jobs.
When bax s stock had plunged to its lowest, some of these works kept his name alive and others, notably spring fire, led to his rehabilitation. His major scores of the period spring fire, tintagel, the garden of fand, and the austere november woods take their. Yet bax claimed a significant following in his day and in the second decade of. He described it as a quasisymphony in five movements and it is set in a pagan arcadia of nymphs and fauns so popular in the period. Sir arnold edward trevor bax 8 november 1883 3october 1953 was an english composer, poet, and author. Pan and apollo, if ever they wandered so far from the hesperidean garden as this icy ierne, were banished at once.
The beauty of bax s orchestration is brought out superbly by the halle the woodwind solos in woodland love are entrancing, but somethings missing. Musically bax swayed between the influences of irish folksong and those of germany and, later, of russia. The halle plays it with fabulous finesse, and the orchestra is equally assured in arnold baxs quasisymphonic spring fire, though alongside. The disc begins with one of baxs warmest works, spring fire, written in 19 when the composer was thirty. In fact, spring fire is baxs first fully characterized tone poem, written in a freeflowing manner that informs all his later works. Whether youre a musician, a newbie, a composer or a listener, welcome. Interviews with composers, conductors, singers, instumentalists and others includes those. Sir arnold bax was one of the leading british symphonists to flourish between the two world wars. Books, images, historic newspapers, maps, archives and more. Spring fire, is a 1952 paperback novel written by marijane meaker, under the pseudonym vin packer. The symphony depicts the events of a day on a forest.
Sir arnold edward trevor bax kcvo 8 november 1883 3 october 1953 was an english composer, poet, and author. He spent time in eire whose people he tended to identify with and composed much of his music in lodgingshotels on the atlantic coast. We have a number of out of print complete books online. The halle plays with fabulous finesse, and the orchestra is equally assured in arnold baxs quasisymphonic spring fire the guardian. Girls spanked by boys none girls spanked by girls none boys spanked by men. Arnold bax royal philharmonic orchestra, vernon handley spring fire symphonic scherzo northern ballad no. Chandos has singlehandedly rescued bax from obscurity and this is one of their best releases in the bax series. Many austrian jewish professionals such as gustav mahler converted to christianity in order to advance their careers, but most became catholics. Scheduled for performance in 1914, 1916 and 1919, it was never played in his lifetime and remained unperformed until the composer.
Apr 14, 2011 the halle plays it with fabulous finesse, and the orchestra is equally assured in arnold baxs quasisymphonic spring fire, though alongside the bridge it seems less cogent, for all its exotic. The conflict of the condor in the air allegro, ma moderato. Composer arthur butterworth muses on sir arnold bax. The disc begins with one of bax s warmest works, spring fire, written in 19 when the composer was thirty.
The widely seen conductor handley was known particularly for his dozens of recordings of music by composers of the british isles. Arnold bax royal philharmonic orchestra, vernon handley. Buy bax, delius, bridge english spring online at low. Recognising parletts achievement and contribution, bax musicologists have now started to use his chronological numbering system as a universal system of reference e. Tell me more about arnold bax the classical music guide forums. The halle plays it with fabulous finesse, and the orchestra is equally assured in arnold baxs quasisymphonic spring fire. They were together a number of years, and after the affair had ended, remained friendly, if no longer intimate. Bax himself acknowledged the nonceltic nature of the ideas behind spring fire and the other scores and stated that the true ecstasy of spring and the affirmation of life were hellenic concepts, foreign to the celt. Most of these movements are found neither in the concert suite compiled by muir. When baxs stock had plunged to its lowest, some of these works kept his name alive and others, notably spring fire, led to his rehabilitation.