arnold bax

Bax in 1922

Arnold BaxFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO (8 November 1883 3October 1953) was an English composer and poet. His musical styleblended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often withinfluences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scoresare noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation. Bax'spoetry and stories, which he wrote under the pseudonym of DermotOByrne, reflect his profound affinity with Irish poet W. B. Yeatsand are largely written in the tradition of the Irish Literary Revival.

Contents1 Life

1.1 Early years1.2 Bax discovers Ireland1.3 Conglomerate of influences1.4 Rathgar circle1.5 Alienation, conflict and success1.6 Morar period1.7 Peter Pan of composers1.8 Ireland reaches out

2 Research and scholarship3 Reception and recordings4 List of works

4.1 Ballets4.2 Orchestral

4.2.1 Symphonies4.2.2 Tone poems4.2.3 Other orchestral works

4.3 Concertante4.4 Chamber

4.4.1 One player4.4.2 Two players4.4.3 Three players4.4.4 Four players4.4.5 Five players4.4.6 Six or more players

4.5 Piano4.5.1 One piano

4.6 Two pianos4.7 Film music4.8 Vocal

4.8.1 Choral4.8.2 Songs with orchestra4.8.3 Songs with chamber ensemble4.8.4 Songs with piano

5 References6 Bibliography7 External links

Arnold Bax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Bax

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7.1 Biographical links7.2 Other links

Life

Early years

Bax was born in Pendennis Road, Streatham, London, into a Victorian upper-middle-class family of Dutchdescent. He grew up in Ivy Bank, a mansion on top of Haverstock Hill, Hampstead, where he attendedHeath Mount School.[1] In Bax, A Composer and His Times (2007), Lewis Foreman suggests that, becauseof the family affluence, Bax never had to take a paid position and was free to pursue most of his interests.From an early age, he showed that he had a powerful intellect and great musical talent, especially at thekeyboard. He often enjoyed playing the Wagner operas on piano. One of his first intimate meetings with artmusic was through Tristan und Isolde and its influence is seen in many of his later works, Tintagel forexample. Bax was taught at home, but received his first formal musical education at age 16 from Cecil Sharpand others at the Hampstead Conservatoire. He was accepted to the Royal Academy of Music in 1900,where he remained until 1905. At the Academy, he was taught composition by Frederick Corder, the pianoby Tobias Matthay and the clarinet by Egerton. In his composition classes, Corder emphasized the examplesof Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner and pointed to their liberal approach to classical form, which led Bax todevelop a similar attitude. He had an exceptional ability to sight-read and play complex orchestral scores atthe piano, which won him several medals at the Academy and he also won prizes for best musicalcomposition, including the Battison-Haynes prize and the competitive Charles Lucas Medal.

Bax discovers Ireland

Bax had a sensitive and searching soul and drew inspiration from a wide range of sources. He was avoracious reader of literature and in this way he happened upon William Butler Yeats's The Wanderings ofOisin and Other Poems in 1902. He proved highly receptive to the soft, melancholy moods of the IrishLiterary Revival and found in Yeats a powerful muse, from which he derived a lifetime of inspiration. Hedeveloped an infatuation with Ireland and began travelling extensively there. He visited the most isolatedand secluded places, eventually discovering the little Donegal village Glencolumbkille, to which he returnedannually for almost 30 years. Here, he drew inspiration from the landscape and the sea, and from the cultureand life of the local Irish peasants, many of whom he regarded as close friends. His encounter with thepoetry of Yeats and the landscapes of Ireland resulted in many new works, both musical and literary. TheString Quartet in E (1903), which later was worked into the orchestral tone poem Cathaleen-Ni-Houlihan(1905), is a fine example of how he began to reflect Ireland in his music. Not only did he emerge as asurprisingly mature composer with these works, he also developed in them floating and undulating'impressionistic' musical textures using orchestral techniques not yet heardnot even from Claude Debussy.Many of the works he wrote in the period from 1903 to 1916 can be seen as musical counterparts to the IrishLiterary Revival. The tone-poems Into The Twilight (1908), In The Faery Hills (1909) and Rosc-catha[Battle hymn] (1910) echo the themes of the Revival and especially the soft, dreamy mood of many poemsand stories.

Conglomerate of influences

The Irish influence is only one of many found in Bax's music. An early affinity with Norway and theliterature of Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson brought themes and moods from the Nordic countries into his music.From 1905 to 1911, Bax constantly alternated between using Nordic and Celtic themes in his compositions.He even attempted to teach himself some Norwegian and, in the song The Flute (1907) for voice and piano,he successfully set an original poem by Bjrnson to music. Later examples of Baxs Nordic affinity include


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Arnold Bax (front, right) in the 1920s.

Hardanger for two pianos (1927) and the orchestral tone-poem TheTale the Pine-Trees Knew (1931).

In 1910, a youthful fling with a Ukrainian girl, Natalia Skarginska,brought Bax to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Lubny, near Kiev, whichled to a fascination for Russian and Slavonic themes. The relationshipwith Skarginska resulted in an emotional agony from which he nevercompletely recovered. His conflicting feelings are perhaps reflectedin the First Piano Sonata in F sharp (1910, revised 1917-20). TheRussian and Ukrainian influence can also be heard in two works forsolo piano from 1912, NocturneMay Night in the Ukraine andGopak (Russian dance).

In 1915 appeared In a Vodka Shop also for solo piano. In 1919, Bax was one of four British composers to becommissioned to write orchestral music to serve as interludes at Sergei Diaghilevs Ballets Russes in London.For the commission, he incorporated the three above-mentioned piano works of Russian themes into RussianSuite for orchestra. In 1920, he wrote incidental music to J. M. Barries whimsical play The Truth About theRussian Dancers, his last work based on a clearly Russian theme. The Russian influence may be found inmany of Bax's other scores and is especially predominant in his first three symphonies.

Rathgar circle

In January 1911, not long after he returned to Britain, Bax married Elsita Sobrino, a childhood friend. Theysettled in Bushy Park Road, Rathgar, Dublin. Here Baxs brother Clifford introduced them to the intellectualcircle which met at the house of the poet, painter and mystic George William Russell. Bax had already hadsome of his poems and short stories published in Dublin and to the circle he was simply known by thepseudonym Dermot OByrne (the name was possibly inspired by a renowned family of traditionalmusicians in Donegal).

As Dermot OByrne, he was specifically noted for Seafoam and Firelight, published in London by theOrpheus Press in 1909 and numerous short stories and poems published in different media in Dublin. It wasat Russells house where Bax one night met Irish Republican Patrick Pearse. According to Bax, they got onvery well and, although they met only once, the execution of Pearse following the Easter Rebellion in 1916prompted him to compose several laments, the most noted being In Memoriam Patric Pearse (1916), whichcontains the dedication I gCuimhne ar Phdraig Mac Piarais.

Alienation, conflict and success

The threat of war led to the dissolution of the Rathgar Circle as many members fled Ireland and Europe. Baxand his family returned to London; it was the loss of a blissful life. A heart condition prevented Bax fromenlisting, and he spent the war years composing profusely. Although World War I unleashed previouslyunimagined horrors upon the world, it was the Easter Rebellion and the destruction of Dublin that especiallydisturbed Bax.

As his Ireland, a haven and a retreat, was lost to bitter conflict and war, he sought refuge in a liaison with theyounger pianist Harriet Cohen. What had started out as a purely professional allianceCohen playing andchampioning Bax's piano musicdeveloped into a passionate relationship. Yet their love could not besanctioned by the contemporary social code, which brought to both parties considerable emotional suffering.

This difficult period in Baxs life led to the composition of several tone-poems, including Summer Music(1916), Tintagel (1917) and November Woods (19141917). In Tintagel, Bax reached back to legends anddreamsspecifically that of the doomed lovers Tristan and Isolde. It includes a colourful evocation of thesea. Bax's relationship with Cohen led some commentators to assume a Freudian link between Baxs allegedsexual passion and the sea-theme in Tintagel.


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However, the opening of Harriet Cohen's private papers and the research into them by scholars, such as theNorwegian musicologist Thomas Elnaes, indicates that such a link is at best speculative. Bax's works fromthis time reflect deep psychological conflicts that point forward to the passionate yet deeply troubled FirstSymphony in E flat, completed in 1922. After the war, British music was in demand as never before inEngland; and Bax won considerable fame with his works, which were widely performed.

Morar period

From 1928 onwards, Bax ceased to travel to Glencolumbkille and instead began his annual migration toMorar, in the west Scottish Highlands, to work. He would sketch his compositions in London and take themto the Station Hotel at Morar for the winter, in order to orchestrate them. At this time, he found a new lovein Mary Gleaves; and she accompanied him to Scotland.

In the Morar period, which lasted until the outbreak of World War II, Bax rediscovered his interest inNorway and the Nordic countries, and found a new musical hero in Sibelius. At Morar, he orchestratedSymphonies Nos. 3 to 7 and several of his finest orchestral works, including the three Northern Ballads (No.5 is actually dedicated to Sibelius and shares something of his stylistic austerity).

All seven of Bax's symphonies were composed within a relatively short span of time (192239) and areperhaps the most coherent cycle of symphonies by any composer. They reflect his many influences and areprofound works of art with a deep psychological dimension tied to evocations of scenery. The symphoniesearned Bax a reputation as the successor to Elgar, as Vaughan Williams, for instance, had only completedfour symphonies by the time Bax had completed his seventh (Vaughan Williams's fourth is actually dedicatedto Bax).

Peter Pan of composers

Bax received a knighthood in 1937 (Knight Bachelor), but he was not entirely prepared to enjoy this honour.He contended that there was a conflict between the knighthood and his profound affinity with Ireland, butaccepted nonetheless. A feeling that his creative energies were drained started to manifest itself. Baxexplained to his friends that he felt tired, restless and lonely. He contended that he had a hard time growingup. His increasing age depressed him, and he started to drink heavily. He also felt alienated by the newmodernistic fashions in music, and realised, to his sorrow, that his style was falling out of critical favour.

In 1938 appeared his Violin Concerto. It was written for Jascha Heifetz, who disliked it and never played it;instead, it was premiered in 1942 by Eda Kersey (190444).[2]

In 1942, Bax was appointed Master of the King's Musick, a decision the British musical establishment wasnot altogether happy with. To many, Bax was an atypical English composer, some especially pointing to the'Irishness' of his music.

Of his later works, only the film scores for Malta G.C. and Oliver Twist were really successful. They earnedBax a renewed (and deserved) public acclaim, but their popularity could not compensate for his beingconsidered old-fashioned by many younger composers and critics. He retreated from the public scene andlived quietly at the White Horse Hotel in Storrington, Sussex.

Ireland reaches out

In 1929, Feis Maiti Corcaigh, a prestigious music festival organized by the Capuchin Fathers, invited Bax tobecome an adjudicator. It was Irish pianist Tilly Fleischmann who suggested him, knowing that he wasfamiliar with Ireland and Irish conditions. This was also the first time Bax met Irish musicians in Ireland,other than folk musicians. In Cork, he was introduced to such outstanding musicians as the pianist CharlesLynch and singer Maura O'Connor, both of whom went on to give many performances of Baxs music.


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Baxs first visit to Cork marked the beginning of a 24-year friendship with the Fleischmann family. Asperformances of Baxs music grew increasingly rare in Britain, Tilly Fleischmann demonstrated to Bax thathis music had wide appeal in Ireland. Bax, however, did little to act on this, or to support further efforts; andhis music was not heard nationwide in Ireland until Aloys Fleischmann began conducting his orchestralworks with the Irish Radio Orchestra in Dublin just after the end of the war. In 1946, Bax became anexternal examiner with both University College Cork and University College Dublin, and he also gaveindividual tuition to aspiring young Irish composers. He received an honorary doctorate degree from theNational University of Ireland in 1947.

In 1953, Bax was further honoured by appointment as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order(KCVO), an honour within the Queen's personal gift. He died during a visit to the Fleischmanns later thatyear, possibly from a complication of his heart condition. One of his last compositions was CoronationMarch for Queen Elizabeth II.

Not long before he died, Bax was asked by the editor of the The World of Music which were his ownpreferred works. He provided the following selection:

The Garden of Fand (1916)Symphony No. 3 (1929)Winter Legends (1930)The Tale the Pine Trees Knew (1931)Symphony No. 6 (1935)

On another occasion, he said, of his Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, which had been commissioned by anddedicated to Gaspar Cassad, "The fact that nobody has ever taken up this work has been one of the majordisappointments of my musical life".[3]

He died at age 69 and was interred in St. Finbarr's Cemetery, Cork.

Research and scholarshipThe first biography of Bax was Colin Scott-Sutherlands Arnold Bax, published in 1973. It offers adescription of Bax's life and some insightful analysis of his music, especially the large-scale works. Scott-Sutherland also published the works of Dermot O'Byrne (Bax's literary pseudonym): Ideala: Poems andSome Early Love Letters of Arnold Bax including the Collected Poems of Dermot O'Byrne (2001). Baxsprincipal biographer, however, is the English writer Lewis Foreman. Foreman's first major contribution toBax scholarship was a 1983 biography entitled Bax, A Composer and His Times. A second edition appearedin 1988 and a third edition in February 2007.

The principal primary source for information regarding Baxs life and philosophy is his anecdotalautobiography Farewell My Youth (1943), which, for personal reasons, ends at the year 1914. In it Baxattempted to create several myths about himself, but many of his own statements are contradicted by thingshe wrote elsewhere. Lewis Foreman's 1992 edition of Bax's autobiography is the most recent currentlyavailable. Entitled Farewell My Youth, and Other Writings by Arnold Bax, it also includes photographs andsome letters. Another compendium of primary source material is Cuchullan Among the Guns (1998), aselection of letters from Bax's correspondence with the British conductor Christopher Whelen, edited byDennis Andrews.

A significant event in Bax musicology was the publication of Graham Parlett's exhaustive list of Bax's worksentitled A Catalogue of the Works of Sir Arnold Bax (1999). Recognising Parlett's achievement andcontribution, Bax musicologists have now started to use his chronological numbering system as a universalsystem of reference (e.g. Bax's celebrated Third Symphony is "Parlett #297" or simply P. 297). The doctoraldissertation of Dr. Paul R. Ludden and the M. Litt. dissertation of Thomas Elnaes (University of Dublin,Trinity College, 2006) use the succinct Parlett numbers exclusively. As a composer Graham Parlett has also


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edited and orchestrated several Bax scores, including the Russian Suite and the film music to Oliver Twist.

Reception and recordingsAfter his death, Bax's music fell into neglect. He had always sustained a Romantic outlook, distancinghimself from musical modernism and especially Arnold Schoenberg's serialism, which was now beingembraced by institutions worldwide. He was increasingly pigeon-holed as a 'musical pastoralist' together withRalph Vaughan Williams and others.[citation needed] Consequently, Bax's works tended to fall out of therepertoire of orchestras which had once given them frequent performances.[citation needed]

Because of this decline, Bax's music was slow to reach recording. As late as the mid-sixties, there were onlytwo recordings of his symphonies, one long deleted and the other on an obscure label. But from 1966onwards, a revival of his music began with a series of recordings on Richard Itter's Lyrita label. By thecentenary of his birth in 1983 much of his music was available in modern recordings. The Lyrita recordingsof the First and Seventh Symphonies were reissued in 2006; that of the Sixth Symphony, only previouslyavailable on LP, in June 2007; and those of the Second and Fifth Symphonies, also only on LP, in February2008.

Naxos Records have released a complete cycle of Baxs symphonies and tone poems, recorded by the RoyalScottish National Orchestra under the baton of David Lloyd-Jones, along with much of his chamber music.Chandos Records have also championed Bax's orchestral music on CD with recordings of the tone poemsoften conducted either by Bryden Thomson or Vernon Handley, as well as two complete symphony cycles.The first cycle (released through the 1980s and 1990s) saw Bryden Thomson at the helm of the LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra for all except the Fourth Symphony, which was played by the Ulster Orchestra. Thesecond (released in 2003) was played by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Vernon Handley, a lifelongchampion and connoisseur of Bax's music.[4] This box set, which also contains recordings of Tintagel andthe Rogue's Comedy Overture and includes thoughtful interviews in response to questions from AndrewMcGregor and Lewis Foreman,[5] garnered glowing reviews[6] and won a Gramophone Award. It wasfollowed (in 2008) by a further widely acclaimed disc of three of the tone poems plus the posthumousSinfonietta conducted by Handley in 2005, this time with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.[7] Chandos hasalso released a recording of the complete scores to Oliver Twist and Malta G.C.[8] (with the BBCPhilharmonic Orchestra under Rumon Gamba). Despite such successful championship on record, Baxsorchestral music remains rarely performed in concert.

Although he was an able pianist, Bax's appearances as a performer were few and far between. There arerecordings of him partnering with May Harrison and Lionel Tertis in sonatas by Frederick Delius andhimself. He made a rare concert appearance at the memorial concert for Peter Warlock in 1930. His pianomusic has been recorded by several artists, including Iris Loveridge, John McCabe, Eric Parkin, AshleyWass and Michael Endres. However, no complete survey has yet been recorded.

An English Heritage blue plaque, unveiled in 1993, commemorates Bax at his birthplace, 13 Pendennis Roadin Streatham.[9]

List of works

Ballets

Tamara (1911, orch. 2000)From Dusk till Dawn (1917)The Truth about the Russian Dancers (1920)


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Orchestral

Symphonies

Symphony No. 1 (1922)Symphony No. 2 (1926)Symphony No. 3 (1929)Symphony No. 4 (1931)Symphony No. 5 (1932)Symphony No. 6 (1935)Symphony No. 7 (1939)

All are in three movements.

Tone poems

Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan (1905)Into The Twilight (1908)In The Faery Hills (1909)Rosc-catha (1910)Christmas Eve (1912, revised c.1921)Nympholept (1912, orch. 1915, revised 1935)The Garden of Fand (1913, orch. 1916)Spring Fire (1913)In Memoriam (1916)November Woods (1917)Tintagel (1917, orch. 1919)Summer Music (1917, orch. 1921, revised 1932)The Happy Forest (1922)The Tale the Pine Trees Knew (1931)Northern Ballad No. 1 (1927)Northern Ballad No. 2 (1934)Prelude for a Solemn Occasion (Northern Ballad No. 3) (1927, orch. 1933)A Legend (1944)

Other orchestral works

Variations for Orchestra (Improvisations) (1904)A Song of War and Victory (1905)On the Sea Shore (1908, orch. 1984)Festival Overture (1911, revised 1918)Dance of Wild Irravel (1912)Four Orchestral Pieces (191213)Three Pieces for Small Orchestra (1913, revised 1928)Symphonic Scherzo (1917, revised 1933)Russian Suite (1919)Mediterranean (1922)Cortge (1925)Romantic Overture (1926)Overture, Elegy and Rondo (1927)Three Pieces (1928)Overture to a Picaresque Comedy (1930)Sinfonietta (1932)Saga Fragment (1932)


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Rogue's Comedy Overture (1936)Overture to Adventure (1936)London Pageant (1937)Paean (1938)Salute to Sydney (Fanfare) (1943)Work in Progress (Overture) (1943)Victory March (1945)The Golden Eagle (Incidental Music) (1945)Two Royal Wedding Fanfares (1947)Coronation March (1952)

Concertante

Symphonic Variations, for piano and orchestra (1918)Phantasy for Viola and Orchestra (1920)Winter Legends, for piano and orchestra (1930)Cello Concerto (1932)Saga Fragment, for piano and orchestra (1932)Violin Concerto (1938)Piano Concertino (1939)Morning Song, for piano and orchestra (1946)Concertante for Three Solo Wind Instruments and Orchestra (1948/1949)Concertante for Orchestra with Piano (Left Hand) (1949)Variations on the name Gabriel Faur for Harp & String Orchestra (1949)

Chamber

One player

Valse, for harp (1931)Rhapsodic Ballad, for cello (1939)

Two players

HarpFantasy Sonata for harp and viola (1927)Sonata for Flute and Harp (1928)

ViolinViolin Sonata No. 1 (1910)Legend, for violin and piano, in one movement (1915)Violin Sonata No. 2 (1915, revised 1922)Ballad, for violin and piano (1916)Violin Sonata No. 3 (1927)Ballad, for violin and piano (1929)Violin Sonata in F (1928)

ViolaConcert Piece for viola and piano (1904)Viola Sonata for viola and piano (19211922)Fantasy Sonata for harp and viola (1927)Legend for viola and piano (1929)

Cello


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Folk-Tale, for cello and piano (1918)Cello Sonata (1923)Cello Sonatina (1933)Legend-Sonata, for cello and piano (1943)

FluteFour Pieces for Flute and Piano (1912, revised 1915 & 1945)Sonata for Flute and Harp (1928)

Clarinet Sonata (1934)

Three players

Trio in One Movement for Piano, Violin, and Viola (1906)Elegiac Trio, for flute, viola, and harp (1916)Piano Trio in B flat (1946)

Four players

String Quartet No. 1 in G major (1918)Piano Quartet, in one movement (1922)String Quartet No. 2 (1925)String Quartet No. 3 in F (1936)

Five players

Quintet in G (1908)Piano Quintet in G minor (1915)Quintet for Harp and Strings, in one movement (1919)Oboe Quintet (1922)String Quintet, in one movement (1933)

Six or more players

In Memoriam, sextet for cor anglais, harp & string quartet (1916)Nonet (1930)Octet (1934)Threnody and Scherzo, octet in two movements (1936)Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Harp and String Quartet (1936)

Piano

One piano

Clavierstcke (Juvenilia) (1897-8)Piano Sonata, Op. 1 (1898)Piano Sonata in D minor (1900)Marcia Trionfale (1900)White Peace (arranged by Ronald Stevenson 1907)Concert Valse in E flat (1910)Piano Sonata No. 1 (1910, revised 1917-20)Piano Sonata in F# minor (1910, revised, 1911, 1919 & 1921)Two Russian Tone-Pictures (1912)


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Nympholept (1912)Scherzo for Piano (1913)Toccata for Piano (1913)From the Mountains of Home (arranged by Peter Warlock) (1913)The Happy Forest (1914)In the Night (1914)Apple-Blossom-Time (1915)In a Vodka Shop (1915)The Maiden with the Daffodil (1915) )A Mountain Mood (1915)The Princesss Rose Garden (1915)Sleepy-Head (1915)Winter Waters (1915)Dream in Exile (1916)Nereid (1916)On a May Evening (1918)A Romance (1918)The Slave Girl (1919)What the Minstrel Told Us (1919)Whirligig (1919)Piano Sonata No. 2 (1919, revised 1920)Burlesque (1920)Ceremonial Dance (1920)A Country-Tune (1920)A Hill Tune (1920)Lullaby (1920)Mediterranean (1920)Serpent Dance (1920)Water Music (1920)Piano Sonata in E-flat (1921)Piano Sonata No. 3 (1926)Pan (c.1928)Piano Sonata No. 4 (1932)A Legend (1935)Piano Sonata in B flat Salzburg (1937)O Dame get up and bake your pies (1945)Suite on the Name Gabriel Faur (1945)Four Pieces for Piano (1947)Two Lyrical Pieces for Piano (1948)

Two pianos

Fantasia for Two Pianos (1900)Festival Overture (arrangement of orchestral work 1911)Moy Mell (1916)Mediterranean (arranged for three hands by H. Rich 1920)Hardanger (1927)The Poisoned Fountain (1928)The Devil that tempted St Anthony (1928)Sonata for Two Pianos (1929)Red Autumn (1931)

Film music


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Malta, G. C. (1942)Oliver Twist (1948)

Vocal

Choral

Fatherland (Runeberg, tr. C. Bax) [tenor solo] (1907, revised 1934)A Christmas Carol (Anon.) [arranged for SATB by Hubert Dawkes] (1909)Enchanted Summer (Shelley) [two soprano solos] (1910)Variations sur Cadet Rousselle (French trad.) [arranged by Max Saunders] (1918)Of a rose I sing a song (Anon.) [SATB, harp, cello, double bass] (1920)Now is the Time of Christymas (Anon.) [TB, flute, piano] (1921)Mater, ora Filium (Anon.) [SSAATTBB] (1921)This Worldes Joie (Anon.) [SATB with SATB divisions] (1922)The Boars Head (Anon.) [TTBB] (1923)I sing of a maiden that is makeless (Anon.) [SAATB] (1923)To the Name above every Name (Crashaw) [soprano solo] (1924)St Patricks Breastplate (Anon.) [SATB] (1924)Walsinghame (Raleigh) (tenor, obbligato soparano) (1926)Lord, Thou hast told us (Washbourne) [hymn for SATB] (1930)The Morning Watch (Vaughan) [SATB] (1935)5 Fantasies on Polish Christmas Carols (trans. liwiski) [unison trebles] (1942)5 Greek Folksongs (trans. Michel-Dmitri Calvocoressi) [SATB] (1942)To Russia (Masefield) [baritone solo] (1944)Gloria [SATB] (1945)Nunc Dimittis [SATB] (1945)Te Deum [SATB] (1945)Epithalamium (Spenser) [SATB in unison] (1947)Magnificat [SATB] (1948)Happy Birthday to you (Hill) [arr. SATB] (1951)What is it like to be young and fair? (C. Bax) [SSAAT] (1953)

Songs with orchestra

2 Nocturnes [soprano] (1911)3 Songs [high voice] (1914)Song of the Dagger (Strettell and Sylva) [bass] (1914)The Bard of the Dimbovitza (Strettel and Sylva) [mezzo-soprano] (1914, revised 1946)Glamour (OByrne) [high voice] (1921, orchestrated by Rodney Newton 1987)A Lyke-Wake (Anon.) [high voice] (1908, orchestrated 1934)Wild Almond (Trench) [high voice] (1924, orchestrated 1934)Eternity (Herrick) [high voice] (1934)O Dear! What can the matter be? (trad. arr. Bax)

Songs with chamber ensemble

Aspiration (Dehmel) [arranged for high voice w/violin, cello, & piano] (1909)My eyes for beauty pine (Bridges) [high voice with string quartet] (c.1921)O Mistress mine (Shakespeare) [high voice with string quartet] (c.1921)

Songs with piano


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The Grand Match (O'Neill) (1903)To My Homeland (Gwynn) (1904)A Celtic Song Cycle (Macleod) (1904)

Eilidh my FawnClosing DoorsThe Dark Eyes to MineA Celtic LullabyAt the Last

When We Are Lost (Arnold Bax) (1905)From the Uplands to the Sea (Morris) (1905)Leaves, Shadows and Dreams (Macleod) (1905)In the Silence of the Woods (Macleod) (1905)Green Branches (Macleod) (1905)The Fairies (Allingham) (1905)Golden Guendolen (Morris) (1905)The Song in the Twilight (Freda Bax) (1905)Mircath: Viking-Battle-Song (Macleod) (1905)A Hushing Song (Macleod) (1906)I Fear Thy Kisses Gentle Maiden (Shelley) (1906)Ballad: The Twa Corbies [recitation with piano] ('Border Minstrelsy') (1906)Magnificat (St. Luke 1.46-55) (1906)The Blessed Damozel (Rossetti) (1906)5 Traditional Songs of France (1920)I Heard a Piper Piping (Seosamh MacCathmhaoil, Joseph Campbell) (1922)

References^ Biography of Bax (http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=18539&ttype=Biography&ttitle=Biography&langid=1) at boosey.com

1.

^ [1] (http://www.wrightmusic.net/pdfs/eda-kersey.pdf)2.^ Baxworks (http://www.davidparlett.co.uk/bax/bax4053.html)3.^ As related, for example, in an interview with Richard Adams (http://www.musicweb-international.com/bax/adamshandley.htm)

4.

^ Handley's extensive interview with Lewis Foreman is available in the booklet notes (http://www.chandos.net/pdf/CHAN%2010122.pdf)

5.

^ for example, http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2003/Nov03/Bax_Adams.htm6.^ Richard Adams "A Triumphant Return to Manchester" (http://www.musicweb-international.com/bax/edit0505.htm), editorial on the Sir Arnold Bax Website, May 2005. Retrieved 2011-06-27.

7.

^ As detailed in the booklet notes (http://www.chandos.net/pdf/CHAN%2010126.pdf)8.^ "BAX, SIR ARNOLD (1883-1953)" (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/search/bax-sir-arnold-1883-1953). English Heritage. Retrieved 2012-10-20.

9.

BibliographyCorder, Frederick. A History of The Royal Academy of Music from 1822 to 1922 (London: FredrickCorder, 1922).

OByrne, Dermot. Poems by Arnold Bax, collected, selected and edited by Lewis Foreman, togetherwith two previously unpublished songs by Bax to his own words, Lewis Foreman (ed.), (London:Thames Publishing, 1979).

De Barra, Samas. "Arnold Bax, The Fleischmanns and Cork", The Journal of Music in Ireland 5/1(JanuaryFebruary 2005): 2430.

De Barra, Samas. "Into the Twilight: Arnold Bax and Ireland", The Journal of Music in Ireland 4/3


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(MarchApril 2004): 2529.

Elnaes, Thomas. "An Anglo-Irish Composer: New Perspectives on the Creative Achievements of SirArnold Bax", Master's Dissertation, University of Dublin, Trinity College, 2006.

Fleischmann, Tilly. "Some reminiscences of Arnold Bax" (http://www.musicweb-international.com/bax/tilly.htm), 12 May 2005.

Fry, Helen. "Music and Men, the Life and Loves of Harriet Cohen (http://www.musicandmen.com)",The History Press, September 2008.

Foreman, Lewis, Bax. A composer and his times (1st edn, Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1983; 2nd edn,Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 1987; 3rd edn, Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007).

Foreman, Lewis (ed.). Farewell, My Youth and other writings by Arnold Bax (Aldershot: Scolar Press,1992; now Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.).

Foreman, Lewis and Susan Foreman. LondonA Musical Gazetteer (New Haven and London: YaleUniversity Press, 2005).

Parlett, Graham. A Catalogue Of The Works Of Sir Arnold Bax (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999).Scott-Sutherland, Colin. Arnold Bax (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1973).

Scott-Sutherland, Colin (ed.). Ideala Love Letters and Poems of Arnold Bax (Petersfield,Hampshire: Fand Music Press, 2001).

White, Harry. The Keepers Recital: Music and Cultural History in Ireland, 17701970 (Cork: CorkUniversity Press, 1998).

British Broadcasting Radio 3. "Arnold Bax", Composer of the Week, 29 July 2003.

External links

Biographical links

Sir Arnold Bax (http://www.musicweb-international.com/bax/index.html), an extensive archive ofreviews and essays on Arnold BaxMusic & Men (http://www.musicandmen.com), a biographical website dedicated to Bax's lover, thepianist Harriet Cohen

Other links

Bax Piano Sonata no. 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS7Ob7fOQW4) played by JonathanPowell (YouTube)The Lied and Art Song Texts Page created and maintained from Emily Ezust (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/b/bax.html) Texts of the songs of Bax.Quintet for harp and strings (http://hdl.handle.net/1802/1231) from the Sibley Music Library DigitalScore CollectionFree scores by Arnold Bax at the International Music Score Library ProjectNational Portrait Gallery (http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=ss&sText=Arnold+Bax&LinkID=mp00298) (18 portraits, 8 on display)Reviews of IDEALA: Collected Poems of Dermot O'Byrne (http://www.fandmusic.com/?product=FM091), available from Fand Music PressList of Bax first editions available from Fand Music Press (http://www.fandmusic.com/?composer=2),


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including piano music and the IDEALA bookList of Sir Arnold Bax's Works (http://www.davidparlett.co.uk/bax/) David Parlett's site, based onGraham Parlett's CatalogFree scores by Arnold Bax in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)Works by Bax (http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=arnold%20bax) available at the InternetArchive (http://www.archive.org/)Archival material relating to Arnold Bax (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P1822) listed at the UK National Archives

Court officesPreceded by

Sir Walford DaviesMaster of the King's Musick

19421952Succeeded by

Sir Arthur Bliss

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arnold_Bax&oldid=540241363"

Categories: 1883 births 1953 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music English composers20th-century classical composers Composers for piano Masters of the Queen's MusicKnights Bachelor Composers awarded knighthoods Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian OrderPeople associated with University College Dublin People associated with University College CorkPeople from Dublin (city) People from Streatham Royal Philharmonic Society Gold MedallistsPeople educated at Heath Mount School

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