Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO (8 November 1883 — 3 October 1953), was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of Romanticism and Impressionism, always with a strong Celtic influence. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation. Bax’s poetry and stories, which he wrote under the pseudonym of Dermot O’Byrne, reflect his profound affinity with Irish poet William Butler Yeats and are largely written in the tradition of the Irish Literary Revival. Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Shortcut: WP:-( Vandalism is indisputable bad-faith addition, deletion, or change to content, made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the encyclopedia. ... Queen Victoria founded the Royal Victorian Order. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ... Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists, who began exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. ... W.B. Yeats in Dublin on 24 January 1908. ...

Life

Early years

Bax was born in Pendennis Road, Streatham, London, into a Victorian upper-middle-class family of Dutch descent. He grew up in Ivy Back, a mansion on top of Haverstock Hill, Hampstead.[1]. In Bax, A Composer and His Times (2007) Lewis Foreman suggests that, because of the family affluence, Bax never had to take a paid position and was free to pursue most of his interests - a sharp contrast to the life of many Britons who suffered abject poverty in the infamous slums. Bax displayed early that he was fitted with a powerful intellect and a great musical talent, especially at the keyboard. Playing the Wagner operas at the piano were amongst his favourite activities. One of his first intimate meetings with art music was through Tristan und Isolde and its influence is seen in many of his later works, Tintagel for example. Bax was taught at home, but received his first formal musical education at age 16 from Cecil Sharp and others at the Hampstead Conservatory. 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 Piano by Tobias Matthay and the Clarinet by Egerton. In his composition classes, Corder emphasized the examples of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner and pointed to their liberal approach to classical form, which led Bax to develop a similar attitude. He had an exceptional ability to sight-read and play complex orchestral scores at the piano, which won him several medals at the Academy and he also won prizes for best musical composition, including the Battison-Haynes prize and the competitive Charles Lucas medal. Streatham is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth in the United Kingdom . ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Hampstead is a suburb of north London in the London Borough of Camden, located four miles (6. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as he later came to call them). ... Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Strassburg, which in turn was based on the story of Tristan and Iseult as told in French by Thomas of... Cecil James Sharp (1859-1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early twentieth century, and many of Englands traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them. ... The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) is a constituent college of the University of London, and is one of the leading music institutions in the world. ... Frederick Corder (Jan 26 1852-Aug 21 1932) was an a English composer and music teacher. ... Tobias Matthay (born February 19, 1858, London; died December 15, 1945, High Marley) was a pianist, teacher, and composer. ... Portrait by Henri Lehmann, 1839 Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Liszt Ferenc; pronounced , in English: list) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian [1] virtuoso pianist and composer of the Romantic period. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as he later came to call them). ...

Bax discovers Ireland

Bax had a sensitive and searching soul and drew inspiration from a wide range of sources. He was a voracious reader of literature and in this way he happened upon William Butler Yeats's The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems in 1902. He proved highly receptive to the soft, melancholy moods of the Irish Literary Revival and found in Yeats a powerful muse, from which he derived a life-time of inspiration. He developed an infatuation with Ireland and began travelling extensively there. He visited the most isolated and secluded places, eventually discovering the little Donegal village Glencolumbkille, to which he returned annually for almost 30 years. Here, he drew inspiration from the landscape and the sea, and from the culture and life of the local Irish peasants Рmany of whom he regarded as close friends. His encounter with the poetry of Yeats and the landscapes of Ireland resulted in many new works, both musical and literary. The String Quartet in E (1903), which later was worked into the orchestral tone-poem Cathaleen-Ni-Houlihan (1905), are fine examples of how he began to reflect Ireland in his music. Not only did he emerge as a surprisingly mature composer with these works, he also developed in them floating and undulating 'impressionistic' musical textures using orchestral techniques not yet heard Рnot 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 Irish Literary 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 poems and stories. W.B. Yeats in Dublin on 24 January 1908. ... The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems was the first collection of poems by William Butler Yeats. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Celtic Revival, also known as the Irish Literary Revival, was begun by Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and William Butler Yeats in Ireland in 1896. ... Donegal (Irish: D̼n na nGall) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. ... Glencolmcille or Glencolumbkill (Gleann Cholm Cille in Irish) is a coastal town located on the southwest Gaeltacht tip of County Donegal, Ireland. ... Claude Debussy, photo by F̩lix Nadar, 1908. ...

Conglomerate of influences

The Irish influence is only one of many found in Bax's music. An early affinity with Norway and the literature of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 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 Bjørnson to music. Later examples of Bax’s Nordic affinity include Hardanger for two pianos (1927) and the orchestral tone-poem The Tale the Pine-Trees Knew (1931). Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson (December 8, 1832–April 26, 1910). ...

In 1910, a youthful fling with a Ukrainian girl, Natalia Skarginska, brought Bax to St Petersburg, Moscow and Lubny near Kiev, which led to a fascination for Russian and Slavonic themes. The relationship with Skarginska resulted in an emotional agony from which he never completely recovered. His conflicting feelings are perhaps reflected in the First Piano Sonata in F sharp (1910, revised 1917-20). The Russian and Ukrainian influence can also be heard in two works for solo piano from 1912, Nocturne–May Night in the Ukraine and Gopak (Russian dance). In 1915 appeared In a Vodka Shop also for solo piano. In 1919, Bax was one of four British composers to be commissioned to write orchestral music to serve as interludes at Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in London. For the commission, he incorporated the three above-mentioned piano works of Russian themes into Russian Suite for orchestra. In 1920, he wrote incidental music to J. M. Barrie’s whimsical play The Truth About the Russian Dancers, his last work based on a clearly Russian theme. The Russian influence may be found in many of Bax's other scores and is especially predominant in his first three symphonies. Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: , Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ... Map of Ukraine with Kiev highlighted Coordinates: Country Ukraine Oblast Kiev City Municipality Raion Municipality Government  - Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi Elevation 179 m (587. ... Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev by Valentin Serov (1904) Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (Russian: / Sergei Pavlovich Dyagilev), also referred to as Serge, (March 31, 1872 – August 19, 1929) was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes from which many famous dancers and choreographers would later arise. ... Léon Bakst: Firebird, Ballerina, 1910 The Ballets Russes was a ballet company established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev and resident first in Théâtre Mogador, Paris; and then in Monte Carlo. ... You may be looking for James Barry, surgeon Sir James Matthew Barrie, Bt. ...

Rathgar circle

In January 1911, not long after he returned to Britain, Bax married Elsita Sobrino, a childhood friend. They settled in Bushy Park Road, Rathgar, Dublin. Here Bax’s brother Clifford introduced them to the intellectual circle which met at the house of the poet, painter and mystic George William Russell. Bax had already had some of his poems and short stories published in Dublin and to the circle he was simply known by his pseudonym Dermot O’Byrne (the name was possibly inspired by a renowned family of traditional musicians in Donegal). As Dermot O’Byrne, he was specifically noted for Seafoam and Firelight, published in London by the Orpheus Press in 1909 and numerous short stories and poems published in different media in Dublin. It was at Russell’s house where Bax one night met Irish Republican Patrick Pearse. According to Bax, they got on very well and, although they met only once, the execution of Pearse following the Easter Rebellion in 1916 prompted him to compose several laments, the most noted being In Memorian Patric Pearse (1916), which contains the dedication ‘I gCuimhne ar Phádraig Mac Piarais’. Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Rathgar (Irish: Rath Gharbh) is a well-to-do suburb of Dublin, Ireland, lying about 4 km south of the city centre. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... Bathers by Æ George William Russell (April 10, 1867 – July 17, 1935) who wrote under the pseudonym Æ, was an Irish nationalist, critic, poet, and painter. ... Patrick Henry Pearse (known to Irish nationalists as Pádraig Pearse; Irish: ; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was a teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. ... The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Casca) was a militarily unsuccessful rebellion staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday in April 1916. ...

Alienation, conflict and success

The threat of war lead to the dissolution of the Rathgar Circle as many members fled Ireland and Europe. Bax and his family returned to London; it was the loss of a blissful life. Bax avoided conscription because of a heart-condition and spent the war years composing profusely. Although World War I unleashed previously unimagined horrors upon the world, it was the Easter Rebellion and the destruction of Dublin that greatly disturbed Bax. As his Ireland – a haven and a retreat – was lost to bitter conflict and war, he sought refuge in a liaison with the younger pianist Harriet Cohen. What had started out as a purely professional alliance — Cohen playing and championing Bax's piano music — developed into a passionate relationship. Yet, their love could not be sanctioned by the contemporary social code, which brought them considerable emotional suffering. Ironically, but perhaps not unexpectedly, this difficult period in Bax’s life led to the composition of several attractive tone-poems, including Summer Music (1916), Tintagel (1917) and November Woods (1914-1917). In Tintagel, Bax reached back to legends and dreams - specifically that of the doomed lovers Tristan and Isolde. Tintagel is undoubtedly the best known of Bax’s tone-poems and includes a colourful evocation of the sea. Bax's relationship with Cohen led some commentators to assume a Freudian link between Bax’s alleged sexual passion and the sea-theme in Tintagel. However, the opening of Harriet Cohen's private papers and the research into them by scholars, such as the Norwegian musicologist Thomas Elnaes, indicates that such a link is at best speculative. Bax's works from this time reflect deep psychological conflicts that point forward to the passionate yet deeply troubled First Symphony in E flat, completed in 1922. After the war, British music was in demand as never before in England and Bax won considerable fame with his works, which were widely performed. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen Army, Irish Republican Brotherhood British Army Royal Irish Constabulary Commanders Patrick Pearse, James Connolly Brigadier-General Lowe General Sir John Maxwell Strength 1250 in Dublin, c. ... Harriet Cohen (December 2, 1895 - November 13, 1967) was a British pianist. ...

Morar period

From 1928 onwards, Bax ceased to travel to Glencolumbkille and instead began his annual migration to Morar, west Scottish Highlands, to work. He would sketch his compositions in London and take them to the Station Hotel at Morar for the winter to orchestrate them. At this time, he found a new love in 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 in Norway and the Nordic countries, and found a new muse in Sibelius. At Morar, he orchestrated Symphonies Nos. 3 to 7 and several of his finest orchestral works, including the three Northern Ballads. The Sands at Morar Morar is a small village in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, with a population of 257 [1]. The name Morar is also applied to the wider district around the village. ... The Scottish Highlands are the mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Contrary to what Rachel Lewis believes. ...

All seven of Bax's symphonies were composed within a relatively short span of time and are perhaps the most coherent cycle of symphonies by any composer. They reflect his many influences and are profound works of art with a deep psychological dimension tied to evocations of scenery. The symphonies earned Bax a reputation as the successor to Elgar, as Vaughan Williams, for instance, had only completed four symphonies by the time Bax had completed his seventh. Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, Bt OM GCVO (June 2, 1857 – February 23, 1934) was a British composer, born in the small Worcestershire village of Broadheath to William Elgar, a piano tuner and music dealer, and his wife Ann. ... A statue of Ralph Vaughan Williams in Dorking. ...

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, but accepted nonetheless. A feeling that his creative energies were drained started to manifest. Bax explained to his friends that he felt tired, restless and lonely. He contended that he had a hard time ‘growing up’. His increasing age depressed him and he gradually succumbed to alcoholism. He also felt alienated by the new developments in Modernistic composition and realised, to his sorrow, that his style was falling out of fashion. The dignity of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. ...

In 1942, Bax was appointed Master of the King's Music, a decision the British musical establishment was not 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 earned Bax a renewed public acclaim, but could not compensate for his being regarded as somewhat of a musical fossil by many contemporary composers and critics. He retreated from the public scene and lived quietly at The White Horse Hotel in Storrington, Sussex. Master of the Queens Music (or Master of the Kings Music) is a prestigious post in the British royal court. ... Oliver Twist (1948) is the second of David Leans two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. ... Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ...

Ireland reaches out

In 1929, the Father Mathew Feis, a competitive music festival organized by the Capuchin Fathers, invited Bax to become adjudicator. It was Irish pianist Tilly Fleischmann who suggested him, knowing that he was familiar 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 Charles Lynch and the singer Maura O’Connor, both of whom went on to give many performances of Bax’s music. Bax’s first visit to Cork marked the beginning of a 24 year friendship with the Fleischmann family. As performances of Bax’s music grew increasingly rare in Britain, Tilly Fleischmann demonstrated to Bax that his music had wide appeal in Ireland. Bax, however, did little to act on this and to support further efforts and his music was not heard nationwide in Ireland until Aloys Fleischmann Jr. began conducting his orchestral works with the Irish Radio Orchestra in Dublin just after the end of the war. In 1946, Bax became external examiner with both University College Cork and University College Dublin and he also gave individual tuition to aspiring young Irish composers. He received an honorary doctorate degree from the National University of Ireland in 1947. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) is an order of friars in the Roman Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , , Statistics Province: Munster County: Area: 37. ... Charles Lynch (Born October 22, 1906, in Parkgariff, County Cork, Ireland. ... University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork - or more commonly University College Cork (UCC) - is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland located in Cork City. ... University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin - more commonly University College Dublin (UCD) - is Irelands largest university, with over 20,000 students. ...

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 passed away during a visit to the Fleischmann’s later that year, possibly from a complication of his heart condition. One of his last compositions was Coronation March for Queen Elizabeth II. He is buried at St. Finbarr’s Cemetery in Cork City. Queen Victoria founded the Royal Victorian Order. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is Queen of sixteen sovereign states, holding each crown and title equally. ...

Not long before he died, Bax was asked by the editor of the The World of Music which were his own preferred 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)

The Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ...

Research and Scholarship

The first biography of Bax was Colin Scott-Sutherland’s Arnold Bax published in 1973. It offers a description 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 and Some Early Love Letters of Arnold Bax including the Collected Poems of Dermot O'Byrne (2001). Bax’s principal biographer, however, is the English writer Lewis Foreman. Foreman's first major contribution to Bax scholarship was a 1983 biography entitled Bax, A Composer and His Times. A second edition appeared in 1988 and a third edition in February 2007.

The principal primary source for information regarding Bax’s life and philosophy is his anecdotal autobiography Farewell My Youth (1943), which, for personal reasons, ends at the year 1914. In it Bax attempted to create several myths about himself, but contradicted many of his own statements. Lewis Foreman's 1992 edition of Bax's autobiography is the most recent currently available. Entitled Farewell My Youth, and Other Writings by Arnold Bax, it also includes photographs and some letters. Another compendium of primary source material is Cuchullan Among the Guns (1998), a selection of letters from Bax's correspondence with the British conductor Christopher Whelen, edited by Dennis Andrews.

A significant event in Bax musicology was the publication of Graham Parlett's exhaustive list of Bax's works entitled A Catalogue of the Works of Sir Arnold Bax (1999). Recognising Parlett's achievement and contribution, Bax musicologists have now started to use his chronological numbering system as a universal system of reference (e.g. Bax's celebrated Third Symphony would be "Parlett #297" or simply P. 297). The doctoral dissertation 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 edited and orchestrated several Bax scores, including the Russian Suite and the film music to Oliver Twist.

Recordings

After his death, Bax's music fell into decline. Bax maintained that his was a Romantic outlook and he distanced himself from musical modernism and especially Arnold Schoenberg's Serialism, which was embraced by institutions world wide. He was increasingly pigeon-holed as a 'musical pastoralist' together with Vaughan-Williams and others, and this style fell out of fashion with orchestras. Schoenberg redirects here. ... Serialism is a technique for composing music that uses sets to describe musical elements, and allows the composer manipulations of those sets to create music. ...

Because of this decline, Bax's music was slow to reach recording. As late as the mid-sixties, there were only two recordings of his symphonies, one long deleted and the other on an obscure label. But from 1966 onwards, a revival of his music began with a series of recordings on Richard Itter's Lyrita Label. By the centenary of his birth in 1983, much of his music was available in modern recordings. The Naxos label have released a complete cycle of Bax’s symphonies and tone poems and also much of his chamber music. Chandos Records have also provided two complete symphony cycles. The first, released throughout the 1980s and 1990s with Bryden Thomson and the London Philharmonic Orchestra for all except the fourth Symphony, which was played by the Ulster Orchestra, and the second, released in 2003, by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra with Vernon Handley. However, even today Bax’s music is not frequently performed in concerts. Although he was an able pianist, Bax's appearances as a performer were few and far between. There are recordings of him partnering with May Harrison and Lionel Tertis in sonatas by Frederick Delius and himself. He made a rare concert appearance at the memorial concert for Peter Warlock in 1930. Naxos Records is a record label specializing in budget-priced classical music CDs. ... Lionel Tertis (29 December 1876 – 22 February 1975) was an English violist and one of the first viola players to find international fame. ... Frederick Albert Theodore Delius CH (January 29, 1862, – June 10, 1934) was an English composer born in Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the north of England. ... Peter Warlock was a pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine (October 30, 1894 - December 17, 1930), an Anglo-Welsh composer and music critic. ...

As of March 2007, five discs are waiting to be issued, though a release date has not yet been announced:

• (1) A second disc of Tone-Poems from Vernon Handley and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Chandos). The Happy Forest still to be added.
• (2) Violin Sonatas in G minor, F, and No.2 from Laurence Jackson and Ashley Wass (Naxos).
• (3) Works for two pianos (including a first recording of the Festival Overture in that form) from Ashley Wass and Martin Roscoe (Naxos).
• (4) Overture to Adventure, Rogue's Comedy Overture, Work in Progress from Vernon Handley and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (recorded 1994). (Lyrita)
• (5) Reissue of the Second Symphony from the LPO and Myer Fredman, and the Fifth Symphony from the LPO and Raymond Leppard. (Lyrita)

Raymond John Leppard (born August 1, 1927) is a well-known British conductor and harpsichordist. ...

Works

Ballets

• Tamara (1911)
• From Dusk till Dawn (1917)
• The Truth about the Russian Dancers (1920)

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)

The Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ... The Symphony No. ...

Tone Poems

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

Tintagel is a symphonic poem composed by Arnold Bax in 1919; it is perhaps his best-known orchestral work. ...

Other Orchestral Works

• Variations for Orchestra (Improvisations) (1904)
• A Song of War & Victory (1905)
• On the Sea Shore (1908, orch. 1984)
• Festival Overture (1911, revised 1918)
• Dance of Wild Irravel (1912)
• Four Orchestral Pieces (1912-13)
• Three Pieces for Small Orchestra (1913, revised 1928)
• Symphonic Scherzo (1917, revised 1933)
• Russian Suite (1919)
• Mediterranean (1922)
• Cortège (1925)
• Romantic Overture (1926)
• Overture, Elegy and Rondo (1927)
• Three Pieces (1928)
• Overture to a Picaresque Comedy (1930)
• Sinfonietta (1932)
• Saga Fragment (1932)
• 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)
• Violin Concerto (1938)
• Piano Concertino (1939)
• Morning Song, for piano and orchestra (1946)
• Concertante for Three Solo Instruments and Orchestra (1949)
• Concertante for Orchestra with Piano (Left Hand) (1949)
• Variations on the name Gabriel Fauré for Harp & String Orchestra (1949)

Chamber

One Player

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

Two Players

• Violin
  • Violin 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)

• Viola
  • Concert Piece for Viola and Piano (1904)
  • Viola Sonata (1922)
  • Legend, for viola and piano (1929)

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

• Four Pieces for Flute and Piano (1912, revised 1915 & 1945)
• Clarinet Sonata (1934)
• Fantasy Sonata, for viola & harp (1927)
• Sonata for Flute and Harp (1928)

Three Players

• Trio in One Movement for Piano, Violin, and Viola (1906)
• Elegiac Trio, for flute, viola, and harp (1916)
• Piano Trio in Bb (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 (1933)
• 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

• Clavierstücke (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 Eb (1910)
• Piano Sonata No. 1 (1910, revised 1917-20)
• Piano Sonata in F# minor (1910, revised, 1911, 1919 & 1921)
• Two Russian Tone-Pictures (1912)
• 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 Princess’s 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)
• Pæan (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 Fauré (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

• Malta, G. C. (1942)
• Oliver Twist (1948)
• Journey into History (1951)

Oliver Twist (1948) is the second of David Leans two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. ...

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] (1922)
• The Boar’s 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 Patrick’s 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. Śliwiński) [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)

Michel Dimitri Calvocoressi (1877-10-02 in Marseilles, France – 1944-02-01 in London, United Kingdom) was a music writer and music critic of Greek descent. ...

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 (O’Byrne) [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

• The Grand Match (O'Neill) (1903)
• To My Homeland (Gwynn) (1904)
• A Celtic Song Cycle (Macleod) (1904)
  • Eilidh my Fawn
  • Closing Doors
  • The Dark Eyes to Mine
  • A Celtic Lullaby
  • At 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)

Bibliography

• Cohen, Harriet, A Bundle of Time: The Memoirs of Harriet Cohen (London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1969).

• Corder, Frederick, A History of The Royal Academy of Music from 1822 to 1922 (London: Fredrick Corder, 1922).

• Dermot O’Byrne, Poems by Arnold Bax, collected, selected and edited by Lewis Foreman, together with two previously unpublished songs by Bax to his own words, Lewis Foreman (ed.), (London: Thames Publishing, 1979).

• De Barra, Séamas, ‘Arnold Bax, The Fleischmanns and Cork,’ The Journal of Music in Ireland 5/1 (January–February 2005): 24–30.

• De Barra, Séamas, ‘Into the Twilight: Arnold Bax and Ireland,’ The Journal of Music in Ireland 4/3 (March–April 2004): 25–29.

• Elnaes, Thomas, ‘An Anglo-Irish Composer: New Perspectives on the Creative Achievements of Sir Arnold 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).

• 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, London–A Musical Gazetteer (New Haven and London: Yale University 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 Keeper’s Recital: Music and Cultural History in Ireland, 1770–1970 (Cork: Cork University Press, 1998).

• British Broadcasting Radio 3, ‘Arnold Bax,’ Composer of the Week, 29 July 2003.

JMI – The Journal of Music in Ireland is a bi-monthly Irish music magazine. ...

See also

• List of compositions by Arnold Bax

This page lists the music composed by Arnold Bax: // Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan (1905) Christmas Eve [tone-poem] (1912, revised c. ...

External links

• Sir Arnold Bax (musicweb-international.com)
• National Portrait Gallery (18 portraits, 8 on display)
• Review of Collected Poems of Dermot O'Byrne