Bax, Sir Arnold (Edward Trevor)
Bax, Sir Arnold (Edward Trevor)
Bax, Sir Arnold (Edward Trevor), outstanding English composer; b. London, Nov. 8, 1883; d. Cork, Ireland, Oct. 3, 1953. He entered the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1900 and studied piano with Matthay and composition with Corder there. He won the Academy’s Gold Medal as a pianist in 1905, the year in which he completed his studies. After a visit to Dresden in 1905, he went to Ireland. Although not ethnically Irish, he became interested in ancient Irish folklore. He wrote poetry and prose under the name of Dermot O’Byrne, and also found inspiration in Celtic legends for his work as a composer. In 1910 he returned to England. In 1931 he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Phil. Soc. of London. He was awarded honorary degrees from the univs. of Oxford (1934) and Durham (1935). He was knighted at the Coronation of King George VI in 1937, and was made Master of the King’s Musick in 1941. Bax was an excellent pianist, but was reluctant to play in public; he also never appeared as a conductor of his own works. His style was rooted in neo- Romanticism, but impressionistic elements are much in evidence in his instrumental compositions. His harmonies are elaborate and rich in chromatic progressions, and his contrapuntal fabric is free and emphasizes complete independence of component melodies. In his many settings of folk songs, he succeeded in adapting simple melodies to effective accompaniments in modern harmonies; in his adaptations of early English songs, he successfully re-created the archaic style of the epoch. He recorded the story of his life and travels in his candid autobiography, Farewell, My Youth (London, 1943; ed. by L. Foreman, 1992, as Farewell My Youth and Other Writings).
Works
DRAMATIC: Ballet: King Kojata (1911); Between Dusk and Dawn (1917); The Frog Skin (1918). Incidental Music: The Truth about the Russian Dancers (1920; rev. 1926); Golden Eagle (1945). F i 1 m : Malta GC (1942; orch. suite, 1943); Oliver Twist (1948; orch. suite, 1948); Journey into History (1952). ORCH.: 12 tone poems: Cathaleen-ni- Hoo-lihan for Small Orch. (1903–05); A Song of Life and Love (1905); A Song of War and Victory (1905); Eire: Into the Twilight (1908), In the Faery Hills (1909), and Rosc-Catha (1910); Christmas Eve on the Mountains (1911; rev. c. 1933); Nympholept (1912–15); The Garden of Fand (1913–16); The Happy Forest (1914–21); November Woods (1917); Tintagel (1917–19); The Tale the Pine-trees Knew (1931); A Legend (1944); Variations: Improvisations (1904); A Connemara Revel (1905); An Irish Overture (1906); Festival Overture (1911; rev. 1918); Prelude to Adonais (1912); 4 Pieces (also known as 4 Sketches or 4 Irish Pieces) (1912-13; rev. 1928); Spring Fire, sym. (1913); Symphonic Scherzo (arr. from a piano piece; orch. 1917; rev. 1933); Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orch. (1918); Russian Suite (arr. from piano pieces; 1919); Summer Music (1917-20; rev. 1932); Phantasy, viola concerto (1920); 7 syms: No. 1 (1921; London, Dec. 4, 1922), No. 2 (1924-25; Boston, Dec. 13, 1929), No. 3 (1929; London, March 14, 1930), No. 4 (1930; San Francisco, March 16, 1932), No. 5 (1931; London, Jan. 15, 1934), No. 6 (1934; London, Nov. 21, 1935), and No. 7 (N.Y., June 9, 1939); Mediterranean (arr. from a piano piece; 1922); Cortège (1925); Romantic Overture for Chamber Orch. (1926); Overture, Elegy and Rondo (1927); Northern Ballad Nos. 1 (1927–31) and 2 (1934); Prelude for a Solemn Occasion (1927–33); 3 Pieces (1928); Overture to a Picaresque Comedy (1930); Winter Legends, sinfonia concertante for Piano and Orch. (1930); Sinfonietta (1932); Cello Concerto (1932); Rogue’s Comedy Overture (1936); Overture to Adventure (1936); London Pageant (1937); Paean (arr. from a piano piece; 1938); Violin Concerto (1938); Work in Progress, overture (1943); Morning Song: Maytime in Sussex for Piano and Orch. (c. 1946); Concertante for English Horn, Clarinet, Horn, and Orch. (1948); Variations on the name Gabriel Fauré for Harp and Strings (1949; also for Piano); Concertante, concerto for Piano, Left-Hand and Orch. (1949); Coronation March (1953). CHAMBER: 2 unnumbered string quartets (1902, 1903); 3 numbered string quartets (1918, 1925, 1936); Concert Piece for Violin or Viola and Piano (1903); Fantasy for Violin or Viola and Piano (1904); 2 piano trios (1906, 1946); 2 string quintets (1908, 1933); 3 violin sonatas (1910, rev. 1915, 1920, and 1945; 1915, rev. 1920; 1927); 4 Pieces for Flute and Piano (1912); 2 piano quintets (1915, 1922); Legend for Violin and Piano (1915); 4 Pieces for Violin and Piano (1915); Ballad for Violin and Piano (1916); Elegiac Trio for Flute, Viola, and Harp (1916); Im memoriam for English Horn, Harp, and String Quartet (1917); Folk Tale for Cello and Piano (1918); Harp Quintet (1919); Viola Sonata (1922); Oboe Quintet (1922); Cello Sonata (1923); Fantasy Sonata for Viola and Harp (1927); Sonatina for Flute and Harp (1928; arr. as the Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Harp, and String Quartet, 1936); Legend for Viola and Piano (1929); Nonet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Harp, String Quartet, and Double Bass (1930); Cello Sonatina (1933); Clarinet Sonata (1934); Octet for Horn, Piano, and String Sextet (1934); Threnody and Scherzo for Bassoon, Harp, and String Sextet (1936); Rhapsodic Ballad for Cello (1939); Legend-Sonata for Cello and Piano (1943). Piano: Fantasia for Piano Duo (1900); 3 unnumbered sonatas; 4 numbered sonatas (1910, rev. 1921; 1919; 1926; 1932); Concert Valse (1910); 2 Russian Tone Pictures: May Night in the Ukraine and Gopak (1912); Toccata (1913); The Princess’s Rose Garden (1915); In a Vodka Shop (1915); The Maiden with the Daffodil (1915); Apple Blossom Time (1915); Sleep Head (1915); A Mountain Mood (1915); Winter Waters (1915); Dream in Exile (1916); Nereid (1916); Moy Meli (The Pleasant Plain: An Irish Tone Poem) for Piano Duo (1917); On a May Evening (1918); Whirligig (1919); 77m?Slave Girl (1919); What the Minstrel Told Us (1919); Lullaby (1920); Burlesque (1920); Ceremonial Dance (1920); Country-Tune (1920); A Hill Tune (1920); Mediterranean (1920); Paean (1920); Serpent Dance (1920); Water Music (1920); Hardan-ger for Piano Duo (1927); The Poisoned Fountain for Piano Duo (1928); Duo Sonata (1929); The Devil that Tempted St Anthony for Piano Duo (1929); Red Autumn for Piano Duo (1931); O Dame Get Up and Bake Your Pies (1945). VOCAL: Choral: Fatherland for Tenor, Chorus, and Orch. (1907; rev. 1934); Enchanted Summer for 2 Sopranos, Chorus, and Orch. (1910); Of a Rose I Sing a Song for Chorus, Harp, Cello, and Double Bass (1920); Now Is the Time of Christymas for Men’s Voices, Flute, and Piano (1921); Mater ora Filium for Chorus (1921); This Worldes Joie for Chorus (1922); The Boar’s Head for Men’s Voices (1923); I Sing of a Maiden that is Makeless for Chorus (1923); Si. Patrick’s Breastplate for Chorus and Orch. (1923); To the Name above Every Name for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1923); Walsinghame for Tenor, Chorus, and Orch. (1926); The Morning Watch for Chorus and Orch. (1935); 5 Fantasies on Polish Christmas Carols for Unison Treble Voices and Strings (1942); 5 Greek Folksongs for Chorus (1944); To Russia for Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1944); Nunc dimittisfor Chorus and Organ (1944); Te Deum for Chorus and Organ (1944); Gloria for Chorus and Organ (1945); Epithalamiumfor Chorus and Organ (1947); Magnificat for Chorus and Organ (1948); What is it Like to be Young and Fair for Chorus (1953); numerous solo songs, some with orch.
Bibliography
R. Hull, A Handbook on A. B.’s Symphonies (London, 1932); C. Scott-Sutherland, A. B. (London, 1973); L. Foreman, B.: A Composer and His Times (London, 1983; 2nd ed., 1988); G. Parlett, A Catalogue of the Works of Sir A. B. (Oxford, 1999).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire