Bax & Whitlock: Choral Music

1. Magnificat for chorus & organ
Composed by Arnold (Sir) Bax
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

2. Nunc Dimittis, for chorus & organ
Composed by Arnold (Sir) Bax
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

3. Te Deum, for chorus & organ
Composed by Arnold (Sir) Bax
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

4. Epithalamium
Composed by Arnold (Sir) Bax
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

5. Gloria, for chorus & organ
Composed by Arnold (Sir) Bax
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

6. Solemn Te Deum
Composed by Percy Whitlock
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

7. Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis (1930)
Composed by Percy Whitlock
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

8. Introits (3) for chorus & organ
Composed by Percy Whitlock
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

9. Evening Catata, for chorus & organ
Composed by Percy Whitlock
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

10. Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis (1924)
Composed by Percy Whitlock
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

11. Communion Service in G major
Composed by Percy Whitlock
with Jeremy Filsell , Ramsey Singers , Ramsey Singers

Tracks:

The Longest Day
Attack On The Iron Coast
Band Of Brothers-Prelude
Band Of Brothers-Theme
Battle Of Britain
The Battle Of The Bulge
The Blue Max
Das Boot
The Bridge At Remagen
The Bridge On The River Kwai
A Bridge Too Far
The Caine Mutiny
The Captive Heart
Casablanca

Tracks:

Coastal Command
The Cruel Sea
The Dambusters
The Diary Of Anne Frank
The Eagle Has Landed
Empire Of The Sun
The English Patient
Fear And Desire
Force Ten From Navarone
Gallipoli
The Great Escape
The Guns Of Navarone

Tracks:

Hanover Street
The Hindenburg
In Harm's Way
Is Paris Burning?
King Rat
Lawrence Of Arabia
Lifeboat
Macarthur / Patton
Malta G.C.
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Midway
The Mountain Road
1941

Tracks:

The Naked And The Dead
The Night Of The Generals
Paradise Road
Paths Of Glory
Pearl Harbor
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler'S List
Sergeant York
The Sharkfighters
Sink The Bismarck!
633 Squadron
Where Eagles Dare
The World At War
The Longest Day

Customer Reviews:

These are not the same arrangements as the original movie soundtracks.......2007-01-21

I was disappointed that these are not the same arrangements as the original movie soundtracks. For example, in Colonel Bogey, the countermarch from the movie soundtrack is not included in the arrangement on this CD. Don't get me wrong, the songs are good, but I would have preferred the same arrangements as the original movies.

An outstanding compilation.......2006-08-25

This compilation is superb and a real must-buy. From Band of Brothers to A Bridge Too Far: every war movie theme is represented here. An all time classic.

The really good ones are missing........2005-07-18

While this compilation has some masterpieces such as the theme from The Great Escape and Is Paris Burning, it's missing some of the finest tracts ever written. Where is the theme from Victory and Ernest Gold's stirring epic from Cross of Iron? The closing theme from Inchon was also a feast for the ears, but it's not here. It was written by Jerry Goldsmith, one of the foremost soundtrack composers of our time. Instead we're subjected to the likes of Hanover Street and The English Patient. I'll admit Inchon and Victory weren't Academy Award winning movies, but their soundtracks were second to none. As John Stossel would say," Give me a break"!!!

"many were winners by the Academy for best scores".......2004-05-26

Silva America presents the essential in film music during the period of World Wars ~ "Longest Day:Ultimate World War Movie Theme", featuring some long forgotten cues, 53 to be exact that sent chills and thrills into the pulses of world events ~ selections from a limited collectors edition that would make any "film-score-buff" green with envy.

Released to commemorate the sixth Anniversary of D-Day, never has there ever been such a tribute compilation package from any other label and Silva comes to the forefront ~ featuring The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (Paul Bateman, Nic Raine Tony Bremner and Carl Davis as conductors), The Philharmonia (Kenneth Alwyn, Jerry Goldsmith, Mario Klemens and Paul Bateman as conductors) and also the world renown Crouch End Festival Chorus (David Temple as choir master) ~ what a gathering of talented musicians and singers fill this collection supreme.

The lineup of composers is a Who's Who in the world of film music ~ John Addison, Tomaso Albinoni, Kenneth J. Alford, Paul Anka, John Barry, Arnold Bax, Elmer Bernstein, Eric Coates, Carl Davis, Klaus Doldinger, Antonin Dvorak, Benjamin Frankel, Gerald Fried, Hugo Friedhofer, Jerry Goldsmith, Ron Goodwin, Bernard Herrmann, Maurice Jarre, Michael Kamen, Jerome Moross, Alfred Newman, Clifton Parker, Alan Rawsthorne, Ryvichi Sakamoto, Lalo Schifrin, Gerard Schurmann, David Shire, Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Williams, Gabriel Yared and Hans Zimmer ~ set the stage for compositional human drama while exploring the deepest troves of musical emotion ~ one masterpiece after another, each cue manages to display both a convincing authenticity of the times and places ~ experience every tracks passion and skill for striking the exotic orchestral colors, explosive power and spectacular works of full large scale orchestral arrangements previal at every turn.

We are grateful to James Fitzpatrick (producer), Reybnold da Silva (executive producer), Rick Clark (associate producer/album sequence), Marion Garden (associate producer) and the whole gang at Silva America who have resurrected many of the soundtracks for the "film-score-buffs" in all of us.

Tracks:

Northern Ballad No.1
Mediterranean
Symphonic Poem, The Garden Of Fand
Symphonic Poem, Tintagel
Symphonic Poem, November Woods

Customer Reviews:

Best Tintagel ever ... other works great, too.......2007-06-18

Sir Adrian Boult was one of the best interpreters of Sir Arnold Bax's music of the earlier generation, generally better IMHO than Barbirolli or Beecham, even though both of those conductors made wonderful recordings of The Garden of Fand before this one was recorded. The Tintagel interpretation by Boult is absolutely the best one on disk -- and there are so many to choose from these days including Thomson, Handley, Barbirolli, Marriner and others. In this particular performance, no one quite matches Boult's ability to conjure up the seascape --- including that magnificent crashing wave at the conclusion of the work.

Boult's performances of the Northern Ballad #1 and Mediterranean are also the best ones to be had on disk today. As for The Garden of Fand, the early stereo version by Barbirolli is a touch more effective, while you'll probably do better with Handley's new recording of November Woods on Chandos. But all-in-all this disk is a treasure, and Lyrita's rich, vital engineering capturing the London Phil in top form is just the icing on the cake. For an introduction to the special soundworld of Bax and his highly expressive music, I guarantee you won't be disappointed in this disk.

Boult's brilliant Bax interpretations.......2007-03-29

This Lyrita recording has a legendary status: here we find the superb collection of Sir Adrian Boult's outstanding interpretations of Arnold Bax's best tone poems.

Bax's arresting and moving romantic masterpieces, "The Garden Of Fand", "Tintagel", and "November Woods", should be in every serious collection of classical music, and this is the recording to own. Recorded in 1967, we hear the excellent interpretations of Bax's supreme champion. These interpretations are outstanding, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra plays with confidence and passion under Boult's baton.

In addition, you get "Northern Ballad No.1" and "Mediterranean" as well, which are more "easy pieces" from Bax. But these interpretations are of course outstanding too.

Sound is excellent: vintage analogue in fine remasterings.

Warmly recommended!

Bax: Tingtagel; Delius: The Walk to the Paradise Garden; A Song of Summer; Irmelin Prelude and others

Average customer rating:

Lovely readings, but the music is pastoral to the point of stupor

Bax: Tingtagel; Delius: The Walk to the Paradise Garden; A Song of Summer; Irmelin Prelude and others

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Requiem/Pavane/Requiem
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Bax: A Composer and his Times

ASIN: B000MX7STG
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Tracks:

Tintagel
The Walk To The Paradise Garden
Irmelin Prelude
A Song Of Summer
La Calinda
In A Summer Garden
A London Overture

Customer Reviews:

Lovely readings, but the music is pastoral to the point of stupor.......2007-03-14

In Britain the modernist movement was a sidelight to the pastoral movement, a constant outpouring of pastures, meadows, and brooks painted in soft pastels. The most bracing of the pastoral composers was Vaughan Williams, but here we get the palest of all, Frederick Delius, whose peaceful dreaming occupies this whole CD except for Bax's Tintagel at the beginning and Ireland's London Over. at the end. Beloved as Delius is in the UK, to my ears these five works are a single, long soporific wandering. Tunes vaguely flow in and around the mists, none of them memorable. Harmonies are hazy but uninteresting. Ireland ad Bax rise to a little more excitment--it would be hard not to--but Tintagel, King Arthur's ancestral castle on the wild rocks of Cornwall, seems pretty sleepy, too, except for the occasional outbreak of a storm. Ireland's London isn't exactly on the move, either.

Enough. Lovers of British pastoralism will be delighted by these ripe performances from the hand of Sir John Barbiroli, while the rest of us can loll our heads and smile as we nap.

Bax: Quintet for Harp & Strings / Sonata Flute & Harp

Average customer rating:

simply a pleasure
Great Music, Great Performances
BOUNTIFUL BAX

Bax: Quintet for Harp & Strings / Sonata Flute & Harp
Ashan Pillai
Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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Walton: Piano Quartet / String Quartet
Bax: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
String Quartet 3 / Lyrical Interlude / Adagio
Bax: Piano Sonatas Nos. 3 & 4; Water Music; Winter Waters
Bridge: String Quartets 2 & 4 / Phantasy Piano Quartet

ASIN: B00004U2KM
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Tracks:

Qnt: Tempo Moderato -
Qnt: Tranquillo -
Qnt: Tempo Primo -
Elegiac Trio: Moderate Tempo
Fant Son: Allegro Molto
Fant Son: Allegro Moderato
Fant Son: Lento Espressivo
Fant Son: Allegro
Son: Allegro Moderato
Son: Lento
Son: Moderato Giocoso

Customer Reviews:

simply a pleasure.......2005-08-04

This recording contains chamber works featuring a harp. All of the pieces are pleasant to listen to and have stimulating content. The recording is very good. This CD was my first experience with Bax and has certainly inspired me to look for more.

Great Music, Great Performances.......2001-02-03

At the centre of all the pieces on this disc is the harp.

Bax writes wonderfully for the instrument - his inspiration possibly lying in the supposed `Irishness' of it, possibly in the luck he had of having some very good harpists to write for - the fantasy sonata (the combination of viola and harp really works well, and Bax manages to avoid an over lush sound) and the sonata for flute and harp having been written for the Russian harpist, Maria Korchinska.

I must admit, as I listened to the CD I found it very hard to think of Ireland - and very easy to think of France and Europe in the early 20th century. Maybe this is why I mobius have been attracted to the music.

The performances are excellent (as is the recording) bringing a dignity to the music which forces one to reassess, in a way, the nationalistic trivialisms that are all too often attached to Bax's music.

As the notes point out - some of this sounds very like Debussy - but it was written before. Some of it sounds like Britten too. If you like either of those two composers - you'll love this.

BOUNTIFUL BAX.......2001-02-01

What better music to opine about than the latest Naxos endeavor comprising some mighty fine chamber music for harp by Arnold Bax (1883-1953). Purchased a mere week ago, I've been listening to it ceaselessly--- as it fits my rather lachrimose state of mind perfectly.

Among these four outstandingly evocative, elegiac and beautiful compositions, there's nary a dud to be found.

The Elegiac Trio for Harp, Viola and Flute--- first performed in 1917--- runs a mere 8:47, but it is a real gem... and easily worth the price of the CD, alone. Heartfelt, atmospheric, luminous, the Trio ranks very close to perfection in every way. The combination of instruments, each bringing to the work its own voice and color and warmth, is simply magical.

Ditto for the gorgeous Fantasy Sonata for Harp and Viola, first performed in 1927, whose third movement "Lento" is one of the most gentle of Bax inspirations I've ever heard. There is a distinct Anglo/Irish impressionism here--- and throughout the other works, as well--- so tender and romantic, yet so sad... it's impossible to resist.

The Sonata for Flute and Harp, performed in 1928, is yet another gem, unfolding as it does with the ambience of an Irish countryside. At its heart is the particularly wistful slow movement. Kudos to flautist Lorna McGhee for her tender, poetic playing.

Lastly, the Quintet for Harp and Strings (written in 1919) is a co-joined, three movement work. Generally more "dramatic" than its sisters, the Quintet still retains an obvious Bax melancholy, its overall tone introspective. Harpist Alison Nicholls is to be commended for her delicacy of touch and sense of mystery.

What an outstanding bargain this CD is! A real find. Moody, appealing, accessible. Compliments to the members of Mobius, who play splendidly, and to the engineers who have captured their warmth and immediacy so well.

[Running time: 65:11]

Average customer rating:

Handley's set a cornerstone, but Thomson's still Immortal.
Superb advocacy for superb music

Bax: The Symphonies

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Kurt Atterberg: The Symphonies (Box Set)
Edward Rubbra - Complete Symphonies / Hickox
Melartin: The Six SYMPHONIES
Arnold Bax: Tone Poems
Strauss: Orchestral Works

ASIN: B0000DIGLH
Release Date: 2003-11-25

Amazon.com

This 5-CD set includes all seven symphonies by Arnold Bax (1883-1953), the familiar tone poem Tintagel, and the Rogue's Comedy Overture in its premier recording. It also features Vernon Handley in two interviews--one with Lewis Foreman in the booklet, one with Andrew McGregor on the final disc. However, it's probably advisable to listen to it first, since Handley, one of Bax's most dedicated champions, has many illuminating things to say. Bax called himself "a brazen romantic....my music is the expression of emotional states." The symphonies, written between 1921 and 1939, certainly reflect both inner and outer events: the Irish Uprising, which deeply affected Bax, who loved Ireland and lost many friends to the "troubles," World War I and the looming threat of World War II. Perhaps the most striking and pervasive characteristic of the music is contrast. All the symphonies have three movements divided into many sections with different tempo indications, signaling changing mood and character. Indeed, moods change constantly, often abruptly and violently; dynamics surge and swell, climaxes build with increasingly ferocious power. The orchestration is masterful, creating color, texture, atmosphere and expression; at full throttle, the sound shakes the rafters. The music is predominantly serious, somber, dark, with outbursts of passion, turbulence, bitterness and anger, relieved by unexpectedly rambunctious and martial sections. Every symphony opens on low instruments, setting a dark, ominous mood, but several end with a triumphant flourish, while others fade away with an Epilogue in serenity or resignation. No. 7 is regarded as Bax's compositional farewell, No. 4 as "cheerful and blustery." The form is sometimes cyclical, with opening material returning in another guise, which, for the naked ear, is difficult to discern. Most memorable are the truly beautiful, luxuriously lyrical melodies that abound especially in the slow movements. The playing is first-rate throughout. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Handley's set a cornerstone, but Thomson's still Immortal........2004-01-03

For anyone familiar or not so familiar with the music of Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953) should start off with the interview disc (the fifth of the five disc set). Vernon Handley's interview, with Andrew McGregor, is without a doubt compelling, not just in terms of Handley's knowledge associated with Bax, but also in terms of the depth that comes with it. Handley appears to be the conductor who grew up knowing as much of Bax as Lewis Foreman, the composer's foremost biographer and advocate. Truthfully, an interview with the late Bryden Thomson should have been done during Chandos' making of the first set, for Thomson would have, as far as I'm concerned, added greater weight to our initial acquaintances and understanding of this great yet elusive composer. But, Handley's interview on the disc nicely supplements his first interview with Foreman, which is printed in the booklet.

The interview's introduction and epilogue are particularly thought provoking. And I find Handley's argument on the flaws of music criticism in accordance to fashion well taken, especially since Bax was the leading Symphonist until the mid-1930s, before Walton & Vaughan Williams entered the scene with their First & Fourth Symphonies respectively. Bax was criticized for being "too loose", too demanding orchestrally, and so forth. Yet Handley reminds us that Bax had an extraordinary sense of form and structure (influence to some extent by Glazunov as Handley aptly points out). Bax may well belong to the nationalist school of British composers, but he was much more than that. Sibelius & perhaps to an extent Rachmaninov were influential in Bax' brooding moods and his sense of color. Yet his journey was as long and searching as his contemporaneous Russian counterpart, Nikolay Myaskovsky, who, like Bax, remains as deep and resourceful as ever.

Well,...onto the performances. Let me say up front that Handley's grip of the symphonies demonstrates his understanding of Bax' language, which as he points out, is essential in projecting and conveying music in its most meaningfulness. Handley's view of the First Symphony (1921-1922) is the most dramatic and urgent on record. And while David Lloyd-Jones' reading captures the anguish and the contemptuousness of the Symphony to perfection, Handley never fails to relish the first movement's sense of rebellion. The Lento solenne movement is mournful, but Lloyd-Jones brings out more of the darkness and the funereal quality to it.

Interpretatively, Bryden Thomson leads the way in the Second and Third Symphonies, the former which is without a doubt Bax' most darkest. Handley painted the dark colorism of the work with convincing results. But his tempi to an extent robs the epic quality of its first movement, with the BBC Philharmonic sounding a tad thinner than Thomson's London Philharmonic (LPO). It's a fierce reading no doubt, but I like how Thomson reminds me of how even Vaughan Williams may have been influenced by this piece when composing his Fourth & Sixth Symphonies. The second movement is beautifully done, even by Myer Fredman (Lyrita LP-nla). Yet Thomson's ability to make the music glow in its own world pays wondrous dividends. Not only that, but the climax and its buildup proved to be a shattering experience. The ability to make Bax' music glow is essential, as in the case of the Third Symphony. There's something enchanting in the first movement's lento moderato section under Thomson. But the ongoing development is sweeter yet fuller in tone in Thomson's London Philharmonic. And I like the magic he brings forth in the climax (announced by the anvil). Handley's reading is special, but he speeds things up a bit too much and robs the music some of its glow. Not so in the Lento second movement which is beautifully rendered. But I savor Thomson's ceremonious way of the final movement leading to its epilogue, which is perfectly idyllic.

I have no qualms in Handley's vivid performances of the Fourth & Fifth Symphonies. As he points out, the Fourth should be better known and its gaiety does not necessarily imply weakness. Well said, since Bax was going onto a different style and self-definition. But regarding the Fifth, Raymond Leppard's recording is perhaps the best on record, not only because he remains tight in his control, but he also allows the music to dispel its sense of wonder in the Poco lento movement. His phrasings are perfect and the LPO provides some wonderful relishments. Thomson is likewise marvelous and the most magical in the slow movement. Handley's grip of the work, a mountain to climb as he describes it, is quite as strong and compelling.

The Sixth Symphony, very much like his Winter Legends, is what Handley describes as pagan music-not hedonistic but secular. It's landscape is as cold and detached, yet wild as Winter Legends, and Handley brought forth those facets to thrilling effects. Though I warm to the Third Symphony more any others, I agree with Handley that Bax' Sixth is among the greatest symphonies of the 20th Century. The ostinato beginning played by the tubas spells out the nature of the work: the mood that's bleak and contemplative. The epilogue I think serves as quite a foretaste of Vaughan Williams Sixth, among the most bleakest passages ever written (as with Myaskovsky's Thirteenth of 1932). I can't find fault with Handley's reading of, as he calls it "a frightening score." He projects the wildness of the first movement ideally while the slow movement is elegant. While the finale is very well done, Thomson brings out that extra sense of loss and inner contemplation in the epilogue. He's the most effective performer in the Seventh, Bax' most relax symphony: Not just because he gives us more of the majestics and the pompousness in the first movement, or the inner beauty and rapt poetry of the second, but the epilogue is simply more poignantly conveyed in its sadness as Bax' was saying goodbye to the adventurous world he knew (he wrote his autobiography "Farewell My Youth" during that time).

In closing, this album is a revelation, for Vernon Handley (who's way overdue for knighthood) gives us plenty of reasons to re-think and reexamine Bax as a major force in British music (and plenty of credits must be given to David Lloyd-Jones under the Naxos series in that regard). The BBC Philharmonic is excellent, especially in Tintagel & the Rogue's Comedy Overture, even though this great orchestra does demonstrate at places a wanting in greater sonority and involvement.

But my heart remains with Thomson. Although his tempi can at times sound laborious, Thomson, to me, knew how to project the inner beauty and wonder behind Bax' music without really over-stretching it. The heart is definitely on his sleeves which, as far as Bax is concerned, is a good thing.

Superb advocacy for superb music.......2003-12-16

Why the English symphonic repertoire is so direly underrepresented on the international (and certainly the Dutch) concert stage remains an enigma to me, all the more baffling when listening to these fabulous symphonies. Bax has it all: lush melodies, endless incident, spectacular orchestration, shimmering mystery, haunting epilogues - anybody who likes Richard Strauss or Respighi cannot but love this music, and I wager that Bax has lots more to offer in the way of emotional substance than either of them. Bless Vernon Handley, the BBC Phil and Chandos for giving us this "Bax Box", which is a veritable treasure trove. Handley knows these works inside and out and is utterly committed to this music (and genuinely peeved at its neglect, as can be heard on the fifth disc containing an involving hour long interview). This is readily communicated in music making of white heat, resulting in some of the most compelling performances I've ever heard of any pieces. The Epilogue of the Third (surely among the finest pages in all of English music) literally brought me to tears!
Chandos's commitment to Bax is such that this is in fact their second cycle, an earlier one having been recorded by Bryden Thomson, who took a quite different view from Handley. Richly and reverberantly recorded, Thomson made the most of the swelling, romantic melodies - after hearing him, the beautiful tune of the Fifth's epilogue sounds just a tad plain in Handley's version; also, in comparison I found the dark tragedy of the Second somewhat lightweight with Handley, and quite overpowering in Thomson's hands. But the latter's structural grip on the music is some way behind that of Handley, so that at times it does indeed blur into the generalized, shapelessly chromatic washes of sound that have given Bax some bad press. No such thing happens in this new set: helped by more energetic speeds as well as a drier, more transparent recording and somewhat thinner string tone, the rhythmic underpinning of the music is continuously present, and the many simultaneous voices never push each other away, but rather reveal their intricate interrelations. This does a great service to Bax, fully revealing his genius as a musical architect and indeed as a top rank composer, every bit as worthy of general recognition as Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Holst or Britten. And not only is Handley's sound more transparent, it also encompasses a thrilling dynamic range, accommodating moments of quiet reticence as easily as the most extroverted outbursts - for a thrilling demonstration of the latter, just listen to the beginning of the Fourth, with the organ, so lamentably lost in the general hubbub on Thomson's recording now a spectacular presence from the very first bar. If I had to single out one symphony, that Fourth is for me the high point of this cycle, if indeed such a thing exists among interpretations that are all of the highest possible quality. For those who do not know Bax, it might be a good place to start sampling - or you might even want to acquire an installment in the excellent Naxos cycle with Lloyd-Jones as a low-risk point of entry. Though that would still be a waste of money, as in the end you simply cannot be without this touchstone set if you care even the slightest bit about English music (and you should!).

Average customer rating:

King Arthur Comes Alive
Epilogue
SPLENDID!

Bax: Symphony No. 7; Tintagel

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Bax: Symphony No. 6; Into the Twilight; Summer Music
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Bax: Symphony No. 1; In the Faery Hills; The Garden of Fand

ASIN: B0000CDJKE
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Tracks:

Tintagel (Tone Poem)
Allegro
Lento - In Legendary Mood (Piu Mosso) - Tempo I
Theme And Variations (Allegro - Andante - Vivace - Epilogue)

Amazon.com

Lloyd-Jones caps his Bax cycle with the composer's last symphony, a grand, vibrant work that adds new-found simplicity to the often gnarly six that preceded it. He adopts more flowing tempos than his chief rivals on CD, Bryden Thomson and Vernon Handley, both on Chandos, with excellent effect in sustaining interest during the long slow movement, and he makes the closing bars a "farewell" moving in context. Lloyd-Jones also generates a layer of greater excitement than the competition, thanks to the cutting brass and horns of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The same virtues are present in Tintagel, Bax's best-known tone poem. Its depiction of the grandeur of the sea, cliff and rocks of the Cornish coast is brilliantly orchestrated, the swells and crashes of the orchestra and its percussion section, vividly depicting the sea pounding against the timeless rocks, a battle of the elements that inspired Bax to pen his most appealing work. --Dan Davis

Album Description

Perhaps the best known of all his orchestral works, Bax's Tintagel is a vivid tonal impression of the castle-crowned cliff of Tintagel in Cornwall. Here the legends of King Arthur and the scenic grandeur of the Atlantic Ocean fired Bax's imagination into producing some of the most vivid sea music ever written. Twenty years later Bax embarked upon his seventh and final symphony, relishing the Celtic tradition and combining playful exuberance with haunting wistfulness, serenity, and poise, a true representation of the culmination of his musical achievements.

Customer Reviews:

King Arthur Comes Alive.......2007-04-03

If you've ever stood on the Cornish coast and looked down at the waves beating on the rocks, you'll be there once again when you hear Bax's "Tintagel." This luscious tone poem deserves to be heard again and again.

Epilogue.......2004-01-20

Another astounding release in Naxos' Bax Cycle. If you aren't familiar with Bax's music (which is certainly easy enough), this is a great place to start. For one, it contains perhaps his greatest--or at least, most universally appealing--orchestral work, Tintagel. This is a luminously scored Romantic work, with big themes and a "legendary" atmosphere--something that could accompany the great Medieval epics, or perhaps even The Lord of the Rings. A piece that only grows with repeated listenings.

Symphony No.7, which I'm only just becoming acquainted with, seems unique in Bax's output. His last symphony is somewhere between a summing up and a new departure. Compared to the majority of his symphonies (especially Nos.2, 4 & 6), this is a much more amiable piece, gently romantic, and at times even playful. It has a languid atmosphere, which is often interrupted by the more virile Bax (as in the opening of the finale). But this is gorgeous music of a high caliber; the slow movement, in particular, is haunting stuff. I can't help but see this work as self consciously autumnal, the work of a man who knew his best days were past, but still had enough strength to record his final thoughts before sliding comfortably into oblivion. I recommend starting with No.7, and working backwards, to see the hints and ideas that come together in this miraculous score.

As always, David Lloyd-Jones and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra play beautifully--this is as fine a recording of Bax as you're likely to find. Everything "sounds" and nothing is lost in the shadows. If you start here, I would strongly recommend the entire cycle, perhaps continuing with No.2, 4 and 6, and then branching out into Nos.1,3,5, and the chamber works. Despite his relative neglect, there are no second-rate pieces here; it's more a matter of understanding Bax's idiom and voice.

Enjoy!

SPLENDID!.......2003-12-14

I have to confess that for many years I was not a big fan of Bax's music, but through my own ignorance, I fear. I was first exposed to his music through an ancient LP of piano music. I felt that both the music and the performance were utterly undistinguished. So I struck Bax off my list of composers to get to know. That turned out, of course, to be my loss. But on the positive side it has meant that he has been a later discovery, and for someone like I who for fifty years and more was always looking for new music to discover that has been a belated blessing. I've treasured the earlier issues of Bax orchestral music on Naxos, and my guess would be that this is the last of the series. Or at least it's the last of the symphonies to be recorded by them.

Coupled with the Seventh Symphony, though, is Bax's most famous orchestral piece, 'Tintagel.' It is a symphonic poem that was inspired by a six-week sojourn in the area of Tintagel, on the northern Cornish coast. Tintagel sits on a high cliff overlooking the distant Atlantic, and the tone poem is really more about the sea than about the castle or the landscape. Indeed, it is Bax's 'La Mer.' David Lloyd Jones leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a rich full-throated performance of this alternately romantically lyrical and tempestuous piece. It certainly stands among the best versions I've ever heard.

Bax's final essay in symphonic form, the Seventh Symphony, in three movements like all Bax's symphonies, was premièred in 1939 by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra (as it was then called) under the direction of the Bax enthusiast Sir Adrian Boult. The opening Allegro is a buoyant, even playful, piece interrupted by a lyrically melancholy section; one wonders if this latter is in any way inspired by the war clouds then massing in Europe. The slow movement begins with a slow, lazy, richly harmonized opening featuring languorous oboe/English horn solos and eventually supplanted by a somewhat more vigorous middle section subtitled 'In a Legendary Mood.' There is a vigorous climax before the music settles back into the opening dreamlike mood. The final movement is a theme-and-variations based on a solemn theme stated, after a stirring fanfare introduction, in the low strings and then taken through changing moods and tempi, becoming more and more agitated (but with some lyrical episodes and even some comic relief along the way) before a subdued, one might even say resigned, conclusion.

After the Seventh Symphony (and the start in earnest of World War II) Bax lapsed into a several years' silence before being named Master of the King's Music. He never composed anything very significant afterwards.

These performances are fully the equal of the earlier releases in this Naxos series. You really cannot do better than that.

Tracks:

Allegro Con Brio
Adagio (Alla Breve) Con Moto
Tempo Moderato E Molto Ritmico
Molto Moderato
Vivace
Moderato Tempo
Allegro Moderato
Andante Con Moto-Allegretto
Allegro Vivace-Andante Con Moto-Molto Largamente-Temop Di Valse-Piu Lento-Un Pochissimo Piu Mosso E Grazioso-Prestissimo

Bax: Piano Sonatas Nos. 3 & 4; Water Music; Winter Waters

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BAX AND WASS
The seduction of the keyboard

Bax: Piano Sonatas Nos. 3 & 4; Water Music; Winter Waters

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Bax: Symphony No. 2; November Woods

ASIN: B0008JEKDQ
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Tracks:

Allegro Moderato
Lento Moderato
Allegro
Allegro Giusto
Allegro Quasi Andante/Very Delicate Throughout
Allegro
Water Music
Winter Waters
Country-Tune
O Dame Get Up And Bake Your Pies

Customer Reviews:

BAX AND WASS.......2005-08-09

It may have a bit to do with the recording, but I was struck very forcefully by how much better the fourth sonata here comes across than the third does. The texture of the piano writing in the fourth is much cleaner and clearer, and it shows the player's abilities in a much more favourable light. Ashley Wass is obviously a major new talent. He has a strong grasp of the idiom of this music and he knows how to hold it together; he can build a climax imposingly and he has a powerful and unforced forte, and it goes more or less without saying that his technical accomplishment is comprehensive. He also does not need me or anyone else to tell him that these days this kind of combination of talent, insight and professionalism seems to be the birthright of multitudes.

In time I expect that a more individual and distinctive personality will become apparent in his playing. Indeed I think I'm beginning to detect it already in his accounts of the fourth sonata and of the powerful Winter Waters, and it makes me keen to hear more from him. For now, I wonder whether he has quite realised just how difficult a piece like the third sonata is to bring off with complete success. The piano writing is often bottom-heavy and there is a great deal of chordal, arpeggio and trill/tremolando work in it. Even the slightest hint of unevenness in the touch is made unmercifully apparent, and what is needed is really superhuman control of the finger-pressure, the kind of command that we get from Michelangeli or Gould or Pollini. It also puts a high premium on ultra-skilful use of the pedal, and it could be that this young player would benefit from studying the work of Cziffra, an out-and-out master of that particular technique. That said, Wass seems to me to have the measure of the piece basically, and he is heard to greater advantage in the rest of the recital. The fourth sonata is a less portentous effort than the third and Wass gives it a suitably high-profile reading. The Water Music, Country Tune and `O Dame' variations are lighter stuff and again I was impressed by the idiomatic sense of the performances. In the Winter Waters Bax seems to me to rise to something approaching greatness, and although the piano style is in some ways similar to that in the third sonata I felt that this time Wass set his own stamp on the reading more successfully.

Bax's piano music has more to say to me than his enjoyable but slightly ersatz symphonic poems do. As musical statements the heavier pieces seem more personal to me, with less playing to a Tennyson-loving gallery. The liner-note finds echoes of Debussy and Scriabin in the earlier works (more Scriabin than Debussy I should say), and is wisely unwilling to commit itself regarding influences on the sharply different idiom of the fourth sonata. The Water Music is nothing like Handel's but started life as a ballet score, and is more popular and melodious in expression. The `O Dame' variations are a kind of English music that I always find slightly tedious, but the Country Tune is pleasant enough if not especially memorable.

We are used to some spectacular recorded quality nowadays, and the recording here is not exactly that, but it's very good in general. Whether it is quite right for the third sonata is questionable, but in that instance I suspect that Wass will refine his playing to some extent in later performances to make it recording-proof. The liner-note is really quite good, with some perceptive comments on the music as well as information on the composer. As on other occasions, I want to express appreciation to Naxos for their initiative and imagination in making such music available at moderate cost, and I welcome this new young star on the pianistic block with particular interest.

The seduction of the keyboard.......2005-08-06

Like many composers of his time Bax was seduced by the resources of the modern grand piano - by the wealth of textures it can generate and the ease with which new harmonies are revealed by improvisation. It is not at all surprising that his first symphony started life as a piano sonata, since all his orchestral music was piano-inspired; it was imitating the piano that produced the inventiveness and originality of his orchestration. Too much of his music was generated by what sounded good on the piano rather than by a discriminating choice of means to achieve well defined ends. One of the main causes of the difference between his style and that of Vaughan Williams or Holst was that he was a pianist and they were not. Not surprisingly, then, his piano music is particularly revealing of his musical personality. The present CD is the second in a promised complete edition. It includes two of the composer's most haunting tragic utterances - Winter Waters and the Third Sonata -, and in the Fourth Sonata one of the most assured examples of his leaner, cleaner late style. Ashley Wass responds with rare sensitivity to Bax's wayward magic. The recording, notable for resonance rather than clarity, suits this music well.

Handley Conducts Bax, Bridge, Britten & Stanford

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Handley Conducts Bax, Bridge, Britten & Stanford

Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Bax: Symphony No. 1; In the Faery Hills; The Garden of Fand

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Sir Arnold Bax in Modo Feroce

Bax: Symphony No. 1; In the Faery Hills; The Garden of Fand

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000060CE
Release Date: 1998-06-09

Tracks:

In The Faery Hills
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Customer Reviews:

Sir Arnold Bax in Modo Feroce.......2000-10-05

To understand the savagery reflected in the first two symphonies (of seven altogether) by Sir Arnold Bax (1883-1953), one must grasp Bax's intense involvement in Ireland, where he first traveled in his early twenties and which he regarded as his second home - spiritually, indeed, as his first home. So profoundly did Bax's Irish sympathies run that he became involved (socially and philosophically, if not politically) with the insurrectionists; in the fighting of Easter 1916 and in the executions that followed, then, Bax lost acquaintances and friends. The First Symphony (1922) in E-Flat began life as a piano sonata, until Bax's lover Harriet Cohen told him that the music was too big for the limited keyboard medium and demanded orchestral fulfillment. Bax then cast his rage and sadness over the Dublin tragedy into the larger form. The score that resulted represents Bax at the peak of his modernistic tendency, incorporating dense, often bi-tonal harmonies, and driving martial rhythms reminiscent of those employed by Stravinsky in "Le sacre du printemps." This symphony has been recorded twice before: Under Myer Fredman on Lyrita in the early 1970s and under Bryden Thomson on Chandos in the early 1980s. The new recording comes as part of a Bax series on Naxos under David Lloyd-Jones with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. How does Lloyd-Jones stack up against his precursors? Fredman's reading with the London Philharmonic remains impressive, effectively alternating the First Movement's "feroce" passages with its quieter, grief-stricken ones. The Philharmonic brass really growl and snarl. Lloyd-Jones and his Scots orchestra certainly match Fredman for intensity in the fierce moments and tenderness in the quiet ones and have the advantage of clearer sound; and their final cry of grief has somewhat more bite than Fredman's. Bax describes the mood of the Second Movement as "Lento," which, given the ubiquitous tension in the music, is perhaps a form of irony. Thomson's fanfares (about three minutes in) are the richest; his slowest of all tempi among the three give the movement grandeur at the expense of some nervous tightness. Lloyd-Jones, like Fredman, hurries the music, perhaps a shade too much. But this is a matter of taste, after all. In the Finale, Lloyd-Jones comes in timing-wise right between Fredman and Thomson. It is Thomson, finally, who has the most expansive sense of Bax's First; Lloyd-Jones the most driven. So few conductors have taken up the cause of this great (I would say very great) composer, that there is plenty of room for differences of approach. At its low cost, the Lloyd-Jones vesion of Bax's E-Flat symphony is an excellent introduction to the music. We get two tone-poems, "In the Faery Hills" and "The Garden of Fand," as companions to the symphony.

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