Bax: A Composer and his Times

Bax was quite prolific, one of the most prolific composers ever.Bax was rather opaque as this book shows is. He was very shy and retiring, Spent months and years alone writing in unheated hotels in remotest Scotland and Ireland. He was from a rich family, independently wealthy, did not have to work for a living, for example, conduct and often did not go back and revise his earlier works as did his contemporaries and buddies, like Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Peter Warlock, EJ Moeran, Sibelius, etc.While this is maybe the best bio , the best vision of him available of the enigmatic figure, it is lacking. The reader often gets' little of no feeling what was going on in Bax's head. Many chapters are fascinating, Bax heard the music of Faery along with Poet AE (George Russell) in Glencolumbcille, Ire and it entranced him. (we take him at his word). This ecstatic Faery music he heard he tried to capture again and again in his music "In the Faery Hills", "Spring Fire", the end of the Third Symphony, " Nympholept" , etc. So that part is wonderful, but then the narrative goes on to things that sound like little more than Bax laundry list, or a boring list of people at some party. With all of the letters to all his lovers extant, there must be some something that elucidates his thoughts and state of mind. All the principles are now dead, so tell us what they said...Bax love life played an important part in his music. He fell for a young Russian woman, Natalia Skarginski, put her up at his parents house, followed her to Russia only to have her use his money and dump him. On the rebound, Bax went back to England and married Elsita, who he had nothing in common with had children, then grew tired of her shortly thereafter. Then he met young pianist Harriet Cohen with whom he carried on a passionate love affair for decades. His wife was Catholic and refused him a divorce and they separated. By the time his wife eventually died decades later and he was free and could have married Cohen, as people expected. Cohen as sick all the time, tubercular, and constantly asking Bax for money and new songs to play and had affairs with other men. Bax fell for another younger woman Mary Gleaves who he was with for the rest of his life. He apparently liked younger women, he romanticized them, thought of them as goddesses incarnate. This love turmoil charged much of his music. Bax supported all three women all his life...He would be better know if he had not given all rights to many compositions to Harriet Cohen who hoarded them, didn't publish and didn't make them public for years after their deathsI also would have like to see Mr Foreman put some symbol in the text to indicate he is changing subjects, there will be some tantalizing insightful passage and then proceed without mark, into lists of trivia, Some symbol or line break to let us know he, Foreman is changing subject. which he does often.Also, there is much musical score and much reference to the many Bax albums now out. In addition to the written musical score, it would be useful for the next edition if Mr Foreman would tell you this passage he refers to is like in the most famous recordings, like Bryden Thomson's Chandos: recording tract 1, time: 3' 32" rather than just the publishing the score. Most of us, I included, are not that good at reading musical scores.Odd to say but some of Mr Foreman's notes in CDs (he has written Bax notes in practically every Bax CD there is) , some of his CD notes are actually more complete and thorough than what is here in this book!when I initially wrote this review it was for edition two., three is much improvedI recently read the latest edition of this book which has access to latters of the principals and explains a lot more about motivationsThen there is Bax own "Farewell my Youth" autobio and it's even more opaque, except at the very end!Sir Arnold Bax, IMHO, is one of the greatest composers in the 20th century, Bax is certainly one of the top 5 composers (as his friend Ralph Vaughn Williams also heatedly pointed out to the dunderheads at British Royal Academy of Music, quoted herein). He is certainly the most underappreciated. His music yields its virtues, subtleties and complexities only upon repeated listening. He deserves to be played much more and he deserves to be heard much more. There are so many better known 20th c composers whose works are downright boring and painful to listen to....I love Impressionism and there is so little of it. Dive into Bax! The more you listen the more you'll like.This is the best book out on Bax, but it leaves the reader wanting a lot more.

Das Oeuvre von Arnold Bax ist in Deutschland leider immer noch viel zu unbekannt, obgleich fast alle großen Werke in erstklassigen Einspielungen vorliegen. Die vorliegende Biographie schließt zumindest für den Fan eine letzte Lücke.Foreman zieht in dem lebendig geschriebenen Werk die Summe seiner lebenslangen Beschäftigung mit dem Thema "Bax". Mit größter Sorgfalt werden etwa alle Einflüsse - u.a. auch von Stefan George! - auf die geistige Entwicklung von Bax nachvollzogen. Das biographische Material ist so vollständig gesichert, dass Foreman etwa Argumente dafür liefern kann, dass Bax die Uraufführung von Daphnis und Chloe gesehen hat usw.Im Weiteren stehen jedoch die Werke von Bax und ihre stilistische Analyse fast im Vordergrund. Endlich erfährt auch der Laie, unter welchen Umständen etwa ein Werk wie "Nympholept" entstanden ist. Fern jeder hagiographischen Anwandlungen liefert der Autor auch sehr kritische Einordnungen der Werke nach ihrer musikalischen Qualität, wobei die Liebe zu dieser Musik zu Recht im Vordergrund steht. Nach der Lektüre habe ich mir rasch die Orchestersuite zu Tamara bestellt, die Foreman hier in den glühendsten Farben herausstellt und konnte das Urteil bestätigen.Und das Leben von Bax? Seine Jugend kann den Leser fast mit Neid erfüllen. Bis auf den etwas kühlen Vater wächst er in einer liebevollen, sorgenfreien und naturnahen Umgebung auf. Geld - in welchen Mengen auch immer - spielt nie eine Rolle. Im Haus gehen geistreiche Freunde und schöne Frauen in Scharen ein und aus. Es bedurfte daher wohl erst des Osteraufstandes von 1916, um die dramatischere Ader von Bax zum Pulsieren zu bringen.Das Werk liefert dem Liebhaber, genau das, was er sucht: Eine auf hohem wissenschaftlichen Niveau angesiedelte Wiederbegegnung mit den lieb gewonnen Werken wie etwa der Spring Symphonie. Der historische Kontext, die kritische Analyse des musikalischen Materials und die Einordnung in den zeitlichen Kontext sind vorbildlich, wenn auch wie immer Wünsche offenbleiben. Mir persönlich kam "Christmaseve in the Mountains" ein wenig zu kurz und zu schlecht weg. Dieses Werk hatte ich vor 20 Jahren an Weihnachten im Rundfunk gehört und danach fieberhaft nach "Mr. Banks" geforscht. Es dauerte weitere fünf Jahre, bis der Groschen fiel! Seitdem gehören Winter Legends oder die Symphonic Variations bei mir zum stets wiedergehörten Repertoire.

At long last this masterly biography of a great composer has re-emerged, now in a substantially augmented third edition. First published in 1983, this third edition has been expanded to incorporate some of the recently released correspondence between Bax and his long time lover, Harriet Cohen which is quite explicit at times.As the title suggests, this is not just a biography of a very remarkable man, but also a commentary on the extraordinary renaissance of serious composition that occurred in England (perhaps that should be Britain!) in the first half of the twentieth century.His privileged upbringing and studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London are vividly described. The Irish /Celtic influences, adventures in Russia and Tintagel, the beginning of the long relationship with Harriet Cohen are explored. Then that golden period, between the wars, when Bax was arguably, the finest symphonist in the country and his friendship with the man who was eventually to create the greatest British symphonic cycle, Ralph Vaughan Williams.Finally, Master of the King's Music, and the slow Sibelian decline in composition. Incredibly, this major composer lived out his last decade, more or less unnoticed, in a Sussex Pub, the White Horse at Storrington. He died in Ireland , his spiritual homeland.This book is a model biography, highly informative, easy to read and referenced in great detail, essential reading not only for those interested in this composer but twentieth century, European music in general.

Fantastically written, an invaluable resource for a researching musician, and a good read too.

This is an excellent biography of Sir Arnold Bax. It was an invaluable tool for me as I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the composer. Lewis Foreman shows great love and dedication to his subject, and writes in a way that makes you want to keep reading. His combination of personal information and analysis of the music is as good as that of anyone I've read.