BAX: Symphonic Poems

Album review

Even though he was English-born and -bred, Arnold Bax was fascinated in his youth by Celtic and Nordic folklore, and was inspired to compose his most popular symphonic poems around Cornish, Irish, Scottish, and Norwegian subjects. The most successful of these works is Tintagel (1919), a dramatically turbulent but also luxuriant orchestral depiction of the cliffs of Cornwall and the ocean under them. The Garden of Fand (1916) is a colorful fantasy on a sea-tale connected with the legend of Cuchulain, and was stimulated by Bax's association with the Irish Revival. November Woods (1917), The Tale the Pine Trees Knew (1931), and The Happy Forest (1914, orchestrated 1921) are perhaps less specifically programmatic than the first two pieces, but they share the same evocative moods and lavish, post-Romantic orchestration, of which Bax was an accomplished practitioner early on. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones, recorded these tone poems in various sessions between 1995 and 2002, but their interpretations are consistently lush and vibrant, and the sound of this 2005 release is well-adjusted between tracks, despite changes of venue. To avoid accidental duplication, though, collectors should note that these recordings were previously released by Naxos on CDs of Bax's symphonies.
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