I scratched my head
a little as to how to review this CD.
Firstly, the sheer number of pieces
on this release prohibits a detailed
analysis of, or even a paragraph comment
on, each work. I guess that if I discussed
the thirty odd pieces it would become
a dissertation: I imagine that few people
would read through to the end. Secondly
the complexity of a full comparison
of the Lyrita edition of piano music
of Arnold Bax with those issued by Naxos
and Chandos would also seem to be over-ambitious.
I will admit a bias
towards Iris Loveridge. It is not that
I do not have the Eric Parkin, Michael
Endres and Ashley Wass editions in my
collection at home – of course I do!
It is simply that like most English
music enthusiasts of my generation,
dear old Iris was all I had to make
my evaluation of Bax’s piano works.
I know that a few ‘orphan’ recordings
by Harriet Cohen and others may have
been doing the rounds in the ’sixties
and ’seventies, but from my perspective,
Lyrita was the only way to get to grips
with what is a vital contribution to
an understanding of an important part
of Bax’s output.
I remember buying my
copies of the Lyrita vinyl from a shop
called ‘Symphony One’ in Glasgow and
also from Banks Music in York. I borrowed
a copy of the music of the Piano
Sonatas from a friend who was studying
at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music
and Drama and sat down to make acquaintance
with these works. Later another friend
lent me the sheet music for a number
of the smaller works. It was an educative
experience and gave me an enthusiasm
for Bax’s piano music that survives
to this day.
However, it was not
until more than fifteen years later,
when the Eric Parkin edition was released,
that I was able finally to get my head
round these pieces. The CDs made it
so much easier to listen to music ‘on
the move’. And recently I had the opportunity
to review Ashley Wass’s fine reading
of the First and Second Sonatas.
This proved to me two things – firstly
that it is absolutely essential to have
new recordings of Bax’s piano music
and secondly that a new edition certainly
does not necessarily supersede older
ones.
Bax’s style of piano
writing was a little bit anachronistic
for his time. Many composers of the
era were influenced by the bittersweet
music of John Ireland but this was not
the route that Bax took. When other
composers were busy discovering English
folk-song, atonalism and were nodding
to past masters as neo-classicists,
Bax was writing in a pianistic style
that owed more to Chopin and Liszt than
Schoenberg or Bartók. The influences
of Wagner and Sibelius are omnipresent,
although perhaps more so in the orchestral
works. Then there was his fascination
with the Celtic Fringe: he does not
actually quote Irish or Gaelic folk-tunes
but the music exudes the misty atmosphere
of those remote and imaginative regions
- more the spirit than the letter. Finally,
much of the inspiration for Bax’s music
came from the pianists, often ladies,
who were to play the pieces - especially
Harriet Cohen and Myra Hess.
Strangely, although
Bax wrote a great deal for the piano
it was only for a relatively small part
of his career. Most of the works on
this present CD were composed between
1910 and 1921. The Third and
Fourth Piano Sonatas were written
later. In addition to the solo piano
music Bax also wrote a few concertante
works, including the fine Symphonic
Variations and the Winter Legends.
There is also an impressive corpus of
music for two pianos.
The solution to my
quandary over how to review this CD
is this: I want to pick out a few pieces
from this edition that are perhaps a
little less well known – even to Bax
enthusiasts. These are not necessarily
the highlights of this CD or of Bax’s
piano music. They are simply five or
six pieces that caught my eye, as it
were, as I reviewed this 3 CD boxed
set.
The Concert Waltz
in Eb was composed in 1910 and is Bax’s
first published piano work. It was dedicated
to Myra Hess and was given its first
performance in the same year. It is
certainly not ‘typical’ Bax music –
owing much to ‘romantic’ models. Yet
it is extremely effective and avoids
descent into pure salon music by the
sophistication of its harmony and variety
of expression. This is a lovely piece
and is welcome as part of collection.
Winter Waters is an
interesting piece: the sleeve notes
rightly point out that there is a sea
change in his music: it is suggested
that this is “almost the quintessential”
Bax piano piece. It is subtitled ‘A
Tragic Landscape’ and as such describes
a dark and bleak picture of the ocean
or perhaps a sea-loch. Colin Scott-Sutherland
suggests that this piece has the ‘dark
menacing inscrutability of the sea.’
To me it one of the most impressive
pieces in the Bax catalogue. It is certainly
one that comes to mind when I watch
the sea pounding against the rocks of
the Cornish coast on a cold and stormy
winter’s day. The pianist creates
just the right atmosphere in her interpretation.
In 1929 Bax published
three short piano pieces based on music
from the ballet score The Truth about
the Russian Dancers. The titles
of these three pieces, The Ceremonial
Dance, the Serpent Dance
and Water Music bear no relation
to the plot of the original ballet score.
The Ceremonial Dance was part
of the original work’s overture and
is designed as a gentle pastiche of
Russian ballet – complete with a ‘spoof'
Russian tune. The programme notes quote
Peter Pirie as describing the Serpent
Dance as being "a half humorous
piece of oriental tushery complete with
wailing pipe and swaying snake."
In fact, the music was originally used
at the end of the ballet when the apparently
dead ballerina rises from her couch
at the Maestro’s bidding. The Water
Music is a gorgeous number. Originally
used in the score of Tamara,
this was recycled as the Dance of
Motherhood in The Truth and
finally acquired its watery title in
1929. It is a simple tune that has a
much more complex accompaniment. All
three works do not quite fit the stereotype
of what we imagine Bax’s piano music
to sound like – yet they are interesting
and satisfying.
The latest piece on
this CD collection is O Dame Get
up and Bake your Pies (Variations on
a North Country Christmas Carol).
This was composed as a gift for Anna
and Julian Herbage. Apparently, Anna
had baked some apple pies on Christmas
Morning: they were Bax’s neighbours
at Storrington in Sussex. What is important
about this piece is the fact that most
critics regarded Bax’s composing career
to be virtually over: the inspiration
had run dry, so it was believed. Yet
this piece is near perfect: it is a
‘late-flowering’ of wit, melody and
invention. It deserves to be a part
of the corpus of the composer’s piano
music. It was given its first performance
a few weeks later, by Harriet Cohen
on 28 February 1945. Loveridge plays
this piece with both humour and panache.
Finally I want to look
at one of the Sonatas. The First
Sonata in F# major was composed
in the Ukraine. Bax, always a man for
the ladies, had set off in pursuit of
a girl called Natalia Skarginska. Apparently
she had spurned his advances. Bax, in
his autobiography explains how she eventually
remarried and died tragically of typhoid.
Certainly this Sonata in one
large sonata-allegro movement and surely
owes much to Franz Liszt. However there
is certainly a considerable influence
from Russian models – similar to the
Two Russian Tone Pictures and
the In a Vodka Shop. The entire
Sonata appears to be made up
of a series of constantly changes moods
and tempos: the composer takes fragments
of themes and seems to throw them around
the score. Much of the writing could
be described as vague, in a deliberate
sense, with the appearance of formlessness.
Yet the reality is more prosaic – this
is a well-constructed and disciplined
work.
There is little here
that suggests tenderness or repose and
any such moment is short lived. There
is a lyrical theme that is marked ‘sosprando
– which means ‘sighing,’ however, the
predominant mood of this music is passionate
and sometimes even aggressive and violent.
Lewis Foreman has remarked that this
is not a ‘picture post-card’ view of
Russia. It is fair to say that this
Sonata reveals all the angst
and anger of a young man seemingly being
cheated of his love. On the other hand,
in the coda the bells of St. Petersburg
ring out in seemingly positive mood.
I re-listened to Ashey
Wass playing this Sonata for
my review. And I thoroughly enjoyed
that version. Yet there is something
moving about Iris Loveridge's playing
that is almost indescribable. She manages
a huge technique for the ‘bells’ sequence
that is truly impressive. For my ear
she better explores the tensions that
seem to haunt Bax’s mind. Parkin has
been accused of taking a more leisurely
approach to this Sonata and I guess
that I concur with that. Endres is considered
to have made a powerful reading to this
work. Yet when all is said and done,
I have a sneaking preference for Loveridge.
This is not a complete
edition of Bax’s piano music – I guess
that has still to be achieved. Whether
we would wish to hear the juvenilia,
such as the March Trionfale written
in 1900 or the Sonata in D minor
from the same year is a matter of debate.
Personally I am a completist, a kind
of musical trainspotter. I feel that
at least one recording ought to be available!
However, there are a few later pieces
missing from this collection that may
be worth including in subsequent editions
of the composer’s piano music. These
include Scherzo 1913; In the
Night 1914; Pæan (Passacaglia)
1928; Legend 1935; Suite on
the Name Gabriel Fauré 1945
Four Pieces for piano 1947 and
the very late Two Lyrical Pieces
for piano 1948.
Lastly, there is an
issue over the sound quality. Even the
most enthusiastic supporter of the Loveridge
edition would have to admit that the
old mono tapes do not have the depth
of the more recent ones. Yet this is
no reason to underrate these CDs. They
have been beautifully restored and little
of musical value is lost in spite of
the fact this is a pre-digital recording.
I would heartily recommend
this set. I accept that there are three
very good alternatives available for
the majority of pieces recorded here.
Yet the bottom line is that Baxians
will want all obtainable versions for
their collections. It is good to be
able to contrast and compare the Sonatas
and lesser pieces. I guess that every
listener would have a different opinion
on playing style, timings, sound quality
and interpretation. However, paraphrasing
my late father, no-one deliberately
issues a bad recording of Bax’s piano
music. Often it is a mater of taste.
However, this present Lyrita recording
is a superb opportunity to purchase
virtually all the solo piano pieces
by Sir Arnold Bax. Moreover, they are
played with technical brilliance, interpretive
skill and have the ability to move the
spirit and inspire the mind.
John France
