Bax: Tone Poems, Volume 2 Orchestral & Concertos Chandos

Bax: Tone Poems, Volume 2

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CHAN 10446

Bax: Tone Poems, Volume 2

Running Time: 75:47

CD UPC: 0095115144626

Release Date: April 2008
Originally recorded in 2007

Composer (1883-1953)
Sir Arnold Bax

Orchestra
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor
Vernon Handley

Venue
Studio 7, New Broadcasting House, Manchester

Producer
Brian Pidgeon

Engineer
Stephen Rinker

Engineer (Assistant: The Happy Forest)
Vanessa Nuttall

Engineer (Assistant: other works)
Denise Else

Genre:
Orchestral & Concertos

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P&P for single unit's: UK=£2.4, EU=£9, World=£12

SIR ARNOLD BAX

(1883-1953)

Three Northern Ballads

32:35

First Northern Ballad (1927, orchestrated 1931)

9:59

To Basil Cameron

Tempo moderato - Allegro moderato con fuoco -

Second Northern Ballad (orchestrated 1933-34)

14:02

To Adam Carse

Moderato (alla breve) - Poco più mosso -

Prelude for a Solemn Occasion (Third Northern Ballad) (1927, orchestrated 1933)

8:16

Maestoso. Moderato - Listesso tempo - Molto moderato

Nympholept (1912, orchestrated 1915)

15:23

Nature Poem for Orchestra

To Constant Lambert

'Enter these enchanted woods,

You who dare'

Moderately slow - Largamente e nobilmente -

premiere recording

Red Autumn (1912)

5:03

Orchestrated by Graham Parlett (2006)

Moderato - Stormily - Andante tranquillo - Tempo I -

The Happy Forest (1914, orchestrated 1922)

9:42

Nature Poem

To Eugene Goossens

Vivacious and fantastic - Un pochettino più lento -

Into the Twilight (1908)

13:22

'Eire' No. 1

after the poem of the same name by W.B. Yeats

Lento - Un poco più mosso (Andante con moto) -

76:44

Orchestra: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Vernon Handley

20 Novemer 2007 (The Happy Forest) & 20 and 21 December 2006 (other works)

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Reviews

…this is the version to acquire

BBC Music Magazine

Vernon Handley’s revelatory Bax odyssey for Chandos comes up trumps again with this generous feast spanning a quarter of a century from the enchanted Donegal glens of the youthful Into the twilight (1908) to the rugged, wintry seascape of the Second Northern ballad, completed in 1934 if I encounter a more rewarding issue all year, I shall be surprised.

Gramophone Editor’s Choice

Handley’s command of this unfamiliar music is wonderfully assured; the BBC Philharmonic play superbly for him, and it is hard to imagine anyone else doing it better or with more commitment.

The Guardian

" Handley’s rapport with this music is so satisfying and convincing it makes this release self-recommending, one to delight Baxians and audiophiles alike. I would not wish to limit appreciation to those who already have the Baxian bug, for I cannot imagine a music lover drawn to Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, Sibelius (and maybe Wagner) not responding enthusiastically to the musical wonders here.

International Record Review

Handley Champions Bax as Beecham did Delius. The excellent Chandos series pairing the former continues with seven richly nuanced, nimbly danced and sensitively phrased performances of tone poems composed just before, and orchestrated most just after the First World War. The BBC Philharmonic revels in Bax’s subtle instrumental variety - the nervous harp in Into the Twilight, the gurgling bass-clarinet in Nympholept that Handley summons like a snake-charmer. A sense of magic pervades much of the disc. Few conductors have found so much in Bax before, but many will in future.

The Times

The orchestral playing is superb and the recorded sound detailed and rich. I am new to Bax but on the evidence of this will be returning for more. D Guest

D Guest

Does one really have to review a disc that is this good and has been reviewed several times. Well YES as it is now in glorious HiRez sound. The same performaces that others have raved about actually sound even more convincing.They are hardly mainstream works by somebody not even considered in the forefront as a composer? Quite a variety and way better than the awful sounding cds issued earlier.Hardly surprising.Chandos ,How about the rest even the original analogues.

D Raffells

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