Symphony No.4 - Arnold Bax

BBC Philharmonic conducted by Vernon Handley

I - Allegro moderato: 0:00
II - Lento moderato - Più mosso - Poco largemente - Tempo I: 15:37
III - Allegro - Allegro scherzando - Più largamente - Vivo: 28:25

Bax's fourth symphony was written between October 1930 and February 1931. Part of the first movement had been composed in Glencolumcille, but most of the work was written in Morar with his new partner Mary Gleaves, in the grandiosity of the coast of the Scottish Western Highlands.

The work was dedicated to his comrade in the past times in Dresden, Paul Corder, a composer son of the composition teacher of Bax during his stay at the Royal Academy of Music, Frederick Corder. The composer assisted him during the writing of the score. It premiered in San Francisco in March 1932, performed by the San Francisco Symphony directed by Basil Cameron. Its first interpretation in England was in the month of December of 1932 in London, directed by Malcolm Sargent. The work requires a large orchestra, including an organ.

The first movement is written in sonata form. The first theme is turbulent representing the enraged sea. The second theme appears in a way that symbolizes the movement of the waves in their going and coming back. After an especially subjective development, the themes are again used in the recapitulation, ending with a triumphant coda.

The second movement presents its main theme in the form of an intermezzo. It shows a marine theme in the form of a small symphonic poem in an impressionistic way. After reaching a strong climax the music calms down and ends with great softness.

The last movement begins with a fortissimo of mute trumpets. Then the sounds of a march appear. A quiet interlude uses it to present a subtle orchestration. The final part consists of a brilliant march interrupted by another brief interlude. Finally the march appears with all its pagan splendor, with the support of the organ in its final stages.

Bax admitted a programmatic relationship in this symphony. The principle of it represents the sea enraged at high tide on a sunny day. In the second, its marine theme seems quite evident.
Picture: "Gothic Church on a Rock by the Sea" (1815) by the Prussian artist Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

Sources: http://www.historiadelasinfonia.es/historia-2/siglo-xx/bax/

Видео Symphony No.4 - Arnold Bax канала Sergio Cánovas