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Sir Arnold Bax: The Complete Symphonies [Box Set]
 
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Sir Arnold Bax: The Complete Symphonies [Box Set] [Box set]

~ Arnold Bax (Composer), Bryden Thomson (Conductor), London Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Ulster Orchestra (Orchestra)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra
  • Conductor: Bryden Thomson
  • Composer: Arnold Bax
  • Audio CD (1 Oct 1999)
  • SPARS Code: DDD
  • Number of Discs: 5
  • Format: Box set
  • Label: Chandos
  • ASIN: B000000ALZ
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 248,992 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Disc: 1
1. Symphony No. 1 In E Flat: I. Allegro moderato e feroce
2. Symphony No. 1 In E Flat: II. Lento solenne
3. Symphony No. 1 In E Flat: III. Allegro maestoso - Allegro vivace ma non troppo prest - Tempo di marcia trionfale
4. Symphony No. 6: I. Moderato - Allegro con fuoco
See all 6 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. Symphony No. 5: I. Poco lento - Allegro con fuoco - Moderato - Arnold Bax
2. Symphony No. 5: II. Poco lento - Arnold Bax
3. Symphony No. 5: III. Poco moderato - Allegro- Epilogue (Doppio movimento alla breve) - Arnold Bax
4. Symphony No. 4: I. Allegro moderato - Arnold Bax
See all 5 tracks on this disc
Disc: 3
1. Symphony No. 4: III. Allegro - Tempo di marcia trionfale
2. Symphony No. 2 In E Minor & C: I. Molto moderato - Allegro moderato
3. Symphony No. 2 In E Minor & C: II. Andante
4. Symphony No. 2 In E Minor & C: III. Poco largamente - Allegro feroce - Molto largamente
Disc: 4
1. I. Lento moderato
2. Symphony No. 3: II. Lento
3. Symphony No. 3: III. Moderato - Epilogue (Poco lento)
Disc: 5
1. Symphony No. 7: I. Allegro
2. Symphony No. 7: II. Lento - In Legendary Mood (Piu mosso) - Tempo 1
3. Symphony No. 7: III. Theme And Variations (Allegro - Andante - Vivace - Epilogue 'Sereno')
On this CD:
  1. Symphony No. 1 in E flat
    Composed by Sir Arnold Bax
    Conducted by Bryden Thomson

  2. Symphony No. 2 in E minor/C
    Composed by Sir Arnold Bax
    Conducted by Bryden Thomson

  3. Symphony No. 3
    Composed by Sir Arnold Bax
    Conducted by Bryden Thomson

  4. Symphony No. 4
    Composed by Sir Arnold Bax
    Performed by Ulster Orchestra
    Conducted by Bryden Thomson

  5. Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor
    Composed by Sir Arnold Bax
    Conducted by Bryden Thomson

  6. Symphony No. 6
    Composed by Sir Arnold Bax
    Conducted by Bryden Thomson

  7. Symphony No. 7
    Composed by Sir Arnold Bax
    Conducted by Bryden Thomson

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Never mind all the musical influences, Bax's soundworld is still deeply personal and distinctive, and it is applied to such wide-ranging emotions, from the rage of the first movement of the First Symphony to the desolation of, for example, the last movement of the Second. That peculiarly Baxian mysticism creeps in so often, so seductively, while themes like that of the Epilogue of the Third Symphony become embedded in the brain. Arching over everything is the influence of nature--especially seascape (try the Fourth Symphony) and weather--reminding us that so much of Bax's work was done at Morar in Inverness-shire. Forget all the British stiff-upper-lip stereotypes, this is music rich in passion and many a vision of ecstasy. There are moments when you might wish the admirable Bryden Thomson had displayed more drive and direction, more out-and-out passion, but these are committed performances which no lover of British music should be without. And the Chandos sound brings out all those dazzling Baxian colours like sunlight touching pebbles on a Scottish beach. --Andrew Green

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply: Awesome., 21 Dec 2000
By A Customer
Having heard a few of his tone poems but none of the symphonies I was unsure what to expect of this set but bought it because the works I had heard previously were very 'easy on the ear' and I've got a thing for great Twentieth Century British music. I have to say that if you want memorable tunes then look elsewhere as this is no Elgar or Vaughan Williams but what you will find are - and here's a word which every Bax reviewer seems to try to avoid - utterly gorgeous orchestral "soundscapes". Here's music you can just turn the lights off and lie back to. You can't help but drift away to some beautiful sounds but you'll barely recall a consecutive pair of notes afterward. This is really hypnotic stuff. Even the faster movements are hauntingly relaxing. It's a rare but rewarding quality in modern music.

I can't help but think of Thomas Beecham's famous quote regarding the English where he said, "I am not sure the English people understand music but there's no doubt they like the noise it makes".

Bax obviously understood music very well indeed but as far as these symphonies are concerned there's nothing difficult to understand for the average listener, they just implore you to love the noise they make and I definitely do.

Buy it.

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent underrated set, 10 Feb 2004
By Jeffrey Davis "jmd555555" (Sussex UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Bryden Thomson is a very underrated conductor. His recording of Walton Symphony 1 on Chandos is one of the greatest versions available as is his "Dona Nobis Pacem" by Vaughan Williams.

Whilst critics fall overthemselves in praise of the new Vernon Handley cycle, Thomson tends to get left out in the cold.

I listened today to Thomson's version of Bax's Symphony 5 (Bax's greatest symphony, certainly the most effectively structured of the seven) and found it to be first rate, the best performance since Raymond Leppard's Lyrita LP.

The Fourth is the best available version of this score. Highly recommended.

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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars The question is - would Bax have approved?, 10 Aug 2001
By A Customer
There is a great deal of fire, vehemence and energy in Bax's symphonies, especially the early ones. Unfortunately, Thomson's preference (perhaps obsession) for slow tempi and his idiosyncracies do these works no justice. The fourth is about the only one that comes off convincingly, compared with some rather older LPs to hand. His reading of the 3rd is, in my view, something of a disaster, if only because we have Barbirolli's interpretation to compare it with. Bax and Baribirolli were good friends. Bax had heard many performances of his 3rd symphony so one might believe that Barbirolli's came with his approval. Thomson's exaggerated tempo changes seem to rob the work of its flow. The climax in the first movement is all but lost and the third movement is all over the place. He certainly doesn't follow Bax's own markings in the score. A modern, more naturally paced recording was made by David Lloyd-Jones on Naxos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

My other niggle concerns the recording venue, a church with an over-long echo. That might be fine with classical works using classical harmonic structures but romantic works containing a good many (and sudden) harmonic changes and lots of chromatic alterations are blurred by the echo and turn into a mess at times. It's a surprise that Chandos chose such a venue for works like these.

The saving grace is that you do get all the symphonies. The 4th and 6th are currently unavailable elsewhere. The 1st and 7th are available from Lyrita with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and David Lloyd Jones is rapidly completing a cycle for Naxos. His reading of the 5th is quite superb considering that it is not a work that shows Bax to best advantage.

However, there will be listeners who prefer these slow tempi and perhaps even like the cathedral-sized echo. It is still worth exploring David Lloyd-Jones' interpretations and, if willing to forgive the imperfections of 78rpm records (the transfers are quite fabulous), the Barbirolli 3rd (which comes with a lovely recording of Bax's Violin Concerto, cond: Boult).

It is a great shame that Lyrita were uanble or unwilling to reissue their readings of 2nd and 6th. The latter in particular was magical.

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