Credits:

Sir Davis Colin

Description:

Arnold Bax will celebrate the 140th anniversary of his birth and the 70th anniversary of his death in 2023. In England from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, when many symphonies were written, Arnold Bax's mystical and fantastic style, which evokes the influence of Celtic culture, is still very popular. This box contains all seven symphonies he wrote. In addition, there are many symphonic poems and orchestral works, allowing the listener to immerse themselves in the fascination of Bax's music. Born in London, Bax became fascinated with Ireland and Celtic culture after being introduced to W.B. Yeats's "Celtic Twilight," and moved to Dublin, where he was active in the local literary circle. Bax's interest in Celtic spirituality and worldviews, including nature worship, fairy tales, folklore, and mythology, later expanded to include Arthurian legends and Norse mythology. Many of his symphonic poems and symphonies are fantastical representations of natural phenomena and legends, where silent forests, raging seas, and dreamlike visions of ancient ruins are rendered with skillful orchestration, sometimes with impressionistic, sometimes with film-music-like effects. The seven symphonies were written between 1921 and 1939. Bax, who was attracted to northern music, met Sibelius in 1932 and they hit it off, and he dedicated the Fifth to Sibelius.Bax continued to create with great ambition, but after the outbreak of World War II, the number of his works declined dramatically, and like Sibelius, his seventh symphony was his last. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones (1934-2022), a highly regarded opera conductor, gives a dynamic and ambitious performance. The performance is highly acclaimed both in the U.K. and abroad, including in Gramophone. Naxos Japan