Symphony No. 4 (Bax)
Encyclopedia
The Symphony No. 4 by Arnold Bax
was completed in 1930 and dedicated to Paul Corder
. It was inspired by Bax's love of the sea and premiered in 1931 by British conductor Basil Cameron
and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
, three flute
s, two oboe
s, English horn
, three clarinet
s, bass clarinet
, two bassoon
s, double bassoon, six horns, three trumpet
s, three trombone
s, tuba
, tenor tuba, timpani
, bass drum
, snare drum
, tambourine
, cymbal
s, gong
, xylophone
, glockenspiel
, celesta
, organ
, harp
and strings
.
The blustery opening movement begins with the strings and woodwinds playing a joyous melody, eventually joined by solo trumpet. It is probably the most imposing opening of any of the Bax symphonies, drawing inspiration from the sea. The organ is used and there are six horns (being the most in any Bax symphony). The second subject is much calmer and gorgeously melodic, being introduced by solo oboe and then taken up by the strings. The first movement ends triumphantly and joyously with brass major chords at its close.
The second movement is a quiet, dreamy movement with a memorable melody that is used effectively throughout. It closes peacefully and evokes a quiet day at sea.
The finale sees the return of the mood of the opening movement, being heroic and seascape and opening with distant trumpet trills and a blustery, joyful melody from the timpani and horns. Following this is an allegro scherzando section. The second subject is introduced by the oboe and returns at the end as a triumphal march before the symphony closes with a direct mood of happiness, not common in Bax symphony endings.
Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...
was completed in 1930 and dedicated to Paul Corder
Paul Corder
Paul Walford Corder was an English composer and music professor.Corder was born at Pimlico, London, the son of musician Frederick Corder and his wife Henrietta Walford. He was baptised at St. Gabriel's, Warwick Square, London, on 1 March 1880...
. It was inspired by Bax's love of the sea and premiered in 1931 by British conductor Basil Cameron
Basil Cameron
Basil Cameron, CBE was an English conductor. He was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, the son of a German immigrant family. His birth name was Basil George Cameron Hindenberg. -Career:...
and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Scoring
It is scored for piccoloPiccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, three flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, two oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, English horn
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
, three clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, two bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, double bassoon, six horns, three trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, three trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, tenor tuba, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, celesta
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
Structure
It is in three movements:- Allegro moderato
- Lento moderato - Piu mosso - Poco largemente - Tempo I
- Allegro - Allegro scherzando - Piu largamente - Vivo
The blustery opening movement begins with the strings and woodwinds playing a joyous melody, eventually joined by solo trumpet. It is probably the most imposing opening of any of the Bax symphonies, drawing inspiration from the sea. The organ is used and there are six horns (being the most in any Bax symphony). The second subject is much calmer and gorgeously melodic, being introduced by solo oboe and then taken up by the strings. The first movement ends triumphantly and joyously with brass major chords at its close.
The second movement is a quiet, dreamy movement with a memorable melody that is used effectively throughout. It closes peacefully and evokes a quiet day at sea.
The finale sees the return of the mood of the opening movement, being heroic and seascape and opening with distant trumpet trills and a blustery, joyful melody from the timpani and horns. Following this is an allegro scherzando section. The second subject is introduced by the oboe and returns at the end as a triumphal march before the symphony closes with a direct mood of happiness, not common in Bax symphony endings.