The second phase of
Lyrita’s analogue heyday came in the
early 1970s. So far as Bax symphonies
were concerned they were content to
fill in around the efforts of two other
companies. The Third Symphony had been
recorded by RCA with the LSO conducted
by Edward Downes. It has never had an
issue on CD - a rather lacklustre affair,
I thought at the time. The Fourth was
produced even earlier by the Guildford
Philharmonic Orchestra and Vernon Handley,
forces later used by Lyrita but at that
time favoured by the Revolution label.
The recording of No. 4 was rather shrill
but the performance was spirited. Both
these LPs had an evanescent presence
on the shelves. They were flawed in
one way or another and soon slipped
from view. Even so, Lyrita moved with
good judgement to make world premiere
recordings of the remaining Bax symphonies.
No. 6 came in the first Lyrita phase
in the mid-1960s. The second phase saw
the issue of three then still desperately
unfashionable symphonies in quickish
succession. The first two (Nos. 1 and
2) were issued in consecutive months
sporting sponsorship from Ken Russell
Productions Ltd. The Fifth had to wait
until the following year with the Seventh
coming out in the third issue phase
in 1975. These discs made the Bax renaissance
and might even have been its authors
for most people of the generation that
had grown up since Bax’s death. Their
confidence in accomplishment swept all
doubts aside among the growing ranks
of open-minded admirers and enquirers
although there certainly remained people
who had no time for these works.
The Lyrita sessions
captured nothing faltering or academic.
There is a remarkable tenderness in
the first movement of the Fifth Symphony
with the gentle touching in of celesta
chimes. An exultant rowdiness to Bax’s
climaxes never becomes tawdry and there
is a headiness to the great pliant melody
that strides through the second movement
of the gaudy and awesome Second Symphony.
The spangled dazzling colours of the
Fifth are memorable for their astonishingly
candid rhythmic emphasis and forthright
and charismatic brass writing. Time
after time Bax irresistibly whirls the
listener into the action. He is a master
of colour though his orchestration can
seem dense even if that very density
has a wild glamour of its own. It is
that subtlety of colours and direct
speaking that shouts Bax as in their
different accents and idiosyncrasies
the symphonies of Sibelius, Martinů
and Nielsen shout their own authorship.
Try the horizon-tilting brass fanfares
and underpinning glimmer of harp and
violins at the very start of the second
movement of No. 5 for another example
of mastery. Yet more originality
can be heard in the second movement
where tuba and flailing clarinet figures
counterpoint each other. There is a
crackling feral voltage in this passage
before the music sweeps on to even stranger
realms. The kinetic head-banging power
of the start of the third movement is
also remarkable. The tension hardly
ever lets up and the narrative arc remains
intact all the way through Leppard’s
reading. This continues through to those
roaringly clamant final bars with the
shrapnel-staccato of the rimshot tattoo.
Sadly when Leppard took the work to
the Proms many years later on 24 July
1984 with the BBC Northern Symphony
Orchestra it drew only a small audience,
was memorable for a drastically cracked
trumpet note and had a less than cogent
trajectory.
Comparisons: There
is no identical coupling so if you need
just these two symphonies this is a
compelling choice. The analogue sound
is very healthy despite being pushed
to the limits in the overwhelming climaxes.
Looked at individually, in a blessedly
crowded market, these two remain at
the top of the recommendation list or
very close. I say that in the face of
the Handley-Chandos box, the Thomson-Chandos
cycle (which has a pretty good No. 5,
by the way) and the Lloyd-Jones-Naxos
sequence. But for the frail sound of
the Dutton CD of Goossens’ 1950s broadcast
of the Second Symphony I would have
been bracketing the Dutton and the Fredman
together. Handley would have been on
their heels. Outright Baxians must hear
the Goossens but for most practical
purposes you will have heard the Second
Symphony at its finest with Fredman.
Handley is a close second - a degree
or so cooler but not far behind.
This generously timed
disc is well supported by liner notes
from Lewis Foreman and Robert Layton.
Lyrita, Fredman and
Leppard recreated a Baxian tradition
in the 1970s but these two readings
have a grip that transcends mere documentary
interest.
Rob Barnett
More Bax also available on Lyrita:-
SRCD.231
Symphonic Poems - LPO/Sir Adrian Boult
SRCD.232
Symphonies Nos. 1 and 7 LPO/Myer Fredman;
Raymond Leppard
SRCD.296
Symphony No.6 overtures RPO/Vernon Handley
for details
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Myer Fredman
(2); Raymond Leppard* (5) 
Sound Samples
