The Lyrita LPs of these
and other Bax symphonies were my introduction
to the music of this "brazen romantic"
and their appearance on CD is a cause
for celebration. Apart from anything
else, this CD issue confirms just how
marvellous were the sonic results that
the respective engineers achieved and
it’s good to see these men now credited
in the booklet.
I remember thinking
at the time that Raymond Leppard (b.
1927) was not an obvious choice to conduct
Bax. In those days he was much better
known as a conductor and editor of high
baroque and pre-classical music. I don’t
know how much work he’d done with "conventional"
symphony orchestras at the time this
recording was made – it wasn’t until
1973 that he became Principal Conductor
of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra
– but he conducts the Fifth Symphony
with splendid authority and evident
sympathy.
The Fifth was dedicated
to Sibelius, an apt dedication listeners
may feel. The music may not be as tightly
organised or as tautly constructed as
that of the Finnish master but one can
often sense the presence of Tapio. The
mysterious opening to the first of the
three movements has a legendary feel
to it and Leppard distils a powerful
atmosphere. When the Allegro con
fuoco arrives (3:53) his direction
has great drive. Throughout the movement
– and, indeed, throughout the symphony
as a whole – he gets splendid playing
from the LPO, both in the energetic
passages and in the work’s frequent
ruminative stretches. It has to be said
that the music can be in danger of meandering
at times during these reflective passages
but Leppard avoids such traps and it
seems to me that his conducting consistently
retains focus. He achieves an excellent
impetus in the brazen dance passage
(from around 11:00 to 14:20) and the
"Celtic" episode immediately following
is atmospherically delivered before
Bax revisits his opening material.
The second movement
begins with an impressive brass-led
introduction, which is well done here,
before brooding lower strings announce
the main thematic material, which I
feel has something of the air of a Russian
chant. The movement finds Bax firmly
in his Celtic faery and legendary modes
and Leppard seems well attuned to the
style. At 4:29 there’s a lovely cor
anglais solo and soon after there’s
some equally good work from the solo
horn. I like the way that Leppard keeps
a firm hand on the tiller while giving
full value to the pronounced poetic
vein of the music.
The finale has energy
and dash, and so does Leppard’s reading
of it. Robert Layton, who contributes
an excellent note, draws a parallel
with the ‘Uranus’ movement from Holst’s
‘Planets’ Suite, a most persuasive
comparison. In this performance sharp,
well-pointed accents propel the music
forward very positively. Between 4:05
and 6:33 a slow interlude arrests the
pace of the music. To my ears Leppard
invests this section with an appropriate
touch of menace. Though the fast tempo
reasserts itself Bax is a little slow
to build up a head of speed. However,
a huge climax is achieved at 7:25, which
is given full value by Leppard and his
players – and by the engineers. The
slow, grave epilogue unfolds beautifully
(from 8:25) until the LPO horns ornament
richly the final peroration – a sumptuous
moment. Thus a splendid performance
comes to a ripe close. Hearing it again
– I haven’t been able to play the LP
for years – reminded me that it was
Leppard who had ensured that the Fifth
became, along with the Third, my favourite
Bax symphony.
Myer Fredman (b. 1932)
made several important contributions
to the Lyrita catalogue of which this
Bax Second is one. It’s worth saying
at the outset that once again, as with
the Fifth, our enjoyment of this performance
is enhanced by the excellent note, this
time by Lewis Foreman.
As Foreman writes,
the first movement introduction is "heavy
with impending catastrophe". The music
is pregnant with meaning and Fredman
lays it out superbly. When it arrives
(3:33) the allegro molto is a
much-needed release of tension. The
music now is dynamic and turbulent and
Fredman keeps it at boiling point. Eventually
Bax goes off into one of his slow by-ways
but Fredman is just as adept as was
Leppard at keeping the sense of momentum.
The wild dance resumes at 11:00 and
for a few measures I thought the music
was reminiscent of the Sacrificial Dance
in Le Sacre du Printemps.
At the start of the
slow movement there’s more than a whiff
of Holst in the quiet wind ostinati
and the slow-moving string lines. The
music is predominantly lyrical. I’d
describe the lyricism as "lukewarm"
but I don’t use that term pejoratively;
what I mean is that the music has warmth
but also the occasional chill, just
to keep the listener honest. The subdued,
brief coda is most affecting.
The main body of the
third movement is an allegro, bearing
the description feroce. Fredman
gives this music visceral bite. However,
this mood is not sustained. At times
there is a relaxation in both volume
and surface tension. It’s enormously
to Fredman’s credit that he keeps a
tight grip on proceedings in these passages.
The climax, when it arrives (6:31),
is shattering in its power with the
organ adding immeasurably to the potency
of the scoring. After that Fredman negotiates
the wind down to the closing epilogue
with great skill. In his note Lewis
Foreman perceptively looks forward to
the last movement of the Vaughan Williams
Sixth.
This is a superb performance
and, once again, the engineers have
captured it, as they did the Fifth,
in magnificent analogue sound.
Since these two recordings
first appeared – on separate LPs, of
course – we’ve had fine recordings of
both of these symphonies by Bryden Thompson,
David Lloyd-Jones and, of course, by
the late and much-lamented Vernon Handley.
All of those have their great merits.
However the two performances on this
CD should both have a place of honour
in any Bax collection.
John Quinn
See also reviews
by Rob
Barnett, Brian
Wilson and Ian
Lace
MusicWeb Arnold
Bax pages
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Myer Fredman
(2); Raymond Leppard* (5) 
