Arnold Bax - Christmas Eve: Symphonic Poem (1912)
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- Опубліковано 16 січ 2025
- Christmas Eve (1912)
A symphonic poem by British composer Arnold Bax (1883-1953), which he composed while staying at Glean na Smól in County Dublin in Ireland. The work was originally premiered in 1913 as "Christmas Eve on the Mountains", but the composer revised the work and abridged the title twenty years later.
Organ: Malcolm Hicks
Conductor: Bryden Thomson
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Great to come across another piece by Bax which I have never heard previously. His orchestration was/is brilliant.
Love that sustained, sweet lyricism of Bax: the music here is, as expected, lush and colorful !!! Its chromaticism is "controlled" and results in attractive, placid, late-Romantic, Impressionist, pastoral harmony.
Have you listened to his 'Spring Fire"? Another excellent work from one of the greatest composers of all time (though not yet recognized as such. A pity.)
Jeff
Thank you for having this! The orchestra I am in is playing the US premier of this piece in Grand Rapids MI in April. :D Thanks!
Wonderful painting
From gentleness to grandeur, from the wonder and expectation of a child, to the birth of the Child Jesus our Savior, this is a very evocative work by a great composer. The counterpoint from 11:35 and the organ passage at 13:01 are wonderful.
Absolutely spellbounding piece of music . I hope I get to hear it live one day.
Such a pleasant piece during the Christmas season. And the painting fits right in.
Great addition to a playlist that doesn't reference the Top 40 Carols I am utterly earwormed out about. Been collecting such for decades now.
Totally amazing. The invention is way beyond the capability of most composers. Only Delius can match this.
Sibelius also .
And possibly Vaughan Williams
Perhaps one of the best things to get me into the spirit. Great for studying for finals to, also. Thanks for uploading!
It's perfect for Christmas 🎄
Wow!
I like the organ intro at 13.00. Strangely enough, it reminded me somewhat of a Genesis number with Tony Banks striking up a finale. Bax and Banks would have got along just fine!
And Rick Wakeman in Close to the Edge!
Very moving qualities. Bax is amazing and yet "all over the place". Such brilliant orchestration balanced against inconsistent theme development (in some of his pieces). I Understand that he wrote some film scores. Bet they were amazing. This particular piece works oh so well and would be great to hear around the holidays.
As far as I know, his only film work was for Oliver Twist, David Lean's classic, and the short documentary, Malta GC.
Especially in his symphonies. Maybe he listened to much to Sibelius who also had 'issues' with theme development. Creating a beautiful melody, but never let it come back ....
In my humble opinion Sibelius and Bax were at there best in the poems and in incidental music like November Woods (Bax) or the Tempest (Sibelius)
@@maxmerry8470 I've heard Oliver Twist recently. It made me wonder .....that if Bax had lived longer is there a chance David Lean would've asked him to eventually score Bridge On The River Kwai or even Lawrence of Arabia.
@@JesseMN1980 As for me I definitely prefer Bax Tone Poems to Symphonies....with Sibelius it's a closer call
Hello Musicanth, who painted this painting? makes me think of Tim Burtons "Nightmare before Christmas" , same colour schemes. Is it Glean na Smól? Splendid choise to combine the painting and the romantic colour collage of Bax.
greetings!
+Frank Gruintjes It's a painting of Davos by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner