Symphony No. 7 (Bax)
Encyclopedia
The Symphony No. 7 in A flat major by Arnold Bax
was completed in 1939 and dedicated to The People of America. The work received its first performance in New York in 1940 under the baton of Sir Adrian Boult.
It is scored piccolo
, three flute
s, two oboe
s, English horn, three clarinet
s, bass clarinet
, two bassoon
s, double bassoon, four horns, three trumpet
s, three trombone
s, tuba
, bass drum
, tenor drum
, snare drum
, tambourine
, cymbal
s, gong
, triangle
, glockenspiel
, harp
and string
s.
It is in three movements:
The movement opens with a melodic motive from the clarinets, and the slower, second main motive is introduced almost immediately after. These two motives form a basis for the first subject, which has a very haunting mood, almost looking back on the opening of the fifth symphony. The lyrical second subject is achingly tender, but does shows signs of optimism, particularly when it recapitulates at the end of the movement.
The second movement is much more serene, almost a relief after the experience of the stormy opening movement. It is in a three part form, alike a one movement symphony, and the mood is somewhat dignified. It closes peacefully to set up the finale.
The last movement is a theme and variations, something which Bax has not attempted before, and he makes good work of the gorgeous theme which is introduced after quite a blustery introduction, which is used for the variations of the main theme. It closes with Bax's shortest epilogue, almost acting as an end to an extraordinary cycle of symphonies, as if to say "goodbye".
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 1939 and dedicated to The People of America. The work received its first performance in New York in 1940 under the baton of Sir Adrian Boult.
It is scored piccolo
Piccolo
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, 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, four 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...
, 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...
, tenor drum
Tenor drum
A tenor drum is a cylindrical drum that is higher pitched than a bass drum.In a symphony orchestra's percussion section, a tenor drum is a low-pitched drum, similar in size to a field snare, but without snares and played with soft mallets or hard sticks. Under various names, the drum has been used...
, 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....
, triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, 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...
, 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 string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s.
It is in three movements:
- Allegro - Poco largemente - Tempo I
- Lento - Piu mosso. In Legendary Mood - Tempo I
- Theme and Variations: Allegro - Andante - Tempo I - Epilogue (Sereno)
The movement opens with a melodic motive from the clarinets, and the slower, second main motive is introduced almost immediately after. These two motives form a basis for the first subject, which has a very haunting mood, almost looking back on the opening of the fifth symphony. The lyrical second subject is achingly tender, but does shows signs of optimism, particularly when it recapitulates at the end of the movement.
The second movement is much more serene, almost a relief after the experience of the stormy opening movement. It is in a three part form, alike a one movement symphony, and the mood is somewhat dignified. It closes peacefully to set up the finale.
The last movement is a theme and variations, something which Bax has not attempted before, and he makes good work of the gorgeous theme which is introduced after quite a blustery introduction, which is used for the variations of the main theme. It closes with Bax's shortest epilogue, almost acting as an end to an extraordinary cycle of symphonies, as if to say "goodbye".