Jaren Hinckley

Composer / Clarinetist

I’m Listening to Everything Composed by Arnold Bax

November 3, 2013

 

I’m Listening to Everything Composed by Arnold Bax (1883-1953)

 

I decided to go with a theme this month.  The theme?  November.  So today I’ll look at a piece that has “November” in the title AND it just so happens that the composer, Arnold Bax, was born on November 8, 1883!  Happy birthweek, Bax!

 

TITLE: November Woods

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE: This is a highly programmatic tone poem; in other words, it is intended to evoke specific imagery in the minds of the listeners.  In this case, I can easily sit back and listen to this piece and see various images I associate with November—leaves covering the ground, scarves and gloves, increasingly inclement weather, etc.  Do yourself a favor and sit back in a comfortable chair, click on the link below, close your eyes and imagine your fondest memories of November as you listen.

 

HIGHLIGHT:  For me it’s the opening few notes, mainly because it is so instantly evocative, so immediately intriguing.  Also, as an FYI to those of you out there who are unfamiliar with tone poems, I think you’ll see almost instantly how much modern-day film composers owe to the late Romantic/early Modern-era composers of tone poems.

 

Enjoy!  Here’s the link:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abuEGBa-C4Y

 

WHAT’S LEFT TO LISTEN TO BY BAX?:  A ton. But, based on this piece, I’m certainly going to try!

 

ALSO LISTENED TO THIS WEEK?:

 

“November” by Ib Nørholm (b. 1931) – a short choral work on the edge of dissonance

“November 1962” by Alfred Janson (b. 1937) – a piano composition with almost constant dissonance.  I’m assuming, because the composer is Norwegian, that the piece was inspired by a coal-mining disaster in which 21 people were killed, resulting in the Norwegian government stepping down.  I suppose it could have been inspired by the assassination of JFK, but that seems a tad less likely.