Bax Symphony number nought at last! The piano score of Arnold Bax's Symphony in F of 1907 was completed by its composer but never orchestrated, and has long been one of the great might-have-beens of the British symphonic repertoire, along with Elgar's Third Symphony and E. J. Moeran's Second. Unlike Elgar and Moeran, Bax actually completed his symphony, and now Martin Yates has set it into full score, managing to catch the elusive, idiomatic sound of Bax's orchestra in a convincing way we never expected to hear. The glorious second movement in particular, on a similar scale to his many later tone poems, is revealed as a striking and poetic creation in which Bax finds his voice. All lovers of English music will want to get to grips with this epic, romantic score.

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Symphony in F (1907) Realised and orchestrated by Martin Yates (2013)

Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Martin Yates (conductor)

World premiere recordings

Recorded at RSNO Centre, Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow, 15-16 August 2013

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CDLX7308

“… new lease of life thanks to the ingenuity and skill of Martin Yates [Symphony].” “Yates’s orchestration of Bax’s massive work is entirely in keeping with the composer’s exuberant early strivings.” “… this profligate creation, never heard in public, has risen from the dead, and can be weighed, analysed, and savoured.” Geoff Brown, BBC Music Magazine