Arnold Bax and the Poetry of Tintagel
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ARNOLD BAX AND THE POETRY OF TINTAGEL A Dissertation submitted to the College of Fine Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by William B. Hannam December, 2008 HANNAM, WILLIAM B., PH.D., DECEMBER, 2008 MUSIC ARNOLD BAX AND THE POETRY OF TINTAGEL (213PP.) Director of Dissertation: Theodore J. Albrecht The latter part of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries saw what is commonly accepted as a resurgence in music from the British Isles, but to this day, most of the actual music of this resurgence remains unknown to all but the most knowledgeable of art music aficionados. Among the composers active during this period, one of the most heralded in his day but little recognized now is Sir Arnold Bax (1883 – 1953). To the aforementioned aficionados, he is known for several substantial yet infrequently performed contributions to the symphonic repertoire, among them the tone poem Tintagel. Known in England as a composer, Bax carried on a separate life as a writer of poetry and drama in Ireland, working under the name Dermot O’Byrne. At the time of composition of the tone poem, Bax also wrote a four- stanza verse poem titled “Tintagel Castle.” Both were written for and dedicated to the pianist Harriet Cohen, with whom he was having an affair. The focus of this dissertation is an extensive look at the circumstances surrounding the composition of Tintagel, examining factors of development in Bax’s compositional style, his personal life including the affair with Harriet Cohen, and the influence of Yeats and Irish culture on Bax’s writings as Dermot O’Byrne. Using historical information drawn from biographical and periodical sources, in addition to musical analysis, and tools of comparative arts, I have developed comparisons between the tone poem and the poem, and examined 1 2 the differences in mood and scope between these two works. The final section of this dissertation establishes historical context for Bax’s Tintagel and his work in general within the genre of the symphonic poem and the realm of late- romantic/early twentieth century British music, presenting both composer and composition in a stronger light. Dissertation written by William B. Hannam B.M., Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, 1983 M.M., Ohio University, 1995 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2008 Approved by , Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee , Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee , , Accepted by , Director, School of Music , Dean, College of the Arts ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................... v CHAPTER I. BAX: HISTORY AND CHARACTER ...................................................... 1 II. TINTAGEL: HISTORY AND ANALYSIS ................................................ 55 III. THE POEM “TINTAGEL CASTLE” ...................................................... 90 IV. TINTAGEL IN CONTEXT ................................................................. 127 The Tone Poem in Context ...................................................... 128 British Composers in Context ................................................. 152 V. CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................. 173 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................ 207 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Arnold Bax c. 1945 .............................................................................. vi 2. The ruins of the castle at Tintagel spanning the shore, the isthmus, and the shore-side edge of the island .................................................. 54 3. Arnold Bax and Harriet Cohen, c. 1917 ............................................... 89 4. Two of Turner’s paintings titled “Tintagel Castle, Cornwall 1815” depicting both the dramatic and the more commonplace views of the site............................................................................................. 126 5. The headstone, designed by Seamus Murphy RHA, over the grave of Arnold Bax ................................................................................... 172 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the following people for their help as I worked on this dissertation. First and foremost must be my academic advisor and mentor, Dr. Theodore Albrecht, without whom I would not be a musicologist today. I also received great advice, direction, and encouragement from Dr. Kazadi wa Mukuna, Dr. Frank Wiley, and Dr. Lawrence Starzyk. I should also thank Mr. Richard Adams at the online Bax Website, and Mr. Graham Parlett, as both provided me with material and advice, and Mr. Thomas Elneas, whose recent research opened doors for me to explore, and whose friendship was most appreciated. Thanks to Bill and Sherry Miller for their constant encouragement and financial support. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Threlford and Barbara Hannam, for believing in me. v Photo courtesy of The Sir Arnold Bax Website (http://musicweb.uk.net/bax/index.html). Figure 1. Arnold Bax c. 1945 vi 1 CHAPTER I BAX: HISTORY AND CHARACTER The latter part of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries saw what is commonly accepted as a resurgence in music from Great Britain and Ireland. This rebirth of the creative spirit among the British and the Irish is first recognized in the work of Edward Elgar (1857–1934), though it should in large part be credited to the efforts and teaching of C. Hubert H. Parry (1848–1918), Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924), and Alexander C. Mackenzie (1847–1935). From these three men, we can map much of the direction of the resurgence, for it was their students who proved Elgar not an anomaly and who brought new and original British music from the Isles to the European Continent, as well as to America. One of the most notable of the young composers to come from that background, from a group that included Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, John Ireland, Frank Bridge, and Arthur Bliss, was Arnold Bax. Much of the musicological interest in Bax may be derived from examining the duality that seems to pervade his life. This duality takes on many forms, but is perhaps most pointedly seen in his overall acceptance and appreciation within the musical community. A conservative Romantic in the first half of the twentieth century, Bax found sympathy from some, including greats such as Elgar, Rachmaninoff, and Sibelius, but his musical aesthetic was looked down upon by the progressives of the period, and it was the progressive attitude that ruled in the time after World War II. Bax’s music was not entirely forgotten in the first decade after his death, but his principal publisher treated the works 2 with apathy, his longtime companion Harriet Cohen held certain works inaccessible to the public, and a number of officials at the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) treated his music with hostility. All of this combined to reduce the number of performances heard for a time, and it is just in the last twenty years or so that Bax is being rediscovered.1 An article by Peter J. Pirie further supports this position, as he notes the lack of recognition of musical excellence in Bax and others of his generation only a few years after the composer’s death. Based on questions asked to his Workers’ Educational Association classes, Pirie concludes that “the average English music lover has possibly heard of Britten and certainly Elgar; has never heard of Bax or Ireland; knows of Delius only as a legend; wonders if Holst wrote anything besides The Planets, and will soon have forgotten all about Vaughan Williams.”2 In another article written a decade later, Pirie looks at Bax’s lack of acceptance by the English public from a different angle. He observes that Bax opens his autobiography with “the tentative beginnings of rational self-defense,” as the composer states that, despite rumors to the contrary, he is not Irish. Pirie explains that of all the stock characters an average Englishman finds ridiculous, and therefore easy to dismiss, that of the stage Irishman is considered the worst.3 Clearly, there are factors that have worked against the recognition of this composer. On the shelf of most university libraries, one can find Lewis Foreman’s biography of the composer. Some libraries will also hold a copy of Colin Scott- Sutherland’s biography. One can also find without too much difficulty Bax’s 1 Graham Parlett, A Catalogue of the Works of Arnold Bax (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999), p. 4. 2 Peter J. Pirie, “The Odd Case of Arnold Bax,” Musical Times 102 (September 1961): p. 559. 3 Pirie, “More Than a Brazen Romantic,” Music and Musicians 19 (January 1971): p. 32. 3 autobiography, an obviously invaluable source for study of this composer. There exists now a comprehensive catalog of his works, and it is not unusual to find a new article or two dedicated to Bax study each year. Thus, one might inquire as to the need for another examination of this man and his music. Perhaps the best answer comes from Graham Parlett, who suggests that we follow Peter Evans’ train of thought. Evans asks in his book, The Music of Benjamin Britten, “How many Hummel analyses have been printed to how many of Mozart?” Parlett feels that if we substitute Bax for Hummel