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Bax
A Composer and his Times
Lewis Foreman

Lewis Foreman's classic biography of the composer Arnold Bax [1883-1953] was first published in 1983. Documenting the life and times of a remarkable figure whose life touched a wide circle in England and Ireland, it was notable for having many of Bax's friends and contemporaries as sources, most of whom have since died. It also informed the remarkable revival of Bax's music and reputation which has taken place over the last twenty years.

Now completely revised in the light of much new material including the huge archive of the pianist Harriet Cohen, Bax's mistress, which has only just become available for research, it is a notable portrait of a unique musical milieu. Bax's extensive musical output is now comprehensively recorded and widely known and here all the music is discussed from first hand acquaintance with all the revivals and recordings. This is the essential handbook to Bax and his period.

LEWIS FOREMAN is a freelance author and advisor to record companies.

 

DETAILS

25 b/w illustrations
616 pages
Size: 23.4 x 15.6 cm
10 digit ISBN: 1843832097
13 digit ISBN: 9781843832096
Binding: Hardback
First published: 25/Jan/2007
Last printed: 26/Jul/2007
Price: 55.00 USD / 29.95 GBP
Imprint: Boydell Press
Subject: Music

BIC class: AVH

STATUS: Available
Details updated on 08/05/2008

Contents
1   1883-1900: The Backround
2   1900-1905: The Royal Academy of Music
3   1905-1909: Many Influences
4   1909-1910: Ireland and Russia
5   1910-1911: Marriage
6   1912-1914: Rathgar and London
7   1914-1916: The Great War
8   1916-1918: Harriet Cohen
9   1918-1920: Peace and Success
10   1921-1923: Triumph
11   1924-1925: Crisis
12   1926-1928: New Directions
13   1928-1929: Dreams and Reality
14   1930-1932: Going Northern
15   1933-1936: Past Fifty
16   1937-1939: `I can't grow up'
17   1939-1945: The Second World War: Storrington
18   1945-1953: Last Years
19   After 1953: Decline and Revival
20   Appendix A: Dermot O'Byrne
21   Appendix B: King Kojata
22   Appendix C: The Happy Forest by Herbert Farjeon
23   Appendix D: Bax's Symphonies at the Proms
24   Appendix E: Felix Aprahamian's Foreward to the First Edition [1982]

Reviews
[Foreman's] big Bax biography...is surely his central achievement...The book established itself at the outset as the standard work on one of the most important and least understood British composers of his time...The new edition makes [it] more indispensable than ever. BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE [Calum MacDonald]
Baxians everywhere owe Lewis Foreman a profound debt of gratitude and newcomers can rest assured that he is an absorbing and painstaking biographer...mandatory reading. GRAMOPHONE [Andrew Achenbach]
A more wide-ranging study of Bax and his work than ever before...This book is a tour de force and the fitting culmination of a lifetime's dedicated research. CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE [Julian Haylock]
One of the great biographies of an English composer just got even better. May it snare still more converts to this betwitching composer. CLASSICAL MUSIC
For its contribution to the ongoing documentation of an extraordinary period of British musical creativity it is invaluable. BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWS
Foreman's latest effort is essential reading for anyone with an interest in Bax. JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF MUSICOLOGY IN IRELAND
Highly recommended. CHOICE


 

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