"Tintagel", by Arnold Bax (1883-1953)

[@billgrange3189]

It was hearing Tintagel played on the radio very many years ago that turned me on to Bax. I think this is one of the all-time greatest musical works inspired by the sea. Bax's seven monumental symphonies are also wonderful and deserve much more hearing than they get. I was greatly annoyed that a former organiser of the BBC Proms, obviously not a Bax fan, refused to host his music and said many years ago that 'you can empty a hall by playing Bax'. How stupidly wrong he was!

[@johnstillmank3242]

I agree completely. Bax was a genius. I was listening to the radio in my car several years ago and the music was so beautiful I actually pulled over to call the radio station to find out what it was (I had never done that before and I haven't since), and that's how I discovered him. It was Russian Suite I: Gopak. Such beautiful music by brilliant composer!

[@airbedane]

What twit was that!

[@martind349]

It is difficult to impose on peoples' fear, because music, being a scientifical art, will get it right

[@billgrange3189]

@@airbedane Nicholas Kenyon

[@larsdybvad4789]

Thank you very much! Masterclass! One of my favorite English tone pictures. I bought this wonderful music on vinyl about 35 years ago. I must hear it frequently! Important music - to me 💜

[@nealjolly1219]

I live in Tintagel. Walk the cliffs between Boscastle and trebarwith strand regularly. The awsome variation in the mood of the sea and the light on the cliffs at different times of year and day are well captured here. And Tintagel is very busy. People chasing the spurious Arthurian legend. But the music speaks to me of the natural grandure rather than the human stories woven into the landscape.

[@ScotPeacock]

Neal Jolly I used to live in Little Petherick, between Padstow & Wadebridge. I loved the cliff walk between Tintagel and Boscastle. I felt Tintagel to be a bit sad. As you say, lots of failed seekers. However, the natural power and beauty was undeniable. That’s what the music speaks to me.

[@danielturner6307]

Beautiful piece of music for a beautiful part of the country and the last piece of music played at my dad's funeral.

[@MrXtuba]

It's really weird to know there was music like this back in 1919. Truly amazing! Much different than other composers of that era.

[@MickAneworderfan]

Well, let's say it brings forward the innovations of impressionists like Debussy, Ravel and Respighi

[@chrishaynes3196]

A really lucky moment - Several years ago, I was idling past Streatham library (SE London) and saw a blue plaque on the wall with Arnold Bax written, so I returned to the library and requested his CDs. I simply had the time then to do so... Now, the other day I included it in my assembly, here in Kenya. What great music this is, to share and indulge!

[@Pedrooko]

Greetings to Kenya!

[@maximiliangeier9637]

Very very beautiful, I'm really in love with it! Amazing composer, and it's such a shame that his works are so less played in Germany, where I'm from. Hehe.

[@Warp75]

What a stunning piece & makes me want to vacate London immediately.

[@davidfogarty2220]

Yes!!

[@ceciliasosa620]

I love Bax s músic I Love Kings Arthur leyends. Thanks, from Argentina

[@GarethWonfor]

Wonderful work - deserves to be much better known than it is.

[@ScotPeacock]

HI Gareth, Yes, I totally agree :-)

[@davidfogarty2220]

A stunning tone poem by Arnie. I love the way the brass comes thundering in. For anyone who hasn't already heard it, then I can thoroughly recommend Frank Bridge's The Sea. Bridge was a contemporary of AB and also like him, criminally underrated.

[@donaldcramer2484]

Such a lovely meditation on nature. The composition is technically challenging, but the result is simple beauty.

[@ScotPeacock]

+Donald Cramer It is wonderful; and yes, I agree with you about the meditation on nature, particularly about its many moods and its awesome power.

[@larsdybvad4789]

Tintagel - a true musical favorit of mine - in all music, for 40 years now. l bought it on vinyl in 1983. "English tone Pictures" from EMI. Masterclass. 💜

[@brakespear]

a wonderful piece of music, really carries you away.

[@davidtatro7457]

One of my favorite English tone poems!

[@matttaylor1810]

The first two minutes nearly brought me to tears, when listening live to the Halle

[@octavianrofrano3351]

What a wonderful piece. Bax showed me Tintagel long before I was able to visit it -- and it is just as he described it... Thank you for posting this sublime work.

[@ScotPeacock]

I lived just a few miles along the coast from there and he absolutely nailed it!

[@ericnk58]

I'm a Bax fanatic and this rendering of Tintagel, both musically and with these images, is stunning. My deepest thanks.

[@djfull4442]

Sometimes I'm glad art lives longer than people.

[@hank1519]

@Frederick Delius Legacy - And Far Beyond With all the format changes over 400 years, you probably would lose access to much art :)

[@alejandroherreradelaparra3977]

So powerfull... great work. Thumbs up. Hats off...

[@TheSunlitLeaf]

A book called King Arthur's Britain brought me here and I'm glad it did

[@rabbit-munch-carrots]

So glad to have found this treasure!

[@ScotPeacock]

I lived in Cornwall for 8yrs, two of them in Little Petherick, just near Padstow. I returned to Scotland in 2000, but I still miss Cornwall :-)

[@soizicduvignoul1547]

wonderful images of home…….wonderful piece……close your eyes and you're there

[@slothropgr]

This is what I call precise timing--I was just looking for this piece, preferably a good recording and preferably in single-file, and VOILA! Been to Tintagel in Cornwall and it is one impresive and atmospheric ruin, reeks of medieval splendors and battles. I can well believe that Arthur was born there--if he was born anywhere. Bax captures it perfectly, Lloyd-Jones captures Bax, and you've captured the lot. Ta muchly!

[@mikeemerson9582]

Perfect tone poem.

[@RufusOfCornwall]

One of my favourite pieces of symphonic music...

[@ScotPeacock]

Yes :-) The cliffs of North Cornwall are a perfect setting for these epic legends and, of course, this epic music.

[@alexandrecosta2708]

A remarkable piece. Noble, historic, a tonal succession of serene waves, excluding needless dramaticisms, and (am I wrong?) no use of major popular songs or themes as background. As orchestration, there are coloured fingertips of Debussy or even Ravel, ie late impressionism school, I believe. Thank for sharing. Musical greetings from Portugal.

[@AthSamaras]

Thanks dear "Scot Peacock" for the uploading. Fanrastic music, and the pictures are matching perfectly with the music.

[@ScotPeacock]

Thanks, Ath. You are most welcome :-)

[@davidhutchison5087]

An excellent rendition of a wonderful work.

[@ScotPeacock]

I know what you mean. I left Cornwall to return to Scotland for the Millennium. I haven't been back since, but the memory is always with me. I lived near Padstow and there was something really special about the north coast.

[@ScotPeacock]

I hear you. The final moments feel like that something utterly stupendous has been achieved: a victory, an ascension. It has a real feeling of resolution, of coming to rest, despite the ear-shattering volume :-)

[@ramabhardwaj2363]

Lovely gentle I enjoyed listening .

[@octaviochoy8635]

terrific music

[@awalkingman83]

Thank you for putting this up Scot. (sound is ok. To just listen is a real treat these days).

[@ScotPeacock]

Thank you. You are very welcome. I uploaded it at the best quality available at the time. Unfortunately, You Tube processes the sound so it's not as good as, say, a first generation mp3 and nowhere near as good as a lossless file. On the original CD on good kit, it sounds awesome.

[@ScotPeacock]

You're welcome :-) I love this recording. It builds in size, power and feeling. Beautiful.

[@ScotPeacock]

You can hear in the music that Bax was in love with the land and the Atlantic.

[@ScotPeacock]

You're welcome, Kenneth. I love it too. I used to live in Padstow, just down the coast from Tintagel. Bax nailed it :-)

[@ScotPeacock]

You're welcome, Kenneth. I heard this live a couple of years ago. Very powerful!

[@271250cl]

A very nice presentation - the sequence of images really enhance Bax's fine score. Thanks

[@Pedrooko]

Holy shit. Romantic explosion!

[@liondesdunes1999]

Great orchestral work.When Arthur meet Tristan!!!

[@Mersenne100]

Thanks for this. I love this piece.

[@grrammmpaspatula5258]

A beautiful lively piece, thanks. Personally I’m most in love with “In the Faery Hills” and “The Garden of Fand.”

[@mclarsj]

November Woods is also magical!

[@ScotPeacock]

Hey there, so glad you enjoyed it. In my opinion, the top two recordings of Tintagel are by David Lloyd-Jones with the RSNO and Vernon Handley with the BBC Philharmonic. I think the RSNO have the edge in terms of power and thrills, but Handley gets it in the softer moments and the Chandos recording is marginally better than the RSNO's Naxos recording. I'm also biased because I'm Scottish and go to hear the RSNO perform regularly :-) Yes, I loved Tintagel, too. I lived in Cornwall for 8yrs!

[@simonfeet1]

I’m a fan of the Barbirolli recording, such passion.

[@ScotPeacock]

Isn't it great. It really captures the tumult of the waters around the British Isles.

[@TheFoward68]

Amazing!

[@lelepat]

Charming but always forgotten piece

[@Baxfraud]

Never forgotten and best loved by his family! Even at 23, I will sit here and listen to his compositions all evening.

[@ScotPeacock]

+Leon Lam I heard it once in a concert programme in Glasgow. Not easily forgotten. It has such an impact, live. Amazing how it isn't better known.

[@wardropper]

"Charming" really understates Tintagel. It is a magical, powerful, magnificent piece. There, I fixed it for you.

[@adolfodorantes4791]

Magnificent and evocativ.

[@ScotPeacock]

Very evocative!

[@wardropper]

There's a very good mono recording from 1954 with Boult and the LPO. It's hi-fidelity sound, and the latest reissues do a very good job of unobtrusively bringing the recording very near to modern standards. It was DECCA originally, but I can't remember what the label is now. I added a small amount of reverb to a copy I made, and it ended up sounding very close to a stereo recording. I've known this performance for many decades, and it's still my favourite. Boult knew where the magic lay in this score.

[@JamesVaughan]

Gorgeous.

[@ScotPeacock]

Absolutely! I heard this live a few years ago and although I knew this piece on record I wasn't prepared for its impact, live!

[@MrPKenneally]

Scot Peacock very jealous

[@keiththomas795]

Tintagel a mini masterpiece!

[@misstreebird]

Tintagel is a symphonic poem composed by Arnold Bax in 1919; it is perhaps his best-known orchestral work. Bax had visited Tintagel Castle during the summer of 1917, accompanied by pianist Harriet Cohen, with whom he was carrying on an affair at the time; he dedicated the work to her. He composed two poems on the theme, and the work is, to a certain extent, a sonic illustration of these. According to Bax, the music is meant to depict a castle perched high on the rocks, battered on a sunny summer day by the Atlantic Ocean. A certain Celtic flavour is apparent in the music; this provides the basis for one of the two themes in the work, meant to recall King Arthur and his connection to the castle, and which quotes a motif from Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde;[1] the other theme depicts the sea. The piece contains three sections. The first and last sections are somewhat grandiloquent, the first presenting the two main themes and the third a varied reprise:. in between these, there is a “development”. A typical performance of Tintagel lasts around fifteen minutes. Tintagel was premiered in Bournemouth on 20 October 1921.

[@ScotPeacock]

Thanks for the info. I used to live near Tintagel and I think Bax nailed it - he got the feeling just right. Although, there is a rumour that whilst he was in Cornwall there was a mysterious young woman on the scene and that the fervour in this work has been partially attributed to this affair. What do you think? It's speculation.

[@misstreebird]

Yes. amusing corallary, music communicates, in commune with the muse

[@williambryk7340]

The young woman was Harriet Cohen, a brilliant pianist of extraordinary beauty, with whom Bax fell in love and for whom he left his wife and children. No wonder the music is extraordinary.

[@tonewall1]

man gotta do what a man gotta do....and it is as gorgeous as she probably was.....

[@williambryk7340]

Harriet Cohen was a brilliant pianist, an extremely beautiful woman, and carried on her affair with Bax for some forty years. Like most performers, she was frequently photographed, and around 1930 posed for a publicity shot in a gown that left little to the imagination. George Bernard Shaw, one of her many admirers, wrote to Cohen about looking at her photograph that "Men have been divorced for less." Complicated, smart, principled, and a muse to a great and underrated composer.

[@benlindsay6012]

Powerful stuff!

[@lazer58]

I adore this, very atmospheric, ethereal. The thematic changes and how he orchestrates reminds me of Richard Strauss.

[@ScotPeacock]

+lazer58 Yes, I think there's definitely some Strauss-like tone painting in there. Bax says he was very inspired by Sibelius, particularly his 5th Symphony.

[@remixuereb]

No it reminds me so much Claude Debussy in "La mer" .

[@paullewis2413]

@@remixuereb Absolutely, the opening is very reminiscent of La Mer.

[@Raelspark]

This inspires film music.

[@akumar7366]

Beautiful x

[@jamescasarella8463]

Magnificent!

[@jordanjames3937]

Laphroig 10 and a bit of Bax's work is a good Wednesday night

[@daphneanson9587]

Bax's greatest compositions, apart from Tintagel, are his remarkable Harp Quintet- a true little-known masterpiece- and the last movement of his 7th Symphony.

[@ScotPeacock]

Absolutely! In 3D widescreen :-)

[@HenryOrientJnr]

Love this, especially the quiet theme starting around 2:35.

[@ScotPeacock]

HenryOrientJnr Yes, it's a very wide-open, Romantic sea-faring theme :-) Very descriptive!

[@henrygingercat]

The first 5 minutes are great not least when the horns leap out at 1'20". Then the inspiration sadly evaporates.

[@darrenparse8116]

Sublime, cinematic, suberb!

[@ScotPeacock]

All of the above :-) Thank you. I totally agree.

[@TheVisualMusicShow]

A marvelous reading. Really appreciate the clarity and legibility of the orchestral texture and a grand, nobility in this rendition as though Nature is the narrator and When man, King Arthur or Tristan & Isolde, are invoked, a tangible, yet tempered emotion filtered through the ages, is evoked through this narrative, as though again from a distance and as being part of nature. Quite beautiful. Lloyd-Jones is able to resist exaggerating or getting carried away with the sentiments and it works well. I far prefer the recorded sound to, say his 5th Symphony recording which isn't as homogenous and natural.

[@ScotPeacock]

That's quite a detailed reaction. Thank you. I was present at some of these recordings and helped the team position the microphones, achieving a constant balance as the temperature and humidity changed in the venue throughout the days of recording. The RSNO are a great orchestra. They have real power when they need it.

[@Cool2BCeltic]

Makes me think of the incidental music in the 1964 BBC series The Great War.

[@ScotPeacock]

Yes, Bax is shamefully neglected. He needs some TLC I think.

[@ScotPeacock]

@Raymond Deane :-) I hear you. We have a three week long festival up here called Celtic Connections. Fiddles and bodhrans are only a fraction of it!

[@ScotPeacock]

@Mike Emerson It really captures the swell and majesty of the sea, as well as the epic , romantic heart of your best adventure stories :-)

[@josealexandre6632]

Blame it on me but if as much as I heard and like so much all Bax orchestral pieces, for whatever reason Tintagel always slipped through my hands. And now, finally here I am... and maybe because I read so much enthusiastic comments, I exceeded my expectation. Fine, grandiose, you may feel the Round Table horns, the horses teepetting to battle, the slipping out the sword from the rock, Merlin and his magic interventions, but...something is missing. A dialogue with nature instead? Hmm, we have at least 2 or 3 pieces of good New Age pieces dealing with the same rocky- magic-sea scenarios, with the Guenevre robe floating against the breezes, and so forth. Yes, a good Symphonic Poem etc but for instance, look to Spring Fire... Clearly superior.

[@ScotPeacock]

I haven't heard Boult's second reading but I'll look it out. By the sounds of things he loved to finish it with a final mighty crash of waves :-)

[@ScotPeacock]

@Lion desDunes Ha ha, that's a great alternative title. Sums it all up :-)

[@ScotPeacock]

@slothropgr Ha ha. I knew there had to be some celtic blood in you to respond so deeply to this piece of music. We can be expressed in many ways - it's not all fiddlin' Strip the Willows or Eightsome Reels. Mind you, I love a good ceilidh, now and then :-D Where was your granddad from? I'm originally from Arbroath, a fishing town on the north east coast, between Dundee and Aberdeen. We have lower temperatures than Glasgow, but much more sun and far less rain!

[@expatmartin]

The late Myer Fredman I recorded his first two symphonies en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myer_Fredman A beautiful composition thank you for posting it.

[@ScotPeacock]

+expatmartin You are most welcome :-)

[@benbisley]

It's astonishing to think that he was neglected for some time after his death.

[@ScotPeacock]

Dream of Olwyn? I'll look out for that. Thanks for the recommendation :-) What other pieces would you recommend? Are you from Cornwall?

[@tonylogan4092]

The Garden of Fand is longer and better than this Bax composition. Check it out.

[@soizicduvignoul1547]

It's funny, in Bax's day, the area around tintagel was very busy….very noisey…not like it is today…..very industrious…Glebe just round the corner Dunder hole a little further, near the youth hostel. In fact that was the office for the quary ….further on is Lanterdan quary near trabarwith strand....quarries all round….right on the cliff edges as it was easy to load the ships that way…with slate…..I used to spend most of my teen years out on those cliffs exploring

[@soizicduvignoul1547]

indeed yes, i do….i live to play

[@ScotPeacock]

I suppose it's whatever you want it to be. That's the beauty of music. Bax, fired up by his imagination, was probably seeing ancient Celtic heroes atop spray-speckled cliffs. Regarding the music itself, you're right, it isn't of the Celtic tradition. But I suppose a couple of fiddles and a bodhran wouldn't have captured the epic vision Bax had in mind :-)

[@martind349]

The rich kids in the arts are valuable too because they demand what they need

[@soizicduvignoul1547]

i recomend the dream of olwyn….from a film made in 47….it wasfilmed at trabarwith strand….not far away…..again a beeeeeeaaaaautiful piece….i cant remember the name if the film….something like let me live….something like that….hope you find it :-)

[@wardropper]

While I Live

[@robertfrankgill5962]

The Dream of Olwen While I live - correct. Music by Charles Williams.

[@GuillermoValleCosmos]

What's the painting at the end?

[@ScotPeacock]

+Guillermo Valle It's called "Tintagel Coast, Cornwall, England"by William Trost Richards :-)

[@ScotPeacock]

+Guillermo Valle www.nationalacademy.org/william-trost-richards-visions-of-land-and-sea/

[@merriman53]

Mmm, yes, but I did write (twice!) "whatever that means" - I think it doesn't necessarily mean bodhráns and fiddles.

[@soizicduvignoul1547]

not originaly…im from hampstead in london….the family moved to tintagel in '81….a week before charles and dianna married….since leaving school ive lived all over the place….but i seem to always come back here

[@ScotPeacock]

Hi Soizic, I presume from your profile pic that you play the violin, yes?

[@slothropgr]

@1970SWP Och aye! Not to stray from the music, laddie, but me grand was a Scot Catholic frae the Heelands, Glaswegian by birth but you'd never get him to admit to it (bit of a snob), though in his cups and wi' a skinful of Loch Dhub he'd frequently break into "I belong tae Glasgee, dear ol' Glasgee toon!" Yeah, I prefer the RSNO recorded by Chandos but I like their Naxos stuff too--and the price. I'll take the Beeb in a pinch. Scots wa hae!

[@jamesbarlow6423]

n.b. Enthuiasm of the notes here notwithstanding, "Bax" is an Anglo-Saxon name, not a Celtic one.

[@daphneanson9587]

This is not that far off from being the greatest piece of music ever written- if only the drab middle sections were as good as the opening and ending!

[@ednguyen3822]

I can clearly see how John Williams totally plagiarized...uh, was inspired by... Tintagel.

[@airbedane]

To Scottie

[@andrewarnell2088]

knock out

[@soizicduvignoul1547]

totaly….

[@merriman53]

Except, of course, that there's nothing "Celtic" (whatever that means) about this music, which is essentially Franco/Germanic (whatever that means)...

[@jimmorgan5612]

too slow

[@ScotPeacock]

Jim Morgan I’ve only heard this one and Vernon Handley’s, which was roughly similar speed. Can you recommend a faster recording? I’d be interested to hear it.

[@wardropper]

Too slow for whom? People walk at different speeds, breathe at different speeds and think at different speeds. As long as the performance is faithful to the score, you can get used to most speeds. Some otherwise good (accurate and musical) performances may certainly lack a convincing sense of direction, and that can make them seem too slow. Perhaps that is what you are experiencing here. But the ocean swell around Tintagel takes its time, and it doesn't have a train to catch.

[@AnthonyLeighDunstan]

The brass are out of tune - particularly trumpets and trombones - not the best from a reputable orchestra.

[@ScotPeacock]

Any particular bit? I'll have a listen.

[@mrbigarms]

I doubt anything is out of tune here, there are dissonant chords composed into the score by the composer for effect.

[@wardropper]

Indeed. The SNO is a first-rate orchestra.