Bax's music for cello takes full advantage of the instrument's less aggressive voice in his delicate and expressive writing, and the 1932 Cello Concerto is no exception. This work marks a departure from the larger-scale Wagnerian or Sibelian sound of the tone poems and symphonies for a less densely scored sound world.

The concerto is mainly notable for its orchestration: the cello's repetition of its opening thematic material is accompanied by three flutes, three violins, basses, violas and cellos divisi and a sole muted trumpet. Even in a work intended to contrast with his more monumental writing, Bax could not resist creating a rich orchestral tapestry. This contrasts with the central Nocturne movement, in which there is an extraordinary passage of solo cello accompanied by three double basses.

The Nocturne is unlike anything else in the composer's entire output. There is a chill, ethereal beauty about the solo part which at least one critic has compared to being close in spirit to Schoenberg's Gurrelieder than anything else.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.