Arnold Bax's Between Dusk and Dawn is more properly called From Dusk till Dawn and is occasionally referred to as From Twelve to Three, the ballet's working title. The confusion exists in part because the score went missing not long after its first performances, turning up again only in 1981.

Bax composed From Dusk till Dawn for Mrs. Christopher Lowther, a dancer who commissioned numerous works from several composers during the First World War. In 1917, she asked Bax to provide a piece for a charity matinee, at the Palace Theater, that took place in December of the same year under the direction of Norman O'Neill. Bax completed his score by June. The action revolves around Chelsea, the Clown, and the Dancer, porcelain figurines that come to life through the energy of the evening Wind and proceed to engage in love games throughout the night. The entire ballet lasts only about 20 minutes and has not been revived. The Prelude, however, was directed by Adrian Boult a year after the premiere, and the entire score received a concert performance in 1982.

In From Dusk till Dawn, Bax calls for a smaller wind section than usual, requiring only two flutes with piccolo, one oboe, two clarinets, and two bassoons. The rest of the orchestra is typical and includes four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, harp percussion, and strings. To this Bax adds a wind machine.

Into From Dusk till Dawn Bax incorporated sections from an abandoned piece he described as "a little Russian fairy tale in action and dance" that was to carry the title, Tamara and was composed in 1911. A section from the Prelude of Tamara became the "Gay and finely" dance in From Dusk till Dawn, while the "Buffoon's Dance" in Tamara also became part of the later ballet.

A Prelude entitled "Summer Night at the Window" opens From Dusk till Dawn, creating an ethereal atmosphere. Bax's later predilection for writing simultaneously sounding melodies is foreshadowed in the several solo violins intertwining over the rest of the orchestra, as augmented and diminished chords flavor the score. Ensuing numbers, such as "The Wind Dances in the Garden," "The Dancer and the Clown Dance Together," "The Wind Dances Through the Room," "The Flowers Dance Again," and "Dawn" juxtapose and intermingle themes representing the various characters in the dramatic action as jealousy mounts between the Clown and the Dancer and the Wind lashes out at Chelsea. Near the end the music calms and we hear a plaintive oboe melody, drawn from the "Buffoon's Dance" of the unfinished Tamara. Russian in character, it expresses a lament for the stricken Chelsea.

© All Music Guide