Bax first heard Sibelius' Tapiola in 1928 and this music, coupled with later involvement with the Finnish composer, would exert a significant influence on the Englishman's orchestral output thereafter. This is particularly evident in the Fifth Symphony, which is not only dedicated to Sibelius but which contains elements of the latter's orchestral and harmonic technique.

It would be an error, however, to think this work looks only backwards. It represents an emergence from the artistic uncertainty through which Bax struggled with the first three symphonies (the Fourth is a stand-alone, out-of-sequence work as far as the symphonic cycle is concerned.) Alternately contemplative and triumphant, it is a work of tremendous solidity and achievement, looking forward in some respects to Shostakovich's later symphonies.

It returns, to a degree, to the atmosphere and subject matter of the First Symphony, but culminates in an Epilog which is a hugely triumphant affirmation of life. The Fifth represents Bax's most extensive use of the so-called 'liturgical' motif which figures elsewhere in his work, but is here developed much more fully. Broadcaster Peter J. Pirie once likened the symphony to "...being bawled out by an archbishop." It is a work deserving of frequent listening and much greater familiarity than it currently enjoys.

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