While his vast and comprehensive compositional output was no doubt influenced by a great many events in his long lifetime, the arrival of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes can certainly be considered a cornerstone event for English composer Arnold Bax. Bax made several attempts at composing ballet music; many of his scores were never completed or orchestrated. Others were lost and forgotten for decades, like the score for From Dusk till Dawn, which lay dormant for decades before being rediscovered. This Chandos album includes two complete ballet scores, much of whose music has not been heard since the original stage debuts. The choice to present the full score rather than an extracted suite is a curious one. While it is nice to experience all of what Bax intended us to hear, much of the original context is lost to modern audiences. The works on which the ballets were based are incredibly obscure, so it can be difficult to interpret exactly what each musical selection is attempting to portray. As such, it is sometimes easy for listeners to lose their attention during the course of the album. The
London Philharmonic Orchestra under
Bryden Thomson certainly does everything possible to keep listeners engaged. The orchestra's sound is magnificently colorful and rich.
Thomson keeps things moving during some of the more drawn-out sections and guides the orchestra through a wealth of color and sound variations.