The so-called "Easter Rising" of 1916 was an important event for Irish Republicans seeking independence from Britain. The fighting lasted for six days and made a mark on Ireland’s history. It was immediately following this uprising that Sir Arnold Bax wrote the Elegiac Trio. An English composer by birth, Bax was introduced to all things Ireland by his brother, a writer by trade, and as a young adult Bax frequented the country and eventually moved there with his wife in 1914. Some suggest that his choice of harp is a representation of “old” Ireland.
Bax studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1900 to 1905. In addition to compositional studies, he was also a skilled pianist but decided early on not to attempt a career as a concert pianist. Similar to Jean-Michel Damase, who is also on this program, Bax loved ballet music, attending every performance of the Ballet Russes in London during the second decade of the twentieth century. He also wrote seven symphonies in addition to tone poems and concertos. Later in life, he wrote film scores that were very popular and led to his knighthood in 1937.
The Elegiac Trio is scored for flute, viola, and harp, which is also the instrumentation for Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp. The work was premiered on March 26, 1917. While the title is suggestive, Bax does not include any pronounced references to Ireland. Accounts of its premiere suggest that the audience instead associated the title with World War I. The work is in one movement, marked Moderate Tempo, that lasts around eight minutes. Bax achieves a beautiful sound at the beginning through combining arpeggios in the harp with melodic material in the low range of the flute and with the mellow sound of the viola. The work features moments of harp solo, as well as the melodic material in the viola and flute without harp accompaniment. Bax also explores the combination of the flute and viola, both in unison and in octaves, in beautiful melodic moments. An exceptional one occurs in the middle of the work where, in a role reversal, the flute and viola trill, accompanying the harp melody. The opening melody returns at the end, re-introduced by the viola within the harp accompaniment.
Program Notes are by Kyle Blaha, a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at The Juilliard School and faculty member in the Juilliard Pre-College and Evening Division.