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.
Sir Arnold 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 of the work 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.
-- Kyle Blaha