News and Announcements  

Much beloved English conductor Vernon Handley dies at age 77:  ‘Tod’ Handley died September 10 at his home in Monmouthshire, Wales.  Tod had been ill for many years and in recent years had to cancel numerous recordings and concerts but his legacy as one of the great champions of British music is firmly established and Baxians in particular have cause to celebrate the man who more than any other musician, promoted the music of Sir Arnold Bax.  See Editorial for appreciation. 

Bax Piano Trio receives exciting new recording from Ensemble Avalon:  The Irish Piano Trio, Ensemble Avalon, have recorded Bax’s late Piano Trio for their debut disc available from RTELyricfm.    See New Reviews and This Month’s Feature for more information. 

Lyrita releases Iris Loveridge’s mono recordings of Bax’s piano music: Lyrita will release Iris Loveridge’s pioneering recordings of the four piano sonatas along with many of Bax’s shorter works for piano in November 2008.  These recordings were made in the early 1960s and have long been treasured by Baxians for their remarkable strength despite the mono sound.  The set will include those recordings of Bax made by Loveridge that were never released on LP.  Lyrita 3cds REAM3113.  (Review to follow)

Music and Men – The Life and Loves of Harriet Cohen: The History Press has published Helen Fry’s biography on the great English pianist and mistress of Sir Arnold Bax, Harriet Cohen.   Ms. Fry researched the archive of more than 3,000 letters between Bax and Cohen now in the British Library to tell the astonishing story of their relationship as well as her career and friendship with several other well known personalities of the 20^th Century.  The book is available now and will be reviewed shortly.

Bax's Fifth Symphony for Piano Duet Published:  Travis and Emery have just published Walter Emery's arrangement of Bax's Fifth Symphony for piano duet (one piano, four hands). It was made some time in the 1930s but has remained in manuscript until now. It can be bought from Travis and Emery, 17 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ (telephone: 020 7240 2129; e-mail: sales@travis-and-emery.com). The computer-generated score is very neat and clear. Price is £49.50.

Ashley Wass records Bax’s Symphonic Variations and Left-Hand Concerto for Naxos: The young British pianist Ashley Wass was in Poole, England in May to record the “Symphonic Variations” and Left-Hand Concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conductor James Judd.  The recordings were a tremendous success and the disc should be available sometime in early 2009.

First Print Edition of Bax’s ‘Salzburg’ Sonata:  Fand Music has published the first edition of Bax's Salzburg Sonata for piano in B flat. This piece, written in 1937, was never published in Bax’s lifetime, yet he clearly liked it as he incorporated part of it into the second movement of his Violin Concerto.  The price for the score is £14.95 and is available at: http://www.fandmusic.com/.

Join the Bax Yahoo Discussion Group: A new and very active Yahoo discussion group has been created devoted to Sir Arnold Bax. Those interested in joining should visit the group's web site at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Arnoldbax/. This group will be a collecting point for feedback about every aspect of Bax's work.