Bax: Symphony No. 7; Tintagel (Tone Poem).

Bax: Symphony No. 7; Tintagel (Tone Poem). David Lloyd-Jones, Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Naxos 8.557145.

Englishman Arnold Bax wrote tone poems in the first half of the twentieth century. Whether he called them "symphonies" or not, they were either genuine tone poems or collections of tone poems strung together into longer symphonic works. This point is no better illustrated than by the two compositions represented on this disc, his final, Seventh Symphony, and his most-famous short piece, "Tintagel."

"Tintagel," of course, is Bax's depiction of the rocky precipice on the Cornish coast thought to have been the birthplace of the legendary King Arthur. Like the actual location, the short, symphonic tone picture is all about rugged seascapes, craggy cliffs, and splashes of ocean spray. It's a wonderfully evocative bit of music and upstages the disc's main feature, the Symphony No. 7, which tends to sound a mite lightweight by comparison, as well as somewhat imitative of Bax's earlier work.

David Lloyd-Jones, who is finishing up his complete Bax cycle for Naxos, again serves the music well, although I thought his interpretation this time out was a tad on the soft, leisurely side. "Tintagel," especially, has more bite, more luster, and a more rough-and-tumble vigor in the hands of conductors Bryden Thomson (Chandos) and Sir Adrian Boult (Lyrita). What's more, those recordings sound better, have greater range, and more transparency than the slightly bland-sounding Naxos disc. Needless to say, however, the Naxos disc has the advantage of price, which may be its major saving grace. After all, if you've never heard "Tintagel" before, you might not want to spend the money on a full-price disc just to hear it. Anyway, you can't go far wrong with this Naxos disc, and if you do like it, check out the even better Thomson and Boult recordings.