Richard Straus Influence

This symphony was written in Dresden during a love affair, according to Jeremy Dibble in (Dibble, 2016). The evidence of the love affair is evident in the third movement (Intermezzo), which contains a scherzo section of three motives. The symbolism of these motives are as follow; first motive is love, second is the religion of philosophy and the last is about the battle to live. Just by reading, the symbolism drawn to these motives shows us the romantic, poetic, and philosophical side of Bax. In this movement, we can hear the influence of one of the great composers Bax admired, Richard Straus. Straus’s influence can especially be seen in first and last motive. This is movement is a good example of Straussian writing. In the first motive, we hear his Irish interests clearly through the Irish melody that stands out in the harmony. This movement is waltz-like and the orchestration of it can assumed from his orchestral work Fatherland. This movement represented great growth in his orchestral techniques and showed that he was starting to understand how to compose larger works, thus the beginning of his career in …show more content…
Influences from Debussy and Chopin is also evident, with the warlike tone. (Barnett, 2014) The second movement contains more of Bax’s individual voice, although it contains elements of Straussian writing, it is of a Celtic nature. It was inspired by Hofmannsthal’s Der Tor und der Tod, which means ‘the fool and death’. This movement is much more lyrical and poetic and shows Arnold Bax’s poetic background and love for poetry. (Scott-Sutherland, 1973)

The last movement, the Finale, is as dramatic as the first movement. The last movement symbolizes his love for his youth, a strong part of his personality. This movement is like the foreword for his autobiography “Farewell, My Youth” that was published in 1943. (Dibble,