Tintagel (Bax)

"Tintagel" is a symphonic poem composed by Arnold Bax in 1919; it is perhaps his best-known orchestral work.

Bax had visited the castle of Tintagel during the summer of 1917, accompanied by pianist Harriet Cohen, with whom he was carrying on an affair at the time; he dedicated the work to her. He composed two poems on the theme, and the work is, to a certain extent, a sonic illustration of these. According to Bax, the music is meant to depict a castle perched high on the rocks, battered on a sunny summer day by the Atlantic Ocean. A certain Celtic flavor is apparent in the music; this provides the basis for one of the two themes in the work, meant to recall King Arthur and his connection to the castle, and which quotes a motif from Wagner's opera "Tristan und Isolde". The other theme depicts the sea.

The piece contains three sections. The first and last sections are somewhat grandiloquent, the first presenting the two main themes and the third a varied reprise. In between these, there is a “development”.

A typical performance of "Tintagel" lasts around fifteen minutes.