Dance of Wild Irravel

• This is the 4^th movement from Bax’s 4 Orchestral Pieces, composed 1912-1913. The work is also known as 4 Orchestral Sketches or 4 Irish Pieces.¹
• This piece premiered in 1913 at the Proms, conducted by Bax.²
• This movement is rarely heard because it was removed from the larger work when Bax revised it as 3 Pieces (1928). “Dance of Wild Irravel” was revived for this very recording by conductor Bryden Thomson.³
• “Irravel” is name invented by Bax, inspired by Irish-Gaelic language. Irravel is an imaginary dancer depicted in his piece. ⁴ Bax was an enthusiast of Irish culture & folklore.⁵

“Irravel” is “a fantastic dream impersonation of a reckless and irresponsible mood or whim…At the close the music becomes more and more remote in mood and harmonically bizarre, as though the vision were gradually fading away.”

Sir Arnold Bax⁶

1. Lewis Foreman, “Bax, Sir Arnold,” Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed July 18, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000002380.
2. Lewis Foreman, liner notes to Arnold Bax: Symphony no. 3, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, Chandos 8454, CD, 1986.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Foreman, “Bax, Sir Arnold,” Grove Music Online.
6. Lewis Foreman, liner notes to Arnold Bax: Symphony no. 3, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bryden Thomson, Chandos 8454, CD, 1986.