Parlett's Catalogue of music by Bax (1896-1904)

1896

Butterflies All White: GP1. Bax's first known composition was completed at age 13, according to his sister Evelyn. It does not survive and the text is unknown, but the title is a line (not the first) from John Davidson's translation of Coppée's play Pour la Couronne.

1900

Marcia Trionfale: 26. Ten-minute piano piece written on a family holiday at the Isle of Wight.
Fantasia in A minor: 40. Bax's first composition for two pianos was written shortly after he entered the Royal Academy of Music.
Funeral March: 41. Marked "In Mem. P.I.T.", presumably Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

1901

Trio in Bb minor: 47. For violin, cello and piano. Only the first of four projected movements exists, and four pages of that are missing from the MS. Sketches for the slow movement have recently (2007) been discovered.
Violin Sonata in G minor: 49. Violin and piano. Dedicated to Gladys Lees, "who held Bax in thrall during his first term at the RAM" (GP). "A more tiresome work we cannot recall" (Daily Telegraph. Reviewer unidentified. Sounds like Mr Pooter).

1902

String Quartet in A: 55. Interesting as the first example of the typically Baxian structure of a four-movement work reduced to three by the agglutination of scherzo and finale.
String Quartet in E: 57. Interesting for its second movement (adagio), which was later arranged as a string trio subtitled Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan (itself converted into an orchestral tone-poem of the same name), and reappears thinly disguised in the first movement of the Third Symphony

1904

Concert Piece: 59. For viola and piano. "It reveals gifts and force which look well for the future" ("P.S." [Percy Scholes?], The Musical Standard).
Concert Piece: 60. Violin version of the preceding viola piece.
Variations for Orchestra (Improvisations): 61. Bax's earliest completed orchestral work, written during his fourth year at the RAM, won the Charles Lucas Medal for composition - but the fright of being told to conduct it, without advance warning, put him off the experience of conducting for life.
A Celtic Song Cycle (1904): 63.Text: "Fiona MacLeod" (William Sharp). Dedication "To Miss Gladys Lees". Revised (slightly) 1922.
   (a) Eilidh my Fawn
   (b) Closing Doors
   (c) Thy dark eyes to mine
   (d) A Celtic Lullaby
   (e) At the last.
Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan: 64. Trio for 2 violins and piano. Evidently an arrangement of the slow movement of the String Quartet in E (GP57), later recast as an orchestral tone-poem. Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan is one of the personifying epithets of Ireland.

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	1896 Butterflies All White GP1. Bax's first known composition was completed at age 13, according to his sister Evelyn. It does not survive and the text is unknown, but the title is a line (not the first) from John Davidson's translation of Coppée's play Pour la Couronne.
	1900 Marcia Trionfale 26. Ten-minute piano piece written on a family holiday at the Isle of Wight. Fantasia in A minor 40. Bax's first composition for two pianos was written shortly after he entered the Royal Academy of Music. Funeral March 41. Marked "In Mem. P.I.T.", presumably Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
	1901 Trio in Bb minor 47. For violin, cello and piano. Only the first of four projected movements exists, and four pages of that are missing from the MS. Sketches for the slow movement have recently (2007) been discovered. Violin Sonata in G minor 49. Violin and piano. Dedicated to Gladys Lees, "who held Bax in thrall during his first term at the RAM" (GP). "A more tiresome work we cannot recall" (Daily Telegraph. Reviewer unidentified. Sounds like Mr Pooter).
	1902 String Quartet in A 55. Interesting as the first example of the typically Baxian structure of a four-movement work reduced to three by the agglutination of scherzo and finale. String Quartet in E 57. Interesting for its second movement (adagio), which was later arranged as a string trio subtitled Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan (itself converted into an orchestral tone-poem of the same name), and reappears thinly disguised in the first movement of the Third Symphony
	1904 Concert Piece 59. For viola and piano. "It reveals gifts and force which look well for the future" ("P.S." [Percy Scholes?], The Musical Standard). Concert Piece 60. Violin version of the preceding viola piece. Variations for Orchestra (Improvisations) 61. Bax's earliest completed orchestral work, written during his fourth year at the RAM, won the Charles Lucas Medal for composition - but the fright of being told to conduct it, without advance warning, put him off the experience of conducting for life. A Celtic Song Cycle (1904) 63.Text: "Fiona MacLeod" (William Sharp). Dedication "To Miss Gladys Lees". Revised (slightly) 1922. (a) Eilidh my Fawn (b) Closing Doors (c) Thy dark eyes to mine (d) A Celtic Lullaby (e) At the last. Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan 64. Trio for 2 violins and piano. Evidently an arrangement of the slow movement of the String Quartet in E (GP57), later recast as an orchestral tone-poem. Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan is one of the personifying epithets of Ireland.
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BAXWORKS : 1896-1904