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“Vernon Handley’s revelatory Bax odyssey for Chandos comes up trumps again with this generous feast spanning a quarter of a century… If I encounter a more rewarding issue all year, I shall be surprised.” - Gramophone “Handley’s command of this unfamiliar music is wonderfully assured; the BBC Philharmonic play superbly for him, and it is hard to imagine anyone else doing it better or with more commitment.” - The Guardian "Handley’s rapport with this music is so satisfying and convincing it makes this release self-recommending, one to delight Baxians and audiophiles alike.” - International Record Review “Handley champions Bax as Beecham did Delius. The excellent Chandos series pairing the former continues with seven richly nuanced, nimbly danced and sensitively phrased performances of tone poems composed just before, and orchestrated just after the First World War. The BBC Philharmonic revels in Bax’s subtle instrumental variety - the nervous harp in Into the Twilight, the gurgling bass-clarinet in Nympholept that Handley summons like a snake-charmer. A sense of magic pervades much of the disc. Few conductors have found so much in Bax before, but many will in future.” - The Times Dedicated to the evocative tone poems of English composer Sir Arnold Bax, this recording is the second in a multi-release project by conductor Vernon Hanley with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, who have been praised as being among the best interpreters of Bax’s work. Covering pieces that span the composer’s career from the early 1900s to the 1930s, this is top notch presentation of Bax’s tuneful, magical, and at times cheeky compositions.