Editing Arnold Bax (section)

===1940s and 50s===
After the death of the [[Master of the King's Music]],{{refn|The antiquated spelling "Master of the [Queen's] Musick" persisted in the columns of ''The Times'' and elsewhere into the 1970s, but was officially changed to "Master of the [King's] Music during the tenure of Elgar (1924–34).<ref>[http://www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalHousehold/OfficialRoyalposts/MasterofTheQueensMusic.aspx "Master of the Queen's Music"] The official website of the British Monarchy, retrieved 16 September 2015</ref> Bax was [[London Gazette|gazetted]] as "Master of the Music".<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39616/supplement/4201 Supplement, 5 August 1952], ''The London Gazette''</ref>|group= n}} [[Walford Davies|Sir Walford Davies]], in 1941, Bax was appointed to succeed him. The choice surprised many. Bax, despite his knighthood, was not an Establishment figure;<ref>Duck, p. 257</ref> he himself had expressed a disinclination to "shuffle around in knee-breeches".<ref name=archive/> In the opinion of ''The Times'' the appointment was not a good one: "Bax was not cut out for official duties and found their performance irksome".<ref name=times/> Nonetheless, Bax wrote a handful of occasional pieces for royal events, including a march for the [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II|Coronation]] in 1953.<ref name=times/>

[[File:Storrington.JPG|thumb|left|alt=image of an English country town|Storrington, Bax's home in his last years]]
After the Second World War began, Bax moved to Sussex, taking up residence at the White Horse Hotel, [[Storrington]], where he lived for the rest of his life.<ref>Parlett, p. 9</ref> He abandoned composition and completed a book of memoirs about his early years, ''Farewell, My Youth''. ''The Times'' found it at times waspish, at times reticent, surprising in parts, and regrettably short.<ref>"A Composer's Reminiscences", ''The Times'', 9 April 1943, p. 6</ref> Later in the war Bax was persuaded to contribute incidental music for a short film, ''Malta G. C.''; he subsequently wrote music for [[David Lean]]'s ''[[Oliver Twist (1948 film)|Oliver Twist]]'' (1948) and a second short film, ''Journey into History'' (1952). His other works from the period include the short ''Morning Song'' for piano and orchestra, and the Left-Hand Concertante (1949), both written for Cohen.<ref name=dnb/> Bax and the [[Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom|Poet Laureate]], [[John Masefield]], worked on a pageant, ''The Play of Saint George'' in 1947, but the project was not completed.<ref name=p10/>

In his last years, Bax maintained a contented retirement for much of the time. Walton commented, "an important cricket match at [[Lord's Cricket Ground|Lord's]] would bring him hurrying up to town from his pub at Storrington with much greater excitement than a performance of one of his works".<ref>Bliss ''et al'', p. 14</ref> In 1950, after hearing his Third Symphony played at [[Bournemouth]], he said, "I ought perhaps to be thinking of an eighth", but by this time he had begun to drink quite heavily, which aged him rapidly and impaired his ability to concentrate on a large-scale composition.<ref>Parlett, p. 328; and Foreman (1983), p. 356</ref>  He wrote in 1952, "I doubt whether I shall write anything else{{space}}… I have said all I have to say and it is of no use to repeat myself."<ref>Foreman (1983), p. 355</ref> Celebrations were planned by the [[the Hallé|Hallé Orchestra]] and others to celebrate Bax's seventieth birthday in November 1953.<ref name=cardus/> The celebrations became memorials: while visiting [[Cork (city)|Cork]] in October 1953 Bax died suddenly of heart failure aged 69.<ref>Fry, p. 284</ref> He was interred in [[St. Finbarr's Cemetery]], Cork.<ref>Scott-Sutherland, p. 188</ref>