# Arnold, Malcolm



## Prodromides

The centenary of Malcolm Arnold is upon us October 2021 ...

https://www.malcolmarnoldsociety.co.uk/centenary/

... but let this thread be for anything related to the music of M. Arnold.


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## KevinJS

Jon Lord's Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Malcolm Arnold thought it was a great idea and agreed to conduct the work.


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## joen_cph

Arnold's ~cinematic _Grand, Grand Ouverture_ (1956), featuring vacuum cleaners, a gun-slinger (not 4 rifles in this version), a floor cleaner, etc.






Maybe some inspiration from Satie here (_Parade_) ?


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## Bulldog

I enjoy Arnold's symphonies (especially no. 5) and his chamber music - an excellent composer.


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## HenryPenfold

joen_cph said:


> Arnold's ~cinematic _Grand, Grand Ouverture_ (1956), featuring vacuum cleaners, a gun-slinger (not 4 rifles in this version), a floor cleaner, etc.


So funny! My MP3 was accidentally on random play a couple of days ago and threw this piece at me while I took a walk along the Aegean coast in south Turkey - very incongruous! Folowingly, I switched to John Wilson's more appropriate CD!

Edit: I'd loaded Ramon Gamba's amazing overtures Chandos CD onto my MP3 player to take with me on holiday. The composer conducted set is also very good, especiallly the HI-Res download


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## joen_cph

HenryPenfold said:


> So funny! My MP3 was accidentally on random play a couple of days ago and through this piece at me while I took walk along the Aegean coast in south Turkey - very incongruous, followingly I switched to John Wilson's more appropriate CD!


Sounds very nice, and congrats with being able to go abroad / the Mediterranean again!


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## Art Rock

Some other highlights: the ninth symphony, the various dances, the Commonwealth overture, and I think over a dozen of concertos for instruments ranging from the usual to the mouth organ.


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## HenryPenfold

Art Rock said:


> Some other highlights: the ninth symphony, the various dances, the Commonwealth overture, and I think over a dozen of concertos for instruments ranging from the usual to the mouth organ.


I adore Malcolm Arnold. As a musician and as a human being. I have virtually every recording of his ever released, but really struggle with the ninth symphony .....


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## Art Rock

It took me more spins than I care to remember before it finally clicked. Now it is one of my favourite symphonies.


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## Heck148

I'm most familiar with Arnold's lighter or more humorous side - the various Dance suites - great fun, very colorful..
His "3 Shanties" for woodwind 5tet is a standard for that ensemble...an audience favorite, great fun to play..


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## HenryPenfold

Art Rock said:


> It took me more spins than I care to remember before it finally clicked. Now it is one of my favourite symphonies.


Hopefully that will be my experience too. But I've been at it since the Naxos release which I think was in the early or mid 1990s!!


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## Prodromides

HenryPenfold said:


> I adore Malcolm Arnold. As a musician and as a human being. I have virtually every recording of his ever released, .....


Hi, Henry P.

Do you collect Arnold's soundtracks, too?

Between '57 & '70, about 10 LPs were released - not all of these albums have been re-issued on CDs.










Dutton's Vocalion restored the master tapes on Arnold's *Nine Hours to Rama* which they paired with *The Lion*.


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## HenryPenfold

Prodromides said:


> Hi, Henry P.
> 
> Do you collect Arnold's soundtracks, too?
> 
> Between '57 & '70, about 10 LPs were released - not all of these albums have been re-issued on CDs.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dutton's Vocalion restored the master tapes on Arnold's *Nine Hours to Rama* which they paired with *The Lion*.


I really enjoy his soundtracks and have all the Chandos releases but not these Dutton. They look very interesting and no doubt I'll acquire a number of them!!


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## mikeh375

I can't reccommend highly enough this book linked below on Arnold. His life in all its raw tragedy and hilarity is recorded and boy, what a life. In fact what a genius. Known to musos as Master of the Leans Music.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Malcolm-Arnold-Britains-Misunderstood-Composer/dp/090341354


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## Triplets

Bulldog said:


> I enjoy Arnold's symphonies (especially no. 5) and his chamber music - an excellent composer.


Same here, and I like his sets of Orchestral 'Dances', that miniature tone poems such as Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances


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## Triplets

The Handley set was recently reissued very inexpensively by Sony. Hopefully it is still available


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## starthrower

Triplets said:


> The Handley set was recently reissued very inexpensively by Sony. Hopefully it is still available


Looks like it's sold out. But I haven't checked eBay.


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## Allegro Con Brio

Arnold was a true original. His music is colorful, lyrical, whimsical, and wrenchingly emotional by turns. I find the 5th and 6th symphonies in particular to be absolute gems but I've found something to treasure in all his symphonies that I've heard. Also his guitar concerto is possibly my favorite classical work with a guitar in it. I need to do more exploring of his sizable oeuvre.


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## maestro267

Symphony No. 9 is one of the most powerful works in the literature. The long Mahlerian Lento finale is gut wrenchingly painful, the only fortissimo moment an absolute outcry of anguish from the depths of suffering.


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## starthrower

After listening to his nine symphonies, and oboe concerto this week I'd say Arnold is a neglected composer. I didn't find much of anything for live performances on YouTube. I prefer his symphonies to a number of other British composers. They are colorful, imaginative, and contain more depth than he is given credit for by reviewers who refer to him as a composer of light music.


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## Pat Fairlea

Arnold's difficult, unpredictable personality didn't help acceptance of his music during his life, and his substantial body of cinema scores led some to write him off as 'not a serious composer of art music'. None the less, his music ranges from the profound to the whimsical, much of it lyrical and engaging. I'm a fan.


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## Chat Noir

He wrote well for winds. I particularly love his little divertimento for woodwind trio. Here's the short, but sweet andantino:


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## dko22

Malcolm Arnold is by some distance my favourite English composer. All of his symphonies are worthwhile - nos. 5, 7 and perhaps 3 can be regarded as masterpieces. A few of the concertos (such as the double violin, guitar and viola) are almost of the same profundity. As are the string quartets. The emotional extremes and strange contrasts and juxtapositions is what really make him what he is. It is a crying shame that, although on record the works are well enough represented, live performances are largely done by amateurs with professional orchestras rarely involved. A typical example was the annual Arnold Festival a few years back when the entire symphonic cycle was done -- one of the most fulfilling musical experiences of my life. Only the final gala concert was performed by a professional orchestra and to attract people, they felt the need to put the Brahms Double Concerto in the programme with a star violinist.

Another problem is that there is far too much focus on the lighter side of Arnold, especially things like the Dances, which gives the wrong impression of his output. Although at their best, his lighter pieces can be witty or simply fun, I can very happily live without most of them. And yet when Arnold is played on the radio, that's mostly what you get.


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## starthrower

Why are the major British conductors ignoring Arnold's music? His symphonies, and string quartets deserve more performances.


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## Chat Noir

starthrower said:


> Why are the major British conductors ignoring Arnold's music? His symphonies, and string quartets deserve more performances.


He'll surge again. He was very widely performed during his lifetime. In any case there isn't a dearth of recordings, I have quite a few on NAXOS discs.


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## starthrower

There are three complete symphony cycles by Handley, Hickox, and Penny. The Handley is now out of print again since the Conifer box sold out. But the Penny cycle on Naxos is excellent and is now available in a box.


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## dko22

I have the Handley and Penny cycles (the Handley actually bought relatively recently). If I had to choose one it would be the Handley but they both have individual strengths.Penny is particularly powerful in 7 which he regards as the greatest of the cycle.


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## starthrower

I have both of those cycles as well. I tend to listen to the Penny more often. But I just dug out my Conifer box so I need revisit the Handley recordings. I recently got the string quartets as part of the British Quartets box and I'm very impressed with those works as well.


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## Chat Noir

I think some of Arnold's music, especially later works like e.g. his clarinet concerto 2, catches some listeners unawares. Arnold was and is often described as a 'largely tonal composer', but what that implies is not quite what some might think. As such there's a bit of a gulf between that concerto and, say, his dances for orchestra. As I mentioned further up I favour his music for small wind ensembles. As a wind player himself he really understood how this works. Additionally he was a master orchestrator. So there's much value to be had from listening to across the full scale of his output.

My only minor criticism (though barely that) is that at the height of his film score work it spilled over into the approach to his concert hall work.


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