Malcolm Arnold

Par ARNOLD MALCOLM. 'Contemporary-music-without-tears has always been his aim, and this succinct little three-movement work showed him as skilful as ever in unpretentious directness of utterance, as it were in the vernacular. For the soloist it is a gift, alike in the first movement's almost indispensable fanfare-like challenges, in melody sometmes as nostalgic as Poulenc (especially haunting in the seductively scored central Andante) and in the Finale's flashes of virtuosity.'Jona Chissell, The Times, 31 January 1983/ Répertoire / Conducteur

Edward Greenfield writes '. . .chamber music writ large often abrasive in an almost Stravinskian way. . .the emotional weight is borne by the central slow movement. . . The finale is a brisk march interrupted at one point by horn fanfares in which the second of the two trios hauntingly brings scrunching cluster-chords pianissimo.Gramophone December 1992

Par ARNOLD MALCOLM. The full score for Symphony #8 Op.121 , a contemporary masterpiece by Malcolm Arnold, composed in 1979. It is a substantial work with clever and fascinating orchestration./ Répertoire / Conducteur

Malcolm Arnold's 'Clarinet Concerto No. 2 Op. 115' was dedicated to Benny Goodman and first performed by him as part of the 'Red Rocks Music Festival' with the Denver Symphony Orchestra conducted by Brian Priestman on 17 August 1974. The third movement known affectionately as 'The Pre-Goodman Rag' is an outrageous ragtime parody with a hauntingly wistful middle section. The work has now been made more widely available in this transcription for wind band. This version conmtains full score and parts.

Study Score. Composed 1952. Scored for Flute Oboe and Clarinet. Parts available: PAT60550SP

Par ARNOLD MALCOLM. The chilling slow movement seems to me to be one of the great symphonic essays written by an Englishman. Michael Kennedy, Daily Telegraph, 1 June 1991/ Répertoire / Conducteur

Par ARNOLD MALCOLM. '. . .It is a revelation to hear something of the composer's other side. The Viola Concerto, featuring Rivka Golani, is the real thing: post Walton, heartfelt viola writing. . .'Sarah Pope, CD Classics, December 1992/ Répertoire / Conducteur

Commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival Society Malcolm Arnold's Fifth Symphony Op.74 was composed in 1960 and first performed in 1961 (the year of his fortieth birthday). The work was composed towards the end of a period of intense compositional activity. Surrounded by controversy and criticism for its unashamed Neo-Romantic style at the time of composition it is now rightly heralded as a work of art. Edited by Millan Sachania.

Par ARNOLD MALCOLM. . . .a 17-minute, three-movement work in which orchestra suits and colours are dealt with concision, wit, fluency and light-fingered skill. . . Gillian Widdicombe, Financial Times, November 1976/ Répertoire / Conducteur

A full orchestral arrangement in miniature pocket score format of Four Scottish Dances Op.57 by Sir Malcolm Arnold CBE. A superb quartet of Scottish dances by the prolific English composer that was originally commissioned for the BBC Light Music Festival and premiered at the Royal Festival Hall on 8th June 1957. With varying mood and styles from jigs and reels to a more brooding ballad the work reflects the tranquillity and beauty of Scotland as well the vibrancy and liveliness of its population.

Malcolm Arnold Sonatina Op.41 for Recorder and Piano. Also suitable for flute or oboe.

Malcolm Arnold's one act ballet score Homage To The Queen was commissioned in 1953 by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden to celebrate the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The ballet was conceived and choreographed by Frederick Ashton with designs by Oliver Messel and was danced by the full company of the Sadler's Wells Ballet with an illustrious cast that comprised Nadia Nerina as Queen of the Earth Violetta Elvin as Queen of the Waters Beryl Grey as Queen of Fire and Margot Fonteyn as Queen of the Air. The conductor of the ROH orchestra was Robert Irving. Homage to the Queen was first performed on the night of the coronation 2June1953.One of the towering musical figures of the 20th century Sir Malcolm Arnold has a remarkable catalogue of major concert works to his credit including nine symphonies seven ballets two operas one musical over twenty concertos two string quartets and music for brass band and wind band. He has also written over 132 film scores and among these are some of the finest works ever composed for the medium: Bridge On The River Kwai Inn Of The Sixth Happiness Hobson's Choice Whistle Down The Wind and David Copperfield.

Par ARNOLD MALCOLM. Peterloo is the derisive name given to an incident on 16 August 1819, in St Peter's Fields, Manchester, when an orderly crowd of some 8,000 people met to hear a speech on political reform. On the orders of the magistrates they were interrupted by the Yeomanry, attempting to seize the banners they carried, and to arrest their speaker, Henry Hunt. Cavalry were sent in, eleven people were killed and four hundred injured in the ensuring panic. This overture attempts to portray these happenings musically, but after a lament for the killed and injured, it ends in triumph, in the firm belief that all those who have suffered and died in the cause of unity amongst mankind will not have done so in vain./ Répertoire / Conducteur