sir Malcolm Arnold

[Irons]

Arnold's 1st must surely be one of the darkest first symphonies by any composer! It's an unsettling, sometimes nightmarish work, especially in the eerily spare slow movement. The finale concludes the work on a more positive note with a memorable and inspiriting chorale theme in the coda. The 2nd is a more stylistically disparate work but I enjoy it greatly. The first movement is the most untroubled movement in any of his symphonies - sheer pastoral bliss. The heart of the symphony - the slow movement - couldn't be more different and is a tragic funeral march which rises to a terrifying climax. It's one of Arnold's finest symphonic movements. IMO the definitive recordings of both symphonies is Hickox and the LSO on Chandos - sheer magnificence!

Right, I will give Arnold another go - I have the Hickox recording - unlike most posters I find his music, difficult to put in words, but a tad contrived. I hear the "terrifying climax" but not convinced by it. He is a composer that ticks every box for me, and yet I have so far not fallen under his spell.
Kyle, you could not be a more effective advocate for Arnold's music and after mulling over your post for a few days, Arnold here I come!

[vandermolen]

I recently bought on ebay a couple of letters regarding/from composers I admire.  This is from Sir Charles Groves to Alan Poulton about Malcolm Arnold.  Poulton wrote a catalogue of Arnold's music for Faber in the 1980's so I assume this was used/requested as the preface?  Interesting and insightful in its own right I thought...

Very interesting letter RS. I have Groves's recording of the 2nd Symphony.

[Thom]

I recently reread this excellent biography of Malcom Arnold, of whom I am a big fan. Interesting stuff. His life was wild with ups and downs, never dull. In the end he suffered from dementia.
I can also recommend this excellent documentary:



I plan to revisit Arnold's output the coming weeks, starting with the symphonies. Looking forward to that.

[vandermolen]

I recently reread this excellent biography of Malcom Arnold, of whom I am a big fan. Interesting stuff. His life was wild with ups and downs, never dull. In the end he suffered from dementia.
I can also recommend this excellent documentary:



I plan to revisit Arnold's output the coming weeks, starting with the symphonies. Looking forward to that.

+1 both are excellent.

[Roasted Swan]

+1 both are excellent.

I must admit I was uneasy with the Palmer movie and the sequences filmed with a clearly distressed/disturbed Arnold.  I appreciate that permissions would have been obtained but I did not feel the need to see him in that condition - surely it is/was enough to be told.  Also, the orchestral excerpts are very well played but I found their filming in moody black backgrounds and tight close up rather mannered as I recall.  Not a film I have ever had the wish to return to.....

[Mirror Image]

I must admit I was uneasy with the Palmer movie and the sequences filmed with a clearly distressed/disturbed Arnold.  I appreciate that permissions would have been obtained but I did not feel the need to see him in that condition - surely it is/was enough to be told.  Also, the orchestral excerpts are very well played but I found their filming in moody black backgrounds and tight close up rather mannered as I recall.  Not a film I have ever had the wish to return to.....

And that's my general problem with Palmer's documentaries on composers. He feels the need to be edgy when, quite frankly, there's no need in it. Like the various scenes of corpses in his Vaughan Williams documentary. Completely unnecessary, IMHO. I much prefer the Bridcut documentary on Vaughan Williams (and his Britten and Elgar, too). I feel Bridcut is more 'professional' and sincere in his narrative whereas Palmer just feels like he's out to shock his audience.

[vandermolen]

I take the point about filming Arnold in a distress state and the scenes of starving children in conflict zones accompanying Vaughan Williams's 9th Symphony were totally inappropriate. I still enjoyed those films much more than the one about Holst which told us next to nothing about his private life with over-long musical extracts.

[vandermolen]

New release or rather reissue:

[Carshot]

In looking on Amazon for this re-release I found this - a premier recording of The Dancing Master. "Originally intended as an opera for television, Malcolm Arnolds collaboration with film-maker and librettist Joe Mendoza, The Dancing Master, Op. 34, was considered too racy for viewers in the 1950s and subsequently rejected for broadcast and largely forgotten. Conductor John Andrews, with the BBC Concert Orchestra and a stellar cast, breathes new life into this operatic gem, here receiving its first recording. With its cast of larger-than life Restoration caricatures the trapped heiress, the scheming maid, the over-protective guardian, and the handsome rake the opera showcases Arnolds taste for exuberant satire and tender Romanticism in equal measure." I ordered it today.

[vandermolen]

In looking on Amazon for this re-release I found this - a premier recording of The Dancing Master. "Originally intended as an opera for television, Malcolm Arnolds collaboration with film-maker and librettist Joe Mendoza, The Dancing Master, Op. 34, was considered too racy for viewers in the 1950s and subsequently rejected for broadcast and largely forgotten. Conductor John Andrews, with the BBC Concert Orchestra and a stellar cast, breathes new life into this operatic gem, here receiving its first recording. With its cast of larger-than life Restoration caricatures the trapped heiress, the scheming maid, the over-protective guardian, and the handsome rake the opera showcases Arnolds taste for exuberant satire and tender Romanticism in equal measure." I ordered it today.

V interesting. Thanks for posting about it.

[kyjo]

New release or rather reissue:

How does the Bostock performance of the 5th compare to the others available, in your view?

[kyjo]

V interesting. Thanks for posting about it.

+1

[Papy Oli]

    

[vandermolen]

How does the Bostock performance of the 5th compare to the others available, in your view?

Compares well IMHO Kyle - one of the better releases in the ClassicO series. I like the Handley recording as well.

[Roasted Swan]

Compares well IMHO Kyle - one of the better releases in the ClassicO series. I like the Handley recording as well.

Would you put Bostock's No.5 ahead of;

Arnold
Handley
Hickox
Penny

Simple answer...... no.  So as with nearly all of Bostock's recordings of any repertoire, it is NOT bad, but as soon as comparisons are on offer, others versions are almost without exception better

[vers la flamme]

   

What? How on earth does Malcolm Arnold count as a contemporary American composer?

[Scion7]

<painful facepalm emoticon>   Gads!  What a blunder!  'orrible cover, btw

[Christo]

Would you put Bostock's No.5 ahead of;

Arnold
Handley
Hickox
Penny

Simple answer...... no.  So as with nearly all of Bostock's recordings of any repertoire, it is NOT bad, but as soon as comparisons are on offer, others versions are almost without exception better

Not in the case of Ruth Gipps' Symphony No. 2, where Bostock's recording is the best, so far.

[Roasted Swan]

Not in the case of Ruth Gipps' Symphony No. 2, where Bostock's recording is the best, so far.

really!?  The Gamba is much more dynamic and better played too surely.....

[vandermolen]

Would you put Bostock's No.5 ahead of;

Arnold
Handley
Hickox
Penny

Simple answer...... no.  So as with nearly all of Bostock's recordings of any repertoire, it is NOT bad, but as soon as comparisons are on offer, others versions are almost without exception better

I'd put it alongside Handley but think that it's just as enjoyable as the others.