sir Malcolm Arnold

[Alex Bozman]

I also like the Philharmonic Concerto which I think is from the same period and feels like a symphony, perhaps a concerto for orchestra given its title. 

Agree about the Philharmonic Concerto. It's quite a gritty piece and packs a lot into a fairly short time span.

[Roasted Swan]

Agree about the Philharmonic Concerto. It's quite a gritty piece and packs a lot into a fairly short time span.

I like the Philharmonic Concerto  but critically it has divided opinion.  The nay-sayers find it too bombastic and full of empty noisy gestures.  The most recent biographer seems to fall into the camp of it being a work that in some way Arnold wrote against his will nd that it reflects his mental decline.

[Carshot]

Has anyone here bought the new Malcolm Arnold album ? Opinions please...


https://www.orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100362-malcolm-arnold/

[foxandpeng]

Has anyone here bought the new Malcolm Arnold album ? Opinions please...


https://www.orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100362-malcolm-arnold/

I haven't, but I look forward to hearing it.

[lunar22]

didn't know he'd written an organ concerto! I though the 18 concertos I already own by him was already a fair haul.

[Roasted Swan]

didn't know he'd written an organ concerto! I though the 18 concertos I already own by him was already a fair haul.

its on the Bostock/Symphonic British Music/Vol.11 disc previously (got re-released and recoupled with some Gipps and Butterworth too).  Arnold in a kind of neo-baroque mood (lots of Bachian trumpets in the 1st movement!)

[relm1]

I think Arnold was an excellent and unconventional conductor.  I generally prefer his unorthodox interpretation of his own works.  I consider them unorthodox because they tend to be quite slower than even his score suggests and, in that slowness, something unusual emerges.  For instance, the score of his fourth symphony says the duration is 36 minutes but his performance is 54 minutes!  As far as I can find, he didn't conduct his eighth or ninth symphonies.  Would have been very interesting to hear him take his No. 9 very slowly like maybe an hour long.  Here are some of his interpretations:
 
Symphony No. 1, op. 22 (1949) (39') https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR4m7hjFBMQ
Symphony No. 2, op. 40 (1953) (27') https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hin86t78wGA
Symphony No. 3, op. 63 (1957) (33') https://youtu.be/BofBEvoM9y0?si=5xRoCotShDWs99jK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-TDU9OwYvI&list=PLzfJVysWqfNThGJeJIdoKhJK5AFdt9E00&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ewzKBkQuU&list=PLzfJVysWqfNThGJeJIdoKhJK5AFdt9E00&index=8
Symphony No. 4, op. 71 (1960) (54') https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErixGZhrnnU
Symphony No. 5, op .74 (1961) (33') https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luf-zMQ5Owc
Symphony No. 6, op. 95 (1967) (26') https://youtu.be/m4vfpDYMQG0?si=mYXDsUsId0slZD5_
Symphony No. 7, op. 113 (1973) (50') https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TaAOT0RMmU

[Roasted Swan]

Another triumph for Dutton's erratic release/marketing policy!  I'd not seen this new disc mentioned anywhere and then I get an email out of the blue - just about their only new release in some time.



Remarkably they seem to have squeezed 82(!) minutes of music in SACD format onto a single disc with this premiere of the complete scores to two Arnold ballets.  "Homage to the Queen" did appear complete on EMI with Robert Irving but that's an old recording that shows its age.  Gamba recorded suites from both on a fine Chandos disc but with Sweeney the suite was roughly 20 minutes and here we get nearly double that.

It only arrived yesterday so not heard yet but Martin Yates was excellent in his Dutton/Arnold Symphony 7 - my favourite version. 

I suppose one "benefit" of Dutton's policy is if/when they release something I like the look of I tend to snap it up because you literally have no idea how long it will be available for!

[kyjo]

Another triumph for Dutton's erratic release/marketing policy!  I'd not seen this new disc mentioned anywhere and then I get an email out of the blue - just about their only new release in some time.



Remarkably they seem to have squeezed 82(!) minutes of music in SACD format onto a single disc with this premiere of the complete scores to two Arnold ballets.  "Homage to the Queen" did appear complete on EMI with Robert Irving but that's an old recording that shows its age.  Gamba recorded suites from both on a fine Chandos disc but with Sweeney the suite was roughly 20 minutes and here we get nearly double that.

It only arrived yesterday so not heard yet but Martin Yates was excellent in his Dutton/Arnold Symphony 7 - my favourite version. 

I suppose one "benefit" of Dutton's policy is if/when they release something I like the look of I tend to snap it up because you literally have no idea how long it will be available for!

I realize I'm sounding like a broken record at this point, but Dutton's current practice of a)not advertising their new releases whatsoever, b)charging exorbitantly high prices for them, and c)prohibiting them to appear on any streaming platforms is all deeply frustrating to say the least! Especially when some of their recent releases, like the one above, have contained some mouthwatering, previously-unrecorded stuff...

[Roasted Swan]

I realize I'm sounding like a broken record at this point, but Dutton's current practice of a)not advertising their new releases whatsoever, b)charging exorbitantly high prices for them, and c)prohibiting them to appear on any streaming platforms is all deeply frustrating to say the least! Especially when some of their recent releases, like the one above, have contained some mouthwatering, previously-unrecorded stuff...

In the UK orders direct from Dutton work out as £12.99 per disc + p&p (one charge only regardless of number of discs).  So, in fairness - not a crazy price for a premium product.  Don't know if the cost to send to the US (tariffs anyone?) bumps that up a lot.  But everything else you say is spot on right/frustrating.

[Symphonic Addict]

Another triumph for Dutton's erratic release/marketing policy!  I'd not seen this new disc mentioned anywhere and then I get an email out of the blue - just about their only new release in some time.



Remarkably they seem to have squeezed 82(!) minutes of music in SACD format onto a single disc with this premiere of the complete scores to two Arnold ballets.  "Homage to the Queen" did appear complete on EMI with Robert Irving but that's an old recording that shows its age.  Gamba recorded suites from both on a fine Chandos disc but with Sweeney the suite was roughly 20 minutes and here we get nearly double that.

It only arrived yesterday so not heard yet but Martin Yates was excellent in his Dutton/Arnold Symphony 7 - my favourite version. 

I suppose one "benefit" of Dutton's policy is if/when they release something I like the look of I tend to snap it up because you literally have no idea how long it will be available for!

Now this is a genuinely interesting recording, but I have to say that it's a pity Dutton is the label that releases it as they don't make their new recordings available for streaming. The another complete recording of Homage to the Queen may be old, but I remember it being rather serviceable and in very good mono sound.

[Roasted Swan]

Now this is a genuinely interesting recording, but I have to say that it's a pity Dutton is the label that releases it as they don't make their new recordings available for streaming. The another complete recording of Homage to the Queen may be old, but I remember it being rather serviceable and in very good mono sound.

Absolutely to the bolded - Irving of course was a famous ballet conductor but there is certainly 'room' for a new version as here.

[kyjo]

In the UK orders direct from Dutton work out as £12.99 per disc + p&p (one charge only regardless of number of discs).  So, in fairness - not a crazy price for a premium product.  Don't know if the cost to send to the US (tariffs anyone?) bumps that up a lot.  But everything else you say is spot on right/frustrating.

Yeah, it's mainly the shipping costs that deem Dutton CDs unaffordable for me. Which, to be fair, isn't their fault...

[kyjo]

Now this is a genuinely interesting recording, but I have to say that it's a pity Dutton is the label that releases it as they don't make their new recordings available for streaming. The another complete recording of Homage to the Queen may be old, but I remember it being rather serviceable and in very good mono sound.

Thanks for the reminder of the Irving recording of the complete ballet - I'll have to give it a listen. So far, I only know the Suite as recorded by Rumon Gamba on Chandos and it's a wonderful work. It's suitably noble and with less of the sardonic/cheeky elements that typically pervade his music.