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Malcolm
ARNOLD (1921-2006)
Overture: Beckus the Dandipratt, op.12 (1945) [8:05]
Fantasy on a Theme of John Field, op.116 (1975) [23:25]
Concerto for two pianos (three hands) (‘Concerto
for Cyril and Phyllis’), op.104 (1969) [13:20]
Concerto for piano duet and strings, op.32 (1951) [21:46]
Phillip Dyson
(piano), Kevin Sargent (second pianist)
Ulster Orchestra/Esa Heikkilä
rec. 18 January 1997 (op.116 only); 15 March 1997; Ulster
Hall, Belfast. DDD NAXOS 8.570531 [66.36]
Thanks
to the enterprise of several recording companies, the past
fifteen years or so have introduced the public to the full
glory of the output of Malcolm Arnold. No longer is he seen
as a kind of musical buffoon, churning out light pieces,
dances and comedy overtures, but as a symphonist of great
stature and a master of chamber music. Indeed, we are now
lucky enough to have three complete recordings of his nine
Symphonies (Handley on Conifer, now Decca, Hickox and Gamba
on Chandos and Andrew Penny on Naxos), and two sets of his
chamber music on Hyperion and Naxos. This new disk gives
us two examples of the light and two of the serious sides
of Arnold’s art, and most welcome it is, too.
Beckus
the Dandipratt was
Arnold’s first success, written whilst he was still a trumpeter
with the London Philharmonic, and recorded by that ensemble
under the conductorship of Eduard van Beinum in 1948. It’s
a riot of a piece, though not without its moments of dark
respite, in which the Dandipratt - an old English name
for an urchin - emerges triumphant; a kind of English Till
Eulenspiegel without the tragic ending. Brilliantly
orchestrated, it makes a magnificent start to this recording.
Chronologically,
the next work is the Concerto for piano duet, written
in the wake of the first set of English Dances. Whilst
there is much music for piano duet, concertos for four hands
at one piano are rare – Gordon Jacob wrote a very attractive
one for Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick in 1969. This music
is passionate and owes something to the fact that Arnold
had recently spent three and a half months in Springfield
Hospital, following a psychotic episode; so often the breakdown
in Arnold’s health is reflected in his music. The outer movements
of this concerto are swift and, in general, easy-going, whilst
the central slow movement is a passacaglia, really a set
of seven variations, which culminates in a jazzy dance.
The Concerto
for two pianos (three hands), originally called Concerto
for Cyril and Phyllis, was a Proms commission – Arnold’s
penultimate major BBC commission - and is a real crowd-pleaser.
A portentous opening movement is full of bell sounds, but
with its tongue firmly in its cheek. It is followed by
a real winner of a slow movement containing one of those “pop” tunes
Arnold could write when he wanted to. The finale is an
unruly rumba, which at the premiere, brought about a five
minute ovation and was repeated as an encore. This is Arnold
in both his manic and depressive moods … but what music!
A recording of the première was issued by the BBC in a
2 CD set (long deleted) made up of live performances of
Arnold conducting his own music, celebrating Arnold’s 75th birthday
and is indispensable for anyone interested in his music
(BBC Radio Classics 15656 91817)
Hugo
Cole writes (Malcolm Arnold, ‘An Introduction to his Music’,
Faber 1989) that the Fantasy on a Theme of John Field “… remains
one of the most disturbing of Arnold’s works …” and it is
a difficult work to listen to, for it jumps from idea to
idea, violent to wistful, melancholic to comedy chase music.
What are we to make of it? On one level it’s a set of variations,
but a far from straightforward set, on another it’s an all-out
battle between piano and orchestra and between Arnold and
Field. Written not long after the dark 7th Symphony and
the overtly populist 2nd Clarinet Concerto,
the Fantasy employs elements of both, but it is the
dark side which informs the work. Poor John Field, the man
could never have expected such an assault on his work, but
what a work it is. Cole sums the work up as “…offering the
listener no clues as to the ways in which (rationally or
emotionally) its message should be interpreted.” Very true,
but thanks to this recorded performance we can return to
the music often and, getting to know it, come to appreciate
it as a distant relation of the romantic piano concerto – which,
surely, is what it is.
Apart
from a moment of confusion from the orchestra at the close
of the Concerto for two pianos (why wasn’t this retaken?)
this is a fine disc with well thought out, and well played,
performances of some very interesting music missing from
our concert halls. Phillip Dyson is the virtuoso soloist
in the Fantasy, more than ably partnered by Kevin
Sargent in the Concertos. The recorded sound is bright and
clear placing the performers in a true concert hall setting.
A valuable addition to Naxos’s growing catalogue of Arnold
recordings.
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