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Sir Malcolm ARNOLD (1921-2006) Wind Chamber Music
Wind Quintet, Op.2 (1943) [12:01]
Duo for 2 clarinets, Op. 135, Divertimento (1988) : (I. Allegro
energico [1:40] II. Allegretto
[0:48] III. Vivace
[0:53] IV. Lento
[1:51] V. Vivace
[1:19] VI. Adagio
[1:33])*
Dream City (1938) (arr. Paul Harris for wind quintet) [2:58]
Hobson's Choice: Overture (1953) (arr. Uwe Radok for wind
octet) [3:30]
Grand Fantasia for flute, clarinet and piano (1940) [10:03]
Overture (1940) (arr. Uwe Radok for wind octet) [3:22]
Suite Bourgeoise for flute, clarinet and piano (c. 1939)
[12:05]
Scherzetto (arr. for clarinet and piano from film score You
Know What Sailors Are) (1953) [2:44] Fantasy for solo clarinet, Op. 87 (1966) [4:05]
Fantasy for flute and clarinet (c. 1960s) [1:30]
Divertimento for flute, oboe and clarinet, Op. 37 (c. 1952)
[9:05]
3 Shanties for wind quintet, Op. 4 (1943) [6:57]
East Winds:
(Judith Treggor (flute); Joseph Sanders (oboe); Victoria
Soames Samek (clarinet); Jonathan Hassan (French
horn); Lizbeth Elliott (bassoon))
Paul Chilvers (piano); Veda
Lin (second oboe); Allison Rosser (second clarinet); Duncan
Fuller (second French horn); Lauren Barr (second bassoon)
rec. 22-23 June 2006, Potton Hall, Suffolk, England. DDD
*op. 135 movements are separated and alternate with successive works NAXOS 8.570294 [76:24]
Goodness me, there has been some vitriol
spouted about the music of Sir Malcolm
Arnold over the years, a composer who
divides opinion like few others. Music
writer Mark Morris in A Guide to
20th Century Composers, writes,
“Malcolm Arnold is something of an anomaly
in modern English music: a prolific,
sometimes brilliant but often depressingly
banal composer totally out of touch
with the developments of the second
half of the 20th Century.”
The BBC hierarchy for many years seemed
to ignore Arnold’s music. People were
convinced that Sir William Glock, then
BBC Controller of Music was pursuing
a vendetta against him and that his
music had been blacklisted. The influential
Sir John Drummond who was BBC Controller
of Music 1985-92; BBC Radio 3 Controller
1987-92 and Director of the BBC Proms
Concerts 1986-95 clearly thought that
Arnold’s music was not the way forward.
Sir John informed me in his own inimitable
way how he believed that Boulez, Henze
(his friend) and Birtwistle were today’s
masters and that he could not convince
himself that Arnold was in the same
league.
The current resurgence in interest in
Sir Malcolm’s music is partly down to
the celebrations that were being planned
for his forthcoming eighty-fifth birthday
and the usual phenomenon of interest
that follows shortly after the death
of a composer; but not exclusively so.
In the last decade or so the tide seems
to have been turning in favour of Sir
Malcolm’s music with arguably a backlash
against those fashionable progressive
and modernist composers for whom he
had been shunned. So for some, Arnold’s
music of infectious melody and madcap
hilarity had become passé,but for his loyal band of supporters
his love of communicating sheer entertainment
to the listener remained an enduring
passion.
Few composers have Arnold’s innate ability
for effortlessly conveying that splendid
blend of wacky humour and nervous anxiety;
slapstick and intense pain, infectious
melody and deep passion, spirited rhythms
and potent drama. Many readers will
be aware of the deep personal difficulties
in Arnold’s often troubled life and
with his highly melodic, dance influenced
and wit infused music, tears, pain and
anguish are never far away. A month
or two ago in a review of a Franz Liszt
disc I recall writing, “the contrasting
demands of Liszt’s inconsistent genius,
with writing that is brilliant one minute
and bordering on the vulgar the next.”
Whilst not placing Arnold in the same
elevated league as Liszt the same sentiments
could be said to apply to the frequently
uneven quality of Arnold’s music.
This is a valuable release from Naxos
for Arnold collectors as it comprises
twelve wind chamber scores, five of
which are claimed to be world premiere
recordings. Sir Malcolm wrote a large
body of works for wind instruments and
the label will require more than this
single release to encompass all his
compositions. I look forward to a further
issue from these excellent performers
of the remaining wind works; such as
the Trevelyan Suite, Op. 96;
Quintet for flute, violin, viola,
horn and bassoon, Op. 7; Trio
for flute, viola and piano, Op 6
et al.
The first score on the release is the
Wind Quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet,
horn and bassoon, Op.2. Arnold composed
the score in 1943 for his friends in
the London Philharmonic Orchestra and
the work was lost for over sixty years.
It was only after the death of clarinettist
Stephen Walters, who played in the first
performance, that the score and parts
were discovered in his possessions.
In the hands of East Winds the good
humoured Allegro has a jazzy
feel with lots of hectic activity and
there is a spiky, almost repetitive
quality to the brief Scherzo.
Marked Alla Marcia the finale
contains sardonic marching rhythms and
a pseudo bugle reveille, where it seems
likely that Arnold is parodying the
brutality of the Second World War.
Arnold wrote a significant amount of
music that featured the clarinet and
the Divertimento for 2 Clarinets,
Op. 135 from 1988 is the most recent
work on this release. For some unknown
reason the six movements have been spread
across the release to, “form a series
of interludes.” It is hard to fault
clarinettists Victoria Soames Samek
and Allison Rosser who provide their
best endeavours in this rather unmemorable
and uneventful score. Notable is the
short third movement Vivace contains
virtuosic playing of reckless abandon.
Marked Lento the fourth movement
appears to be divided into two sections;
the first a relaxing section, followed
by a perky and brisk second. Of reasonable
interest is the fifth movement, another
Vivace, thatpursues an
agitated mood.
Dream City was originally a piano
piece composed by the teenage Arnold
on Christmas Eve in 1938 whilst a pupil
at the Royal College of Music. Paul
Harris has arranged the brief piano
score for wind quintet that I assume
employs the instrumentation of flute,
oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon.
The confident players of East Winds
provide a tender and relaxing interpretation
of this melodic score.
The year 1953 was an extremely busy
and highly productive year for Arnold.
Based on the original 1915 stage comedy
by Harold Brighouse, Hobson’s Choice
staring Charles Laughton and John Mills,
and directed by David Lean was one of
several film scores he wrote that year.
The Hobson’s Choice: Overture
has been arranged by Uwe Radok for wind
octet, it seems for pairs of oboes,
clarinets, French horns and bassoons.
Prominent throughout is the jaunty theme
that seems to mimic Charlie Chaplin’s
comical bow-legged dance-walk.
The Grand Fantasia was composed
in 1940 and is a most impressive work
in which Arnold recycles themes from
his various film scores. Although no
expert on Arnold’s film scores I keep
hearing themes from the series of St.
Trinian’s films, the fictional girls
school, conceived by cartoonist Ronald
Searle. Although we are not told the
Grand Fantasia is a trio scored
for flute, clarinet and piano.
Using contrasting tempi the work is
an eclectic blend of various musical
styles. A theme reminiscent to that
used to represent St. Trinian’s spiv
Flash Harry and played on a pseudo pub
piano is first heard at 2:22-2:40; followed
by tango infused music at 4:19-5:32;
then a jazzy clarinet solo played by
Victoria Soames Samek at 5:41-6:03 and
6:42-7:05 and fairground fun and frolics
at 7:45-8:20.
Composed in 1940 the score titled Overture
was probably intended as an opening
movement of a larger work. We are not
informed of the original instrumentation
but here Uwe Radok has made a wind octet
arrangement it seems for pairs of oboes,
clarinets, French horns and bassoons.
Written in the war years the Overture
proves to be an agitated and frenetic
work with lots of aggression and warlike
chords and melodies.
A masterwork of the genre, Arnold wrote
his Suite Bourgeoise for flute, clarinet
and piano in the early war years
around 1939. Evidently the score was
lost for fifty or so years and only
came to light again in 1996. The five
movement work commences with a hot and
sultry Prelude containing a sunny
Mediterranean feel, followed by the
warm and lyrical Tango subtitled
‘Elaine’ that concludes in a pastoral
vein. I found the central movement titled
Dance (censored), originally
called Whorehouse, evocative
of the bright lights of a bustling city
scene and the passionate Ballad has
a cocktail bar feel to the piano writing.
The Suite Bourgeoise concludes
with an attractive movement titled Valse
(Ugo) of swirling, good humoured
music.
I heard the Suite Bourgeoise superbly
performed in recital last year at my
local music society by the ensemble
Intriplicate in an arrangement of flute,
oboe and piano.Intriplicate
are a young Manchester-based trio formed
in 2001, comprising flautist Claire
Fillhart, oboist Sally Richardson and
Claire Dunham on piano. A delightful
recording of the Suite Bourgeoise
is the recently released performance
from flutist Nancy Ruffer, oboist John
Anderson and Helen Crayford on piano.
Recorded in 2006 at Potton Hall, Suffolk
this highly desirable release of ‘British
Music for flute, oboe and piano’is available on Dutton Epoch CDLX
7181 (c/w Eugène Goossens Pastorale
et Arlequinade; Dring Trio;
Musgrave Impromptu for flute and
oboe; Bennett Sounds and Sweet
Aires: McGuire Three Dialogues
for flute and oboe: Samuel Shadow
Dance).
The Scherzetto arranged here
for clarinet and piano began its life
as part of the 1954 comedy film score
You Know What Sailors Are featuring
Donald Sinden and Michael Hordern. In
this excellent performance from Victoria
Soames Samek and pianist Paul Chilvers
I experienced the Scherzetto
as a vibrant score with an exceptionally
easygoing and cheerful nature.
The Fantasy for solo clarinet,
Op. 87 was composed in 1966 as a test
piece for the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra International Wind Competition.
Soloist Victoria Soames Samek plays
the Clarinet Fantasy with accomplishment
in what proves to be a reasonably appealing
work that blends agreeable melody and
occasional quirky rhythms with realistically
technical difficulty for the clarinet.
The miniature Fantasy for flute and
clarinet was composed as a present
for his children Katharine and Robert
to play together. Written in the early
1960s, a successful time for Arnold,
who had a few years previously in 1957
been awarded an Oscar for best music
score for the David Lean film The
Bridge on the River Kwai. Similarities
to the DoubleFantasy
have been identified to the title music
from his contemporaneous score to Bryan
Forbes’s 1961 film Whistle Down the
Wind. This is superb woodwind writing
from Arnold with a haunting main theme
played by flautist Judith Treggor against
Victoria Soames Samek’s equally memorable
bass line.
Cast in six short movements the Divertimento
for flute, oboe and clarinet, Op.
37 was composed by Arnold for his friends
Richard Adeney; Sidney Sutcliffe and
Stephen Walters who gave the premiere
of the work. In 1952, the time of his
successful score to the David Lean film
The Sound Barrier,Arnold
was at the height of his compositional
powers and the Woodwind trio
reveals itself as a classic example
of the genre.I found the opening
movement an Allegro energico witty
and melodic, the Languido sad
and yearning that grows in intensity
with a rumbustious central Vivace.
The Andantino is a passionate
and tender piece, the Allegretto
semplice has a fanfare evocative
of a Middle-Age jousting competition
and I enjoyed the nostalgic seriousness
of the final movement Piacevole.
With the fear of sounding repetitive
yet another masterwork is the 3 Shanties
for Wind Quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet,
horn and bassoon, Op. 4; Arnold’s
most frequently performed wind score.
The 3 Shanties was composed in
1943 and first performed by the wind
quintet of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
during a lunchtime shift in the strange
surroundings of an aircraft hangar at
Filton Aerodrome, Bristol.
Each of the three movements uses a traditional
shanty: the first utilises What shall
we do with the drunken sailor?,
the second Boney was a warrior and
the third uses Johnny come down to
Hilo. The outer movements leave
the shanties at several points, and
in the opening Allegro con brio we
hear an Argentine tango; what sounds
like a Scottish reel and a Hillbilly
hoedown. Arnold takes a rest in the
central Allegretto semplice which
is slow and relaxing. The concluding
Allegro vivace is rhythmic and
scampering and includes a waltz and
a bossa nova.
The 3 Shanties for Wind Quintet is
a popular chamber work and there are
a few versions available in the catalogues.
I note that the Nash Ensemble has recorded
the 3 Shanties on their all Arnold
disc titled ‘Chamber Music Volume 3’
on Hyperion Helios CDH55073. In addition
clarinettist Emma Johnson on her disc
Arnold ‘Clarinet Works’ has also recorded
the 3 Shanties on ASV CDDCA922.
The five musicians of East Winds together
with their guest players perform Arnold’s
wind chamber music with fine accomplishment
throughout. It is hard to find fault
with these fresh and engaging interpretations
that have the spontaneous feel of a
live performance. The timbre of the
instruments is very well captured by
the Naxos engineers with only the barest
amount of fierceness from the horn.
Those looking for a recording of Arnold’s
wind chamber music have no need to look
elsewhere.
Carelessly some of the composition dates
are not mentioned in the booklet notes.
One has to deduce the scoring of the
Wind Quintets, Op.2 and Op. 4
and there is no information whatsoever
about the instrumentation of the Grand
Fantasia. Much of this essential
information can be obtained from the
Malcolm
Arnold website.
On this Naxos release Sir Malcolm is
in his element with these excellently
performed wind chamber scores and I
was with him all the way.
Michael Cookson
Note:
I wish to emphasise that the Suite Bourgeoise
is performed here by the combination
of flute, oboe and piano. However, the
Naxos booklet notes erroneously list
the scoring as being for flute, clarinet
and piano. Information contained on
the official Sir Malcolm Arnold website,
together with several other sources
I have consulted, confirm the use of
the flute and not the clarinet.
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