Sir Malcolm Arnold 1921-2006
Malcolm Arnold died last week and we are left with memories of the confusion of his life and conflicting views on his enormous musical output. He was a prodigious composer with more than a hundred film scores, numerous chamber and orchestral compositions, 20 concertos and, what he regarded as his best work, nine symphonies. His music was full of contradictions: at one moment full of melody to be followed by dissonance and apparently illogical interventions. Although he appealed to many listeners, the critics had little time for him and his belated knighthood when he was in his late seventies reflected the disapproval of the musical elite.
I read a biography of Arnold last year – ‘Rogue Genius’ by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris - and was disturbed by its harsh depiction of a man who fought mental illness and alcoholism and as a consequence had a disastrous private life and could often cause extreme embarrassment to the friends he made, often testing their loyalty to the point of breakdown. His irrational and rude behaviour when enjoying William and Susanna Walton’s hospitality is one notable example. His roguishness is clearly of more importance to these authors than his genius. But the warmth and humour in his music reflects the more generous and convivial side of his character. Perhaps one day it will achieve a permanent place in the repertoire
I have always had a regard for his inventiveness and his refusal to belong to any school of composition, although he was clearly influenced by Mahler, Berlioz and Shostakovich. I have CD’s of the symphonies, recorded in his presence by Naxos, and enjoy their luxuriant but basically simple orchestral colour. Originally a trumpeter – he led that section of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for a while- orchestra players regarded him as one of their own. Certainly he relished writing for brass and woodwind. But the man of many tunes had a darker side and these works demand patience and attention, particularly the ninth which took so long during his years of mental confusion to write, and far too long to be given its first performance.
The BBC had little time for Arnold though belatedly – and ironically now that he is dead – Radio 3 is marking what would have been his 85th birthday by making him composer of the week next month. As an obituary in The Guardian says we have lost ‘another of the great individualists who helped to make 20th Century music so gloriously untidy.’ R.I.P.
B.R.
I read a biography of Arnold last year – ‘Rogue Genius’ by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris - and was disturbed by its harsh depiction of a man who fought mental illness and alcoholism and as a consequence had a disastrous private life and could often cause extreme embarrassment to the friends he made, often testing their loyalty to the point of breakdown. His irrational and rude behaviour when enjoying William and Susanna Walton’s hospitality is one notable example. His roguishness is clearly of more importance to these authors than his genius. But the warmth and humour in his music reflects the more generous and convivial side of his character. Perhaps one day it will achieve a permanent place in the repertoire
I have always had a regard for his inventiveness and his refusal to belong to any school of composition, although he was clearly influenced by Mahler, Berlioz and Shostakovich. I have CD’s of the symphonies, recorded in his presence by Naxos, and enjoy their luxuriant but basically simple orchestral colour. Originally a trumpeter – he led that section of the London Philharmonic Orchestra for a while- orchestra players regarded him as one of their own. Certainly he relished writing for brass and woodwind. But the man of many tunes had a darker side and these works demand patience and attention, particularly the ninth which took so long during his years of mental confusion to write, and far too long to be given its first performance.
The BBC had little time for Arnold though belatedly – and ironically now that he is dead – Radio 3 is marking what would have been his 85th birthday by making him composer of the week next month. As an obituary in The Guardian says we have lost ‘another of the great individualists who helped to make 20th Century music so gloriously untidy.’ R.I.P.
B.R.
posted by Euroresidentes at 9:24 AM
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