This is the first CD
ever devoted to Richard Arnell’s orchestral
music. Dutton have tackled the challenge
head-on with a truly epic symphony of
a scale similar to that of the recently
released Tovey Symphony (Toccata - review).
This is however in a style quite different
from the Tovey: a massive six movement
wartime symphony. As such it can be
loosely grouped with other British symphonies
of that time: Hubert Clifford, Arthur
Benjamin, RVW6 and Stanley Bate 3; how
long before this is recorded! It is
a resoundingly confident piece of work
rejoicing in turbulence and alive with
voices some of which pre-date the work
and some of which were yet to come.
Who knows how many of the pre-date 'voices'
had actually been heard by Arnell. In
a way it hardly matters but to help
those unfamiliar with the work and considering
whether or not to buy let me mention
a few. Nielsen is certainly one voice:
especially in the Fifth Symphony. Sibelius
may also be heard as an influence especially
in the creeping manic writing for rustling
strings. Other voices include Bax (slightly
- from the Fifth Symphony), Alwyn (symphonies
1 and 4), Lilburn and Randall Thompson.
The impressively tension-inducing first
movement is remarkable for its gaunt
jagged trumpet fanfares and superb contrasts
between dynamics and the extremes of
the scale - some wonderful tangy deep
bass work for the contrabassoon. Both
the Presto and the Finale recall in
their stomping energy - part de Falla
and part Shostakovich - the spectacular
finale of Arnell’s Fifth Symphony and
also of Alwyn’s Fourth - lying way in
the future. The Fifth was wonderfully
put across by John Carewe conducting
the BBC NSO on 1 July 1977. Time and
again the Third rises to vital and noble
heights. The brief andante maestoso
introduction to the Allegro finale
sings in the 1940s manner of William
Schuman but also with the epic spirit
of Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antartica.
That final allegro is also suffused
with the wartime ruggedness of Copland
Symphony No. 3. The RSNO sound glorious
especially their impressive brass section.
The Arnell Third Symphony
was written in New York where the composer
had been stranded by the onset of the
Second World War. I sincerely hope that
with the verve and no holds barred commitment
brought to this work by Martin Yates
and the RSNO that they will soon tackle
the remaining Arnell symphonies; the
Fifth next please. The Third really
is a most impressive work of epic symphonic
weight, circumstance and moment. If
you doubt me try the last five minutes
of the finale.
The New Age overture
is from the year in which the war started,
a war that was to result in the death
of Arnell’s mother in the London Blitz
in 1942. It is a peppy affair with some
gaunt overtones typical of the times
including his trademark thunderously
brassy stomping and a proclivity for
the artful and provocative building
of tension and anxiety. This and no
doubt other Arnell overtures could share
concert overture programmes with Copland’s
Outdoor Overture, Diamond’s Tempest
overture and Schuman’s American
Festival just as easily as they
could with Rawsthorne’s Street Corner
and Cortège, Moeran’s
Overture to a Masque, Alwyn’s
Derby Day, Geoffrey Bush’s Yorick
and Ferguson’s Overture to an
Occasion.
These two works promise
and deliver much. I am quite sure there
are yet more discoveries aplenty to
be made in the Arnell catalogue.
Rob Barnett
See also reviews
of Arnell’s Punch and the Child
by Rob
Barnett Jonathan
Woolf
Arnell articles
Richard
Arnell at 88 by Susan Roberts
Richard
Arnell: A personal tribute by
David Wright
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Martin Yates
