First of all let’s
just put Samuel Arnold into context.
He was born in 1740 in London. That
same year J.S. Bach and George Frederic
Handel were both 55 years old. And when
our composer died in 1802 Beethoven
was aged 32 and had just finished his
Second Symphony. So Samuel Arnold
as an individual very definitely crossed
the stylistic boundaries – from baroque
to early romantic via classicism. Of
course his music does not reflect this
diversity. If we are looking for a reference
point it would be the orchestral works
of J.C Bach - The London Bach.
If we approach this
CD in a structured way it will, I think,
help us to understand and appreciate
this relatively unknown composer. Please
do not just bang the CD into the player
and Go! My suggestion is to begin with
the incidental music for the ‘Scottish
Play’. This score was composed for the
George Colman production at the Little
Theatre in Haymarket on 7 September
1778. It is a charming work that bases
much of its material on Scottish folksong
- both real and contrived. The lightness
of the music does not really stress
the depth of the Shakespearean Tragedy
- it has more the feel of ‘Brigadoon’
than the death of Duncan and the guilt
of Lady Macbeth. But as music it is
a really excellent introduction to Samuel
Arnold. There are some eight movements
recorded here including such delights
as The Yellow Haired Laddie,
The Braes of Ballenden and the Earl
of Douglas’ Lament. Strangely the
incidental music suite ends with The
Favourite March in Bonduca. This
was actually a work by Henry Purcell
subsequently arranged by Arnold.
Most people know of
the ‘Beggar’s Opera’ – but I
imagine that fewer have heard of Polly
which is the sequel. Originally the
music had ‘tunes harmonised by Johann
Christoph Pepusch’ and a libretto by
John Gay. However the 1779 production
had an improved libretto and the music
was revised, rescored and largely re-composed
by Arnold. The opera is a story about
a woman, Polly, who goes to live in
the West Indies but chooses not to dwell
with the colonists. She retires to the
wilderness with her Indian husband.
The opera explores the idea of rejection
of the materialistic values of its day.
The Overture
recorded here makes use of some thirteen
tunes extracted from the opera. They
are effectively used and combined to
mould the material into a kind of sonata
form. Altogether an attractive piece
of music that both entertains and amuses
–although I am not sure that I need
to take time out to listen to a putative
revival of the entire opera!
And last but not least
turn to the six overtures. Arnold was
best known for his stage works and operas;
however these overtures are great examples
of their genre. They were composed for
the out of doors concerts at the Marylebone
Gardens. These were pleasure gardens
rather similar to those at Vauxhall
which were the precursors of the Monday
Pops and the Proms.
Each of the overtures
has three movements exhibiting the standard
‘fast–slow-fast’ arrangement popular
at the time. Typically the slow middle
movement was played by strings alone.
As noted above the reference point is
J.C. Bach or perhaps the Mannheim School
– however there is a certain English
expansiveness about much of this music
that gives it a unique flavour. There
are obvious references to such bucolic
pastimes as hunting! They can be listened
to end to end whilst reading Samuel
Johnson or chatting over a glass of
porter. But this is to do them an injustice.
Take one at a time and enjoy!
The sound quality is
excellent, the programme notes by Robert
Hoskins are extensive and the playing
is beyond reproach. Altogether a fine
CD that introduces the listener to virtually
the entire corpus of surviving orchestral
music by Samuel Arnold.
John France
Toronto Camerata/Kevin Mallon 
