Naxos have done sterling
service for the music of the late Sir
Malcolm Arnold. Now we welcome another
Arnold release; this time of the works
for string quartet.
A winner of an Academy
Award for his score for the 1957 David
Lean film The Bridge on the River
Kwai, Arnold died on 23 September
2006. The current revival of interest
in Arnold’s music is partly as a result
of the celebrations planned for his
eighty-fifth birthday on 21 October
2006 and the usual phenomenon of interest
that tends to follow shortly after the
death of a composer. I note that this
disc was recorded at Potton Hall, Suffolk
in December of 2006 shortly after Arnold’s
death. At this point I must mention
another recent Arnold release performed
by the East Winds ensemble that was
recorded in June 2006 at Potton Hall
on Naxos
8.570294. Comprising twelve wind
chamber scores, five of which it seems
are world premiere recordings, this
superb Naxos release will be one of
my 2007 ‘Records of the Year’.
Cast in four movements
the String Quartet No.1 is one
of Arnold’s comparatively early compositions
and was premièred in 1950 by
the New London String Quartet on the
BBC Third Programme. A product of Arnold’s
period of Bartók adulation its
progressive nature may have come as
a relative shock to some. One notices
certain similarities in character with
Arnold’s contemporaneous First Symphony.
These two scores seem to reflect
the austerity and dark foreboding of
the Cold War era.
The opening movement
marked Allegro commodo is played
by the Magginis with all of Arnold’s
essential agitation and a sense of futile
searching. With the final section of
the movement one notices the mood altering
to one of chilling bleakness. In the
Vivace the Magginis provide frenzied
speeds and violent forward thrusts and
in the Andante the bleakness
returns together with a sense of solitude.
The Magginis convincingly convey
a generally upbeat, yet unsettling mood
in the final movement Allegro con
spirito. The music lessens in intensity
and weight to gradually fade away into
the distance.
Composed over twenty-five
years after the First Quartet,
the String Quartet No.2 was
completed in 1975 and lies chronologically
between Symphonies 7 and 8. The four
movement score is dedicated to Hugh
Maguire, the first violinist of the
Allegri Quartet who gave the première
in 1976 at Dublin Castle and then a
few days later at the Aldeburgh Festival
in Suffolk. It came after a period of
great success for Arnold especially
for his numerous film scores. However
by this time the composer’s personal
life was in turmoil, his reputation
on the wane and many of his works overlooked
by concert programmers.
The Magginis communicate
a powerful and extrovert reading of
the opening Allegro remarkable
for its terse and acute episodes of
aggression. The second movement, a highlight
of the disc, is notable for the dissonant
and quirky passage for solo violin splendidly
played by leader Laurence Jackson. From
1:51 the mood changes drastically with
an extraordinary Celtic folk-dance.
The mood of the opening returns to bring
the movement to a redoubtable conclusion.
The Magginis provide a bleak chill and
desolation to the Andante;
not unlike the corresponding movement
in the First Quartet. Here I am reminded
of the sound-world of the mid to late
Shostakovich string quartets. The appealing
and lyrical final movement makes a welcome
contrast to what has gone before. Excellently
interpreted the movement especially
in the section at 4:16-7:23 returns
to the unsettling world of dissonance
and turbulence.
An early work from
Arnold, the Phantasy for String Quartet,
titled Vita Abundans (Abundant
Life) was composed in 1941 when
he was a nineteen year old student.
It received a second prize in the W.W.
Cobbett competition that was won that
year by Ruth Gipps with her string quartet
Sabrina, Op 13. Arnold’s
Phantasy appears not to have
been given a public performance and
has been neglected for well over half
a century.
Opening with a darting
restlessness one senses a hectic degree
of activity going on both technically
and rhythmically. At 3:21 the Magginis
expertly change the mood to one of heartfelt
yearning. Around 5:36 this gradually
increases in intensity and uncertainty.
At 8:43 a short bluesy passage develops
into one of relative calm and tenderness
tinged with mischief.
The première
recordings of the two numbered Arnold
quartets were by the McCapra Quartet
at Cambridge University in 1992 on Chandos
CHAN 9112. The McCapra are in outstanding
form and provide high quality playing
of character and strength. This is enhanced
by clear and well balanced sonics. Another
version of the Arnold quartets, that
I am not familiar with, is the 2000
London performance from the Ceruti Ensemble
of London on Guild GMCD 7216. Also included
on the Guild disc is the première
recording of Vita Abundans and
the Quintet for wind and strings,
Op. 7.
There is very little
to choose between these performances
of Arnold’s three scores for string
quartet from the Maggini and the McCapra
quartets. Both versions are excellently
performed and have the benefit of first
class recorded sound. The only real
difference is the inclusion of the Phantasy
on the Maggini/Naxos disc.
Many readers will be
aware of the deep personal difficulties
in Arnold’s often troubled life. With
his highly melodic, dance-influenced
music, with wacky humour and biting
sarcasm, tears, pain and anguish are
never far away. These two quartets reveal
a lesser-known side to Arnold’s often
complex and multi-faceted character.
Arnold a popular and lightweight composer?
Certainly not with these scores!
Michael Cookson
Maggini Quartet 
