Directed by Paul Harris, The Malcolm Arnold Festival is an annual programme of events celebrating one of England’s most prolific, colourful and charismatic composers – Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006), who is probably best known for his internationally famous film scores, symphonic showpieces, and a canon of powerfully emotive semi-autobiographical symphonies.
Perhaps less well-known are Malcolm Arnold’s concertos, written throughout his long career and characteristic of the composer’s versatility in writing for a wide range of instruments and in appealing to both performer and listener alike; as such, they demonstrate all the hallmarks of the composer’s inventiveness in smaller scale.
Malcolm Arnold’s scoring for the concerto tends to favour the reduced forces of chamber orchestra or string orchestra and, according to Arnold authority Timothy Bowers; “Within an Arnold Concerto we find a lighter and more intimate world of expression. The influence of Sibelius in particular was embedded in Arnold’s concept of symphony form and scale”, explains Bowers. “He was also attracted to the sound world of Béla Bartók, particularly his ‘night music’.”
As a composition student of Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music and honing his craft as Principal Trumpet amongst the brass elite of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Malcolm Arnold immersed himself in the workings of the orchestra and went on to become one of England’s most skilled and versatile composers, with the ability to write for any instrument that was called for.
“Arnold was far more productive in this field than most of his contemporaries”, says Timothy Bowers, "and this suggests that the concerto was especially important to him as a form. The best of his Concertos are amongst the finest works that Arnold created, and as a body of work they represent a highly personal approach to the genre. The experience of listening and studying the Concerto series as a whole is immensely rewarding.”
Of the twenty ‘Concertos’ with opus numbers, seventeen are for instrumental soloist, of which three are duo-concertos, the majority lasting around fifteen minutes. The earliest were written for friends and colleagues, which lead to commissions from world-renown soloists including Denis Brain (horn), Julian Bream (guitar), Benny Goodman (clarinet), Michala Petri (recorder), and Julian Lloyd Webber (cello), hence those written for more unusual solo instruments, such as harmonica, organ, and piano duo, and in some cases more than one work for the instrument requiring both a different approach in style and orchestral forces.
Some are better known and more regularly performed than others and some are considered masterpieces of the genre, such as the Flute Concerto no.2, and the Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra.
Festival Director Paul Harris is a composer and clarinettist as well as one of the UK's leading educationalists and authors. As Malcolm Arnold's co-biographer, he has worked tirelessly, as Founder-Director of the Malcolm Arnold Festival, to present the composer's genre in an accessible and exciting format and to provide a platform for both professional and student musicians to perform the composer’s works.
“We’re delighted to be holding the Festival at the very prestigious Cripps Hall which is part of Northampton School for Boys – the very school the young Malcolm Arnold attended!”, says Paul Harris. “For Saturday’s evening concert we transfer to St Matthew’s Church which will provide the opportunity to hear a rare performance of the ‘Grand Concerto Gastronomique’ for Waiter, Eater and Food; a suite of short orchestral pieces, in characteristic Arnold style, and calling for a wordless soprano in tribute to Dame Nellie Melba!
Taking part this year are the LGT Orchestra – an award-winning string ensemble featuring talented young soloists from over 20 nations; Equilibrium Symphony Orchestra – who’s young musicians already have professional solo experience, as well as regional orchestras and youth ensembles that include Bedford Sinfonia, Berkshire Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the London Choral Sinfonia.
Saturday evening’s Gala Concert provides the opportunity to hear Malcolm Arnold's Concertos for Trumpet, Harmonica, and Organ, with soloists Nick Budd, Shima Kobayashi and Thomas Moore, while pianist John Lenehan will perform a World Premiere of the Concerto for Two Pianos in his own one piano arrangement.
The Festival will be welcoming a plethora of guest soloists and young talent including: Joshua Milton and Nico Varela, (piano); Poppy Beddoe and Christian Hoddinott, (clarinet); Emmanuel Webb and Elif Ece Cansever, (violin); Hugh Millington and Gonçalo Maia Caetano, (guitar); Michala Petri, (recorder) – who will also be giving a talk; Maria Filippova and Daisy Noton, (flute); Sarah-Jane Bradley, (viola); Daniel Fergie, (oboe); Junyu Zhou, (saxophone), and Ben Goldscheider and Finnian Smith, (horn). Conductors include Hilary Davan Wetton, Mattea Leow, Ian Smith, Jonathan Burnett and Ben Copeman.
The Festival programme will include the beautiful 'Andante Festivo' by one of Arnold's major influences, Jean Sibelius, and complementary works by fellow composers William Walton, Ruth Gipps, and Malcolm Williamson.
