Sunday Feature: Malcolm Arnold, the Tortured Composer

Malcolm Arnold, the Tortured Composer

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BBC Radio 3 - Sunday Feature, Malcolm Arnold, the Tortured Composer

Simon Heffer champions one of Britain’s greatest symphonists, composer Malcolm Arnold.

Simon Heffer journeys through the symphonic landscape of Malcolm Arnold and unearths a troubled world.

Sir Malcolm Arnold has given joy and pleasure to millions of people all over the world through his music. His screen credits alone numbered far over one hundred, including iconic films such as The Belles of St. Trinian’s, Whistle Down the Wind, Hobson’s Choice, The Sound Barrier, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness and - earning Arnold an Oscar - The Bridge on the River Kwai. Then there are his frequently performed works for the concert hall, including The Padstow Lifeboat, the Scottish, English and Cornish Dances, the Guitar Concerto, and the list goes on. Yet the nine symphonies of Malcolm Arnold have had a very different reception over the years. Simon Heffer champions Arnold as one of the greatest British symphonic composers, and explores why these works are not better known.

Arnold’s professional career started as a trumpeter for a number of leading London orchestras. It was here that he honed his knowledge and craft of orchestration. Interviewed for this feature are musicians who worked with Arnold later in his career, including composer Joseph Horovitz, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and conductor Andrew Penny. All can hear different influences in Arnold’s music, but they all agree that Arnold also had his own very distinctive voice. So why have Arnold’s symphonies been largely neglected? One view is that when Arnold was writing, there was a certain snobbery within the music industry that composers should either write film music or works for the concert hall, but not both. Heffer questions whether this could be one reason for the neglect of Arnold’s symphonies. Another possible reason is Arnold’s innate sense of fun, such as taking part in the Hoffnung Festival. Could this side of his character - to entertain - also be a cause for his more serious works not being taken seriously?

As Simon Heffer delves further, another far more personal theme emerged. Could Malcolm Arnold’s own mental health problems have had something to do with how his symphonic works were received? His symphonies span the trajectory of Arnold’s own life through two divorces, alcoholism, to Arnold being hospitalised and ending up in care. Arnold had a reputation for being jovial, the life and soul of the party, but also for being difficult and rude. Heffer discusses this more personal side of Arnold with his eldest child, Katherine Arnold, who also helps us to explore the biographical nature of these symphonic works. With the assistance of psychiatrist Professor Veronica O’Keane, she gives us her opinions on Arnold the man, and how this may have impacted upon his perception by others.

One advocate for the Fifth Symphony is the conductor Sakari Oramo, who in 2021 gave the BBC Proms debut of this work. Oramo feels that this specific symphony is Arnold’s masterpiece, as does Simon Heffer, who throughout this programme reinforces the importance of Arnold as one of Britain’s greatest composers of symphonies. 

Produced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Wales

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