Composer: Malcolm Henry Arnold
Performer: Paul Reynolds
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Rumon Gamba, Richard Hickox
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN10853
Release: 2015
Size: 1.1 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Symphony No. 1, Op. 22
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andantino
03. III. Vivace con fuoco – Alla marcia – Maestoso
Symphony No. 2, Op. 40
04. I. Allegretto
05. II. Vivace
06. III. Lento
07. IV. Allegro con brio – Lento molto e maestoso
CD 02
Symphony No. 3, Op. 63
01. I. Allegro – Vivace
02. II. Lento
03. III. Allegro con brio – Presto
Symphony No. 4, Op. 71
01. I. Allegro – Poco piu mosso – Tempo primo
02. II. Vivace ma non troppo
03. III. Andantino
04. IV. Con fuoco – Alla marcia – Tempo primo – Maestoso – Allegro molto
CD 03
Symphony No. 5, Op. 74
01. I. Tempestuoso
02. II. Andante con moto – Adagio
03. III. Con fuoco
04. IV. Risoluto – Lento
Symphony No. 6, Op. 95
05. I. Energico
06. II. Lento – Allegretto – Lento
07. III. Con fuoco
Symphony No. 8, Op. 124
08. I. Allegro
09. II. Andantino
10. III. Vivace
CD 04
Symphony No. 7, Op. 113
01. I. Allegro energico
02. II. Andante con moto – Molto vivace – Lento
03. III. Allegro – Allegretto – Allegro – Allegretto – Allegro
Symphony No. 9, Op. 128
04. I. Vivace – Allargando
05. II. Allegretto
06. III. Giubiloso
07. IV. Lento
This four-CD box set presents the complete cycle of the award winning recordings of Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Symphonies under two of the finest conductors of their times, both exclusive to Chandos: the late Richard Hickox and Rumon Gamba, respectively conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic.
The set is a must-have for all fans of Arnold as well as for those who want to know more about his symphonic compositions.
Among the English symphonists of the twentieth century, Malcolm Arnold is one of the very few prolific high-profile masters of the genre – comparable to Vaughan Williams and his nine symphonies. The emotional and colouristic range of his style, together with his structural originality, sets his achievements apart from those of his compatriots who, likewise, engaged with the symphony to any significant extent.
The depth of Arnold’s artistic vision was strikingly demonstrated by the monumental Fifth Symphony (1961), which left many distinguished reviewers perplexed by its disconcerting juxtaposition of the profound and the banal. Arnold’s late symphonies build on the strengths of their predecessors, reflecting tension and contrasts in quite different ways. As so often in Arnold’s work, the humorous and the funereal continue to exist side by side.