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Malcolm Arnold: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 and other works
Michael Collins (clarinet), BBC Philharmonic, Rumon Gamba
Mostly recorded in 2019, the performances f ind Rumon Gamba, the BBC Philharmonic and the engineering team on top form, shaping and colouring these motley scores with a winning mixture of panache...
Malcolm Arnold: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 and other works
Michael Collins (clarinet), BBC Philharmonic, Rumon Gamba
Purchase product
Mostly recorded in 2019, the performances f ind Rumon Gamba, the BBC Philharmonic and the engineering team on top form, shaping and colouring these motley scores with a winning mixture of panache...
About
Rumo n Gamba leads the BBC Philharmonic in this collection of lesser-known pieces by the British composer Sir Malcolm Arnold. Born in 1921, he was inspired by Louis Armstrong to take up the trumpet at the age of twelve. Following study at the Royal College of Music, in London, he became Principal Trumpet of the London Philharmonic, in 1943 ? a post he held (bar one season at the BBC Symphony Orchestra) until he moved to composing full time, in 1948. Arnold was active in many genres, writing nine symphonies, two operas, five ballets, and more than 100 film scores, including The Bridge on the River Kwai for which he won an Oscar. This album features music from across his compositional career, from Larch Trees (1943) to the Philharmonic Concerto (1976) ? both works written for the London Philharmonic. His Divertimento was written for the newly formed National Youth Orchestra, whilst the BBC commissioned the Commonwealth Christmas Overture for the twenty-fifth anniversary of King George VI?s first Christmas Broadcast, in 1932. The Clarinet Concerto No. 1, expertly performed here by Michael Collins, was written for Frederick (?Jack?) Thurston who gave the premiere, in 1949, at the Edinburgh Festival. The album concludes with Philip Lane?s o rchestration of The Padstow Lifeboat, originally composed for brass band to celebrate the launch of a new lifeboat in Padstow in 1968.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
March 2023
Mostly recorded in 2019, the performances f ind Rumon Gamba, the BBC Philharmonic and the engineering team on top form, shaping and colouring these motley scores with a winning mixture of panache and precision.
Sep/Oct 2023
Gamba has a knack for getting the best out of Arnold’s music, neither over-pointing nor underplaying it. The BBC Philharmonic musicians clearly relish the challenges they are given, and the sound is first class in the house style.
April 2023
I’m delighted to be able to report that the BBC Philharmonic’s performances under Rumon Gamba’s understanding direction leave absolutely nothing to be desired, and the vividly realistic Chandos sound is demonstration-worthy. An altogether outstanding release.
January 2023
The sound and playing is superbly consistent. A top-notch Chandos release to start the year… Certainly a disc to show the range and quality of Arnold’s mercurial genius in all its glory.
15th January 2023
A well-curated collection of works by the troubled and controversial composer, with Collins superb in the sprightly clarinet concerto, and Gamba and the BBC Phil audibly relishing the Divertimento No 2.
British Music Society Journal
It is truly splendid, aurally, technically and musically, and all involved are on great form. Mr Gamba really is a magnificent conductor, he brings great energy and rhythmic precision to his performances, and no one currently conducts Arnold as well as him.
