Last month I attended the Bard Music Festival in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, and then had to move on to a wedding in Vermont.
During my Bard stay, over breakfast at the inn, I met someone with the unusual name of Arnell. His first name, I mean. He was an African American male, probably around 40, a writer from L.A., who was there to see his daughter start school at the college. I only mention his race, because not long after, I was in a convenience store in the mountains of Vermont, and I noticed the name tag on an older white woman behind the register, probably in her 70s. The tag, as by now surely you’ve anticipated, also read Arnell!
Being Classic Ross Amico, I had to ask both of them if they were familiar with the composer Richard Arnell or if, at the very least, their parents were musical.
I first learned of Richard Arnell, born on this date in 1917, from a recording of his Sherlock Holmes ballet, “The Great Detective.” But he was also a renowned symphonist, who spent the war years here in the United States, cut off from his home in the U.K. while visiting the 1939 World’s Fair. Here, he cultivated important friendships with Bernard Herrmann, Virgil Thomson, and Sir Thomas Beecham (who, alongside Sir John Barbirolli and Leopold Stokowski, championed his concert works). He also wrote film music for Robert J. Flaherty and ballets for George Balanchine and Frederick Ashton.
A few years ago, when WPRB 103.3 FM still had five hours a day devoted to classical music, I hosted a marathon tribute to the composer for the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. To this end, I had the support of two of the composer’s younger friends – Patrick Jonathan, who now makes his home in Malaysia, and Warren Cohen, who is music director of the MusicaNova Orchestra, based in Phoenix, AZ. Both of them were very generous with their time, sharing anecdotes, recordings, and, in the case of Jonathan, historical documents. As luck would have it, Cohen actually makes his home in New Jersey, just about an hour away. So he was able to drive down and join me for an in-studio interview.
Here’s a link to our conversation.
MusicaNova is a fascinating organization whose mission it is to present “the greatest music you’ve never heard – yet.” In fact, Cohen has conducted first American performances of a number of Arnell’s major works. The sound file includes a MusicaNova performance of Arnell’s Symphony No. 5 – subtitled “The Gorilla” (!) – and Cohen’s gorgeous arrangement for string orchestra, sanctioned by the composer, of the “Elegy” from Arnell’s String Quartet No. 3.
This season, among its more unusual offerings, MusicaNova will present rarely-heard music by Lou Harrison and Germaine Tailleferre, a world premiere by Manel Burgos de la Rosa, and a work by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor that hasn’t been heard in the United States since 1912! Visit the orchestra’s website, and if you find yourself in the area, treat yourself to a musical adventure.
It turns out neither of my recent Arnell acquaintances came from musical families. How many people have Arnell for their first name? It shall remain one of those great mysteries, why the universe would bother to tantalize me with two Arnells living on separate coasts, encountered over several days, roughly four hours apart.
Verily, it is a case worthy of the Great Detective!
Happy birthday, Richard Arnell.
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