Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Richard Arnell

Richard Arnell Rediscovered on WWFM

It’s been brought to my attention by Patrick Jonathan that tomorrow will mark the tenth anniversary of the passing of English composer Richard Arnell. While I am not in the habit of commemorating death anniversaries, I will make an exception in the case of this neglected and deserving composer of much attractive and inspirational music.

Join me today on The Classical Network, following today’s Noontime Concert, for a sampling of Arnell’s output. Just how much of it will be heard remains to be seen. I’ve pretty much got a clean slate from 1 to 4 p.m. EDT.

First, we’re off to midtown Manhattan for another concert presented under the auspices of Gotham Early Music Scene (or GEMS). Empire Viols will perform a program of transcriptions of organ trios by Johann Sebastian Bach and Bach pupil Johann Ludwig Krebs. The concert was given last June at Saint Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Avenue, as part of GEMS’ free Midtown Concerts series. Free concerts are held at St. Bart’s every Thursday at 1:15 p.m. This Thursday, Douglas Lundeen will perform a recital of French works composed for the piston-valve French horn. To find out more, visit gemsny.org.

Then stay tuned, as I dip into my arsenal of Arnell. I’ll be manning the cannons against the canon, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

If you’re interested, here’s a link to a conversation I had with Warren Cohen, music director of the MusicaNova Orchestra. Musica Nova is a really fascinating organization, based in Phoenix, AZ, that bills itself as presenting “the greatest music you’ve never heard – yet.” Cohen knew Arnell personally and gave the U.S. premieres of a number of his major works. The interview took place on the occasion of the composer’s centenary. The soundfile includes a Musica Nova performance of Arnell’s Symphony No. 5 – subtitled “The Gorilla!” – and Cohen’s beautiful arrangement for string orchestra, sanctioned by the composer, of the Elegy from Arnell’s String Quartet No. 3.

April 9, 2019
Arnell’s Bruckner Symphony on WWFM Today

I know, I play an awful lot of Bruckner on WWFM on Tuesday afternoons. It’s a way for me to regroup as I come down off the adrenaline rush of hosting the live noon concerts, which are unscripted and basically improvised from a sheaf of papers handed to me, which I do my best to assimilate in advance.

I also know I have been going on an awful lot about Richard Arnell, the neglected English master, in connection with the centenary of his birth, which was last Friday. (Yesterday I played his String Quintet No. 3.)

So, in the interest of mixing it up, today I will offer something a little different: Arnell’s Bruckner-inflected Symphony No. 3. Arnell’s wartime symphony bears other diverse influences – some Sibelius here, a dash of Nielsen there; perhaps even some Shostakovich – but try listening to it with Bruckner in mind, especially the earlier movements.

The six-movement piece was composed in the United States, where Arnell found himself stranded while visiting the World’s Fair in 1939, his return home cut off by the outbreak of the Second World War. His mother would be killed in the Blitz in 1942. Arnell dedicated his symphony “to the political courage of the British people.”

It certainly achieves an ambitious scale, running to over an hour in length. And don’t get me wrong: despite the multiplicity of influences – there’s even a kind of barn dance that recalls American symphonic music of the era – it is English, and most certainly Arnell, to the core. I think you’ll agree, it works up a good head of steam and achieves passages of genuine nobility. Judge for yourself; I’ll be playing it around 2:00.

First, today’s Noontime Concert will be made up of performances by the New York Chamber Ensemble, drawn from this summer’s Cape May Music Festival. We’ll hear selections from two programs. The first will include music by Philippe Hersant (“Héliades” for flute and strings), Johan Kvandal (from his Hardanger fiddle quintet) and Felix Mendelssohn (his String Quartet No. 2 in B-flat major). Then saxophonist Eddie Barbash will join the group for riffs on a variety of old favorites by Cole Porter, Ruben Fuentes, Manuel Ponce, Vincenzo Bellini, Harry Warren, and the ever-prolific Anonymous. Next year’s Cape May Music Festival will run from May 27 to June 14. Further developments, as they become available, will be posted at the festival’s website, capemaymac.org.

I hope you’ll join me today, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, for chamber music, an epic symphony and more, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 19, 2017
Richard Arnell Centenary on WPRB

It’s all-Richard Arnell this Thursday morning on WPRB, on this, the eve of the centenary of his birth.

My special guest will be Warren Cohen, music director of the MusicaNova Orchestra, who has conducted a good many of Arnell’s works, including all of the symphonies. In fact, MusicaNova will perform Arnell’s Symphony No. 6 on October 29th, in Phoenix, AZ, on the same program as Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Symphony No. 5 and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra. You can learn more at http://musicanovaaz.com/orchest…/2017-18-orchestra-concerts/.

Cohen will join me at 8:00 EDT. We’ll anticipate his visit by listening to his recording of Arnell’s Symphony No. 4, beginning around 7:35. It’s all the Arnell you can eat, until 11:00 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com.

September 14, 2017
Richard Arnell Rediscovered Centenary

Recollects his friend, Patrick Jonathan, of composer Richard Arnell, “He loved the ladies, and the ladies loved him. When he was in his late sixties I would sit in on his classes at LIFS (London International Film School) and then we’d go and have a ‘liquid lunch’ at a drinking club in Covent Garden called the Seven Dials. At this stage he wasn’t in the best shape… but he still had tremendous charisma and a stately bearing that made him stand out in a crowd.

“One lunchtime we were drinking at this club and an older lady was working the tables, clearing up and cleaning up. She came to our table and asked Tony if he was empty. He didn’t understand and asked her to explain. She said she wanted to know if he was empty because she’d been told that she should go and pick up the empties!

“Even at that age, he still had it…”

I think you’ll agree, even now, Arnell still has it. Tune in this Thursday morning for a mini-marathon of his equally charismatic, though puzzlingly neglected music.

At 8:00, I’ll be joined by Warren Cohen, music director of the MusicaNova Orchestra and champion of deserving though lesser-heard repertoire, who will help celebrate this outstanding English composer. Arnell flourished in the 1940s and ‘50s, before falling into relative obscurity. Even with the recorded revival of his symphonies in the 2000s, he still can’t truthfully be said to be a household name. Here’s hoping his centenary brings him further recognition.

We’ve got an arsenal of Arnell, all cued-up and ready to go, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. I hope you’ll join me for an English breakfast, on Classic Ross Amico.

September 14, 2017
Richard Arnell Rediscovered on WPRB

Why he is not better known is a mystery worthy of “The Great Detective” himself. Richard Arnell composed his Sherlock Holmes ballet for the Sadler’s Wells in 1953. We’ll hear the composer’s own recording, among our featured works, this Thursday morning on WPRB, as we anticipate the 100th anniversary of Arnell’s birth on September 15th.

We’ll also hear Sir Thomas Beecham’s classic recording of “Punch and the Child,” composed for Lincoln Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan in 1948. (The Caravan also launched Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” and Virgil Thomson’s “Filling Station.”)

I’ll be joined by conductor Warren Cohen in the 8:00 hour. Cohen has performed many of Arnell’s orchestral works with the MusicaNova Orchestra. The Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 have been issued commercially on the Con Brio Recordings label. We’ll hear the authorized release of the Symphony No. 4, and then enjoy a real treat in the form of a blazing live concert performance of the Symphony No. 5. Cohen will also conduct his own arrangement for string orchestra of the “Elegy,” from Arnell’s String Quartet No. 3.

On October 29th, MusicaNova will perform Arnell’s Symphony No. 6 in Phoenix, AZ, on the same program as Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Symphony No. 5 and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra. I’d say that’s just about worth a plane ticket. You can find out more at http://musicanovaaz.com/orchestra-concerts/2017-18-orchestra-concerts/.

Recordings set down by Martin Yates, one of Arnell’s composition students at Trinity College of Music, will also feature on the morning’s playlist, as he conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra, on the Dutton Vocalion Records label.

Criminally, none of Arnell’s symphonies received studio recordings until 2005. Happily, the composer was still around to enjoy the belated recognition. He died in 2009, at the age of 91.

Even so, I suspect he remains unknown to many. I hope you’ll join me for this well-crafted and frequently inspired music by one of the most-neglected of England’s mid-century symphonists. As his friend, Patrick Jonathan, sums up in his liner notes to the Con Brio release, “ Wherever these works are listened to, I am sure they will speak directly to the heart.”

The game’s afoot, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. The music is far from elementary, my dear Watson, on Classic Ross Amico.

September 13, 2017

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