Piano Music Volume 2
Composer: Sir Malcolm Arnold
Catalogue no: QT73 | ISMN 979-0-708-01573-4
This new volume brings together four more previously unpublished pinao pieces. They share an interesting connection - each never fulfilled its original intention... For more details of Sir Malcolm's fascinating and extraordinary life, read 'Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius' by Paul Harris and Anthony Meredith (Thames Publishing).
PIANO SOLO
-
The Dream City
Flamenco
Theme for Players
Constance's sad dance
Malcolm Arnold needs no introduction, though readers will be
unfamiliar with Piano Music vol 2, comprising four previously
unpublished pieces. All began life in a different guise: The Dream
City, for example, is the title of a Humbert Wolfe poem from the
collection Kensington Gardens. However, Arnold omitted it from
his settings of the other poems in the collection, using it later to
inspire this short, melodious piano piece. Flamenco is the most
substantial of the four, originally intended as part of the music to
the film The Captain's Paradise, though in the end it was never
used. While stretchy in places, there is plenty of rhythmical drive-
and repetition - here. This music may find a niche with the amateur
adult pianist, being suitable for home browsing.
Music Teacher Magazine
This is the third volume of piano music by Malcolm Arnold, following the
Three Fantasies and the Early Piano Music (reviewed in PJ 73) and contains
four pieces, all with the common their original intentions. The first,
"Dream City" , was composed in 1938, inspired by a poem from Humbert
Wolfe's Kensington Gardens. Malcolm music at the age of 16 before entering
the Royal College of Music but, on discovering that Holst had already set the words of "Dream City" to music, he
opted to leave it as a self-sufficient piano piece. Full of atmosphere and wistful
serenity, it requires a large hand to cope with the legato octave phrases. The lively "Flamenco" dates from 1958 and was
probably intended for the score of the film, "The Captain's Paradise" - a comedy featuring Alec Guinness - but,
never having been used as such, it remained unknown for 50 years. Much of
this is suitable for young players except, once again, for the consecutive octaves
needing to be played at a furioso one-in- a-bar pace. "Theme for Players" shows signs of Satie-esque influences but with
extra hemiolas thrown in for mood changes .This is much more appropriately written for smaller hands
and will enchant younger players, having been intended for a television advertisement for John Players cigarettes
in 1962.The final piece, "Constance's Sad Dance", is another charming , slow cantabile piece of only 18 bars in length
with no big stretches and calling for a rich legato tone. It was to have been one
of 13 short sketches for a ballet staging of the Three Musketeers in 1975 but
later became the main theme for the Flute Sonata op.121, composed in 1977 for James Galway. Each of these pieces
has a story behind the music but that does not prevent each from being
complete and rewarding to play on its own.
Nadiah Lasserson - Piano Journal
Queen's Temple Publications was founded in 1995 to make available interesting and useful wind chamber music, such as Sir Malcolm Arnold's important Wind Quintet Op. 2. Since then we have expanded to include music for piano, guitar, choral music and much more. Our publications have been selected by the major examination boards worldwide.
Our composers also include James Rae, Iain Hamilton, Charles Camilleri, Paul Harris, Timothy Bowers and many others. So if you are looking for fresh and unusual new repertoire, look no further!
Queen's Temple Publications is based in the United Kingdom.
Tel: 01280 813144
Email: pauldavidharris@icloud.com