Customer Reviews

Sir Malcolm Arnold: Dances

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Malcolm Arnold, famous for his film music (Bridge on the River Kwai), symphonies (many available on the Chandos label), and overtures, is here represented in a very entertaining series of Dances; composed between English Dances Set I in 1950 and the Welsh Dances in the past decade or so, spanning Opus' 27 to 138.

In many of Arnolds' symphonies, he uses many sounds evocative of Mahler and Sibelius, often brooding, creating expansive landscapes with little program associated with the music. With this series of dances, you will find nothing of that. The dances might most closely be associated with a Holst Suite or the Vaughan Williams Folk Song Suite, etc., but that would be doing these works an injustice. Each set is filled with musical pictures of each country they represent.

Each set of Dances follows the form of 1. Fast Movement 2. Scherzo-esque movement 3. Slow Movement featuring a lonely solo wind instrument on melody taken up by the sweeping strings later and 4. Fast Movement.

The outside movements are all gloriously vivacious. They often feature bubbling woodwind sections, tight fast moving brass acclamations, extremely high horn rips, rousing melodies and climaxes to get the blood boiling. These outer movements are truly exhilarating. The scherzo movements are very playful, usually featuring the interplay between woodwinds and strings. The slow movements are among some of the most beautiful written. Obviously taken from folk-song sources, these gorgeous melodies and orchestrations remind one of Grainger and Vaughan Williams.

This CD alone could be bought just for English dances I & II and the Scottish dances (which has the jaw-dropping sixteenth-note triple-toungings and ear-crunching horn-rips). Andrew Penny along with the Queensland Symphony blast through this music, creating a great English atmosphere along with edge-of-your-seat performances. All in all, this recording is great fun and great light British music. Do not hesitate to try this CD, one of the only complete sets of Arnold Dances (check out Chandos at full price) at a great price!

If you are looking for something with a contemporary sound
with lots of energy then buy this CD. I was listening to
six dance settings by Holst and I fell asleep, then this CD
comes on and Wow! What a wakeup call. The quality of the performance is excellent and the interpretation by Mr. Penny
pleases me. Some of his tempos don't quite conform to the score but the effect achieved is believable. I give four stars because the overall recording level seems a bit low.

Andrew Penny's recordings of Arnold Symphonies 1-9 are superb and I give them all five stars. This performance of the Dances doesn't rate as highly because the Queensland Symphony does not play with the precision or personality of Penny's Irish group. The Four Scottish Dances are an example: The trumpets struggle to articulate in movement 1 ; the bassoonist is cold sober in 2 (don't know if this was Penny's decision or if he just let it get by), and the oboe playing is not in the same league as the fine work on Penny's Irish Orchestra CDs. Solo work throughout the Queensland recording has an anonymity which is more typical of good college players who don't or can't reveal themselves in their playing,and are unable to contribute the kind of artistry which merges with the composition to add to the overall impact.

Recording quality, at least on my system, sounds treble-heavy with middle voices and basses seriously shortchanged. I know my components have their limits but I hear no such problems on Penny's National Orchestra of Ireland recordings. Bryden Thomson's Chandos CD of the Dances has detail missing from the Queensland Dances and has much better overall sound.

A main reason to get this CD of the Dances is the inclusion of the Four Welsh Dances, which are not on Thomson's recording. The Welsh Dances present a more pessimistic and somber Arnold; they're a fine work.

In summary, get Penny for Arnold's Symphonies and get Thomson for all Dances except the Welsh.

Sir Malcolm Arnold to a non-classical audience might know his name as the Academy Award winning composer for the movie, Bridge Over the River Kwai. However, he had quite the selection of pieces penned ranging from ballets to symphonies to light music. And for this CD, it is both a testament to the prowess that was Sir Arnold's gift for melody and to showcase some of the best that light music has to offer.

Now to an American ear, words like "light music" or "mood music" have a connotation of being music you just play in the background while you work, and it isn't really taken seriously or given much thought. Across the Atlantic, light music means music of a less serious tone: usually shorter concert works around a couple of minutes with a really strong melody and appeals to a much wider audience. But they aren't to be taken any less seriously. It was once a huge genre in England and is slowly regaining its popularity.

I will say this up front: This is one fantastic offering by the Naxos label. Not only does it include the oft performed English Dances: Sets 1 and 2; and the Scottish Dances, it also has the lesser-known Cornish, Irish, and Welsh dances. Having all six sets of dances on one CD at an amazing price, you can't beat that. But do the recordings sound as good as this offer? For the most part, yes they do, and when it's on, they shine brightly.

The Queensland Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Penny performs all six of the dances with much conviction. They pour all of their energy into giving you the best performance they can possibly give, and they do well for the most part. Throughout all six dances, all the instruments are full sounding and have incredible balance. The string section needs commended, as they sound amazing, especially in the slow moving ballad-esque pieces they sound silky smooth.

There isn't a time when a section gets overzealous and decides to steal the show. These players know what they are doing and know exactly how to sell the piece to the audience. Oh, and be ready to hear a lot of trumpet licks and fanfares. Sir Arnold himself was a professional trumpet player before putting it away to become a composer full time and he gave the trumpets the occasional spotlight.

Now is that to say this is the tightest playing it could possibly be? No, it isn't. The rapid-fire triplet passages the brass do in the first movement of the Scottish dances is a little murky, and on one or two occasions the trumpets have a slight intonation problem. But the infrequency as to which this happens just makes this an incredibly small complaint on a list of very long praise.

The content on the disc could almost be divided into two groups: light and heavy. I know I said it was all light music, but it all has varying degrees of "lightness". After the Scottish dances there is a noticeable turn in style. It gets darker and less playful. Yes, there are still moments of happiness, but not as much as in the English sets or Scottish dances. There is less "dance" in the dances.

The Cornish, Irish, and Welsh dances are amazing works in their own right and are a joy to listen to, but I do believe Sir Arnold was in top form for the first three pieces on the CD. The melodies on the first three sets are more recognizable and stronger. The diversity in playing is also much more pronounced in the first three sets, whereas the last three can run together a bit.

All in all, this is a very energetic collection of all six dances that Sir Malcolm Arnold composed for orchestra. No, it isn't perfect, but the amount energy poured into the pieces makes up for its very small shortcomings. And being on the Naxos label, these amazing performances are offered at an incredibly low price. Definitely worth it and should be in anyone's orchestral music collection.

I have had the pleasure to perform many of Malcolm Arnold's dance suites during my college band days (in concert bands, arrangements by Percy Grainger). This was my first opportunity to hear the original arrangements. These are fun, melodic pieces that are an absolute joy to hear. If you like 20th century symphonic music, you will not be disappointed with this recording.

This is energetic, colorful, joyful orchestral music. Like the Hungarian Dances of Brahms or the Slavonic Dances of Dvorak, these can be enjoyed one at a time as a brief musical "snack" or all at once.

The price of this item suggests something cheaply done. But Malcolm Arnold is a musical genius and his dances are well-performed.