At the Movies or the Ballet?

 

Not all of Malcolm Arnold's music for ballet is here, but nearly 80 minutes is a goodly amount.

If you are familiar with Sir Malcolm Arnold's film music, you should feel some similarities listening to the composer's ballet music as well.

Sometimes musical scores to ballets lose something without the visuals of dancers. These four from Sir Malcolm can stand on their own, I think. I do wonder how the storytelling works aside the need for dance features in these selections, but that is something I will probably never know, as these are rarely preformed.

The opening Homage to the Queen sounds the most filmic to my ears, especially the scorings styles found between the 50s to 70s. Arnold loves brass fanfares, and does them here stylishly. These play aside sentimental melodies, portions which are almost too sappy for my likes. Sir Malcolm's music doesn't always move in expected directions, so even at his most saccharine, there is quite enough bubbling beneath the surface to enjoy.

The two darker scores are Rinaldo and Armida and Electra. The former is more atmospheric in its depicting of a magical background, where Arnold uses percussion such as vibraphone to add a lot of color. Love fraught with devastating loss tinges the dramatic music. Electra, on the other hand, is more combustible and dissonant, sounding out in a menacing and repetitive way. Something about the prolonged use of bongos and toms makes me think of beatniks, but there is nothing except forceful dread throughout its runtime. Finger snaps all around!

Malcolm Arnold finds a middle ground between these varied approaches in Sweeney Todd. The main music sounds like murder mystery fare to me, with upward moving chromatics building suspense. Opposite of the mystery storyline is the comedy element. The second movement sounds like a soft-shoe dance, quite a surprise considering the dark tale at hand, and the finale is nothing but upbeat happy-ending jolliness and romance. The score to Sweeney Todd is quite the dichotomy, but I find it rather amusing all the same.

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra is really in fine form here, both punchily dramatic and lushly winsome in the music's many orchestral colors. Rumon Gamba has really taken to Sir Malcolm's populous music, and these four scores are great additions to the composer's recorded catalog. Certainly the few parts of these works which have actually been previously recorded take a back seat to the big Chandos sonics here. Now, if we could get the few remaining unrecorded ballets from Arnold too!

 

 

 

 

Works
Homage to the Queen, op. 42: Suite (19.43)
Rinaldo and Armida, op. 49 (20.57)
Sweeney Todd, op. 68a: Suite (20.16)
Electra, op. 79 (14.49)

Performers
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Rumon Gamba, conductor

Label: Chandos
Year: 2009
Total Timing: 76.14

 

 

 

 

I could probably be convinced to give this a top rating, as these performances, the recording production, and the program are all very fine.

Yet, as I listen to some of these, I wonder how often I would revisit this music. It is filmic, with a good variety of moods and colors across the scores, yet long lasting... I'm not sure.

Some more time with this music will lead me one way or the other, yet I feel extremely positive with the time I have spent with it thus far.