Arnold: Piano Music

 

It has been quite a long time since I have sat down and dedicated myself to listening to solo piano music. This was a love of my younger self, but moreso, I loved playing through all of the piano scores I could get my hands on at the University library. If the music was too challenging for my solo ability, a friend of mine and I would play four handed. It was a wonderful way to discover piano literature.

Really, I had no expectation at all for the piano music of Sir Malcolm Arnold. I don't think I have heard a single one of these pieces, although British pianist Benjamin Frith is a known quantity. The piano in use sounds a little hard to my ears, but nothing upsetting. The title insinuates this is the complete music from Malcolm Arnold for solo piano. I can't speak to any measure of authority on such a claim, however, the only other Arnold piano recording I am aware of is from Mark Bebbington on Somm, and its Arnold program is shared with composer Constant Lambert.

Sir Malcolm keeps his piano textures simple and clear, for better or for worse. He tends to rely on two voices at a time, making me believe some of these pieces are meant as primers for piano. Certainly the Children's Suite and Eight Children's Pieces belong to the young piano player. Unlike something akin to Debussy's Children's Corner, which can be challenging for pianists yet substantive for listeners, these are more exercises for youths, I think.

So, what of the music? The simple, clear textures often recall a French influence, such as that from the early Serenade in G. In other ways, I thought many could easily be jazz ballads, with fleeting thoughts of Gershwin reaching my mind. Daydreams, Two Piano Pieces, and the Three Piano Pieces of 1943 bear the strongest jazz idioms, although portions of Arnold's 10-minute Piano Sonata have a few jazz-flecked qualities as well, even if its music is a bit rougher and more mature in texture and development. That said, Arnold surprises with many winks and smiles in the work as well!

Actually, it was the Two Bagatelles which reminded me most of late Arnold, with plenty of biting dissonance and melancholic moods. Otherwise, the literature played across the 70 minutes is kind and gentle to the ear, rarely a tough slog for those who fear even the lightest bit of modernism.

I notice only four of the pieces on this program have actually been published, and just five bear opus numbers. I wonder if these were private compositions written for a specific purpose, or were frivolities for the composer, or his family's, own enjoyment. Certainly no one would call these deep, although the aforementioned Piano Sonata and the Variations on a Ukrainian Folksong come the closest, requiring the most pianistic skill.

The latter Variations only sounds exotic in its opening statement of the theme, an interlude in the center, and in the closing variation; otherwise, I lose the folksong among the many subsequent variations. The length of nearly 15 minutes also makes this the longest work on the program, where most time between 1 - 3 minutes. Generally speaking, the brief multi-movement suites run similarly to Arnold's concertos; light and witty.

I can't say anything from this piano program will become fast favorites or long-term treasures, but this was yet another facet to piece together Sir Malcolm Arnold as a composer. I think most should easily enjoy what is on the menu here.

 

 

 

Works
Allegro in E minor (0.35)
Three Piano Pieces (3.55)
Serenade in G (2:14)
Day Dreams (3:30)
Two Piano Pieces (2:39)
Piano Sonata (9.58)
Three Piano Pieces (8.37)
Prelude (2.48)
Variations on a Ukrainian Folksong, op. 9 (14.53)
Children's Suite, op. 16 (4.01)
Two Bagatelles, op. 18 (4.46)
Eight Children's Pieces, op. 36 (9.43)
Three Fantasies, op. 129 (4.10)

Soloist
Benjamin Frith, piano

Label: Koch; Decca
Year: 1994; 2006
Total Timing: 71.47

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