ARNOLD: Symphonies nos. 7 & 8

Penny, Andrew;
Ireland National Symphony Orchestra

8.552001

After the oblique and unsettling fusion between classical and jazz elements in the Sixth Symphony, Arnold took until 1973 to complete its successor. Largely written at Sir William Walton's home on the Italian island of Ischia, the work was first performed in London in May the following year. The dedication, "To Katherine, Robert and Edward" – Arnold's children, would hardly merit comment were it not for the character of the score, which has the most extreme emotional aura of any of his works. Whether or not the dedication conceals a deeper personal intent is something on which to ponder. • The Eighth Symphony, written in 1978 and first performed by the Albany Symphony Orchestra the following May, is less explicit but perhaps even more unsettling in tone than its predecessor. A possible key to its character is the Irish marching tune of the opening movement, a rare instance of Arnold re-using earlier material; in this case, from the score to Jack Gold's 1969 film The Reckoning. • The composer had lived in the Irish Republic since the mid-1970s, and the oddly distorted character of this music suggests a parallel between the troubled history of the Irish people, and his personal circumstances at the time - soon to collapse into a seven-year period of virtual musical silence.

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

Naxos

16-07-2001

730099200127

Gramophone 'Recording of the Month' (December 2011)