Malcolm Arnold Festival returns to Northampton with a day of live performances for all the family
“We’re delighted to be returning to Cripps Hall which is part of Northampton School for Boys – the very school the young Malcolm Arnold attended”
Celebrated cellist JULIAN LLOYD WEBBER launches a day of live performances honouring the music of Sir Malcolm Arnold at Cripps Hall and St Matthew’s Church on Saturday 24th October in the composer’s hometown of Northampton. The Malcolm Arnold Festival, a community-focused annual celebration, will showcase the composer's sparkling chamber, brass and orchestral music performed by guest ensembles including the Northampton Symphony Orchestra and Towcester Studio Band. An affordable Day Ticket offers low-cost entrance, with free admission for students and those under 18, available from the website or on the door.
ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF NORTHAMPTON’S MUSICAL GENIUS
Probably best known for his internationally famous film scores, symphonic showpieces, and a canon of powerfully emotive semi-autobiographical symphonies, the Malcolm Arnold Festival is an annual programme of events celebrating one of England’s most prolific, colourful and charismatic composers – Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006).
Festival Founder-Director Paul Harris is a renowned composer, clarinettist and leading music educator. As Arnold's co-biographer, he continues to champion the composer’s legacy by presenting his unique musical style through accessible, enriching, and engaging formats, while creating valuable performance opportunities for both professional and student musicians.
“We’re delighted to be returning to Cripps Hall which is part of Northampton School for Boys – the very school the young Malcolm Arnold attended!”, said Paul Harris. “Highlights include a World Premiere performance of Malcolm’s unfinished Violin Concerto, orchestrated from the composer’s detailed sketches by Jonathan Whiting and performed by rising star Elif Cansever, who’s playing was so rapturously received at last year’s festival.”
“For our Saturday evening extravaganza, we transfer to St Matthew’s Church and the opportunity to hear music from one of the composer’s classic film scores, ‘The Sound Barrier’ alongside his powerhouse Philharmonic Concerto as part of an entertainment-packed Gala Concert performed by Northampton Symphony Orchestra.”
“A GESTURE OF FRIENDSHIP”
The festival will be opened by its President, the internationally renowned cellist and educator Julian Lloyd Webber, who shares a profound personal connection with one of the many standout performances. Malcolm Arnold wrote his Fantasy for Cello for the cellist in 1986. Reflecting on the work, Lloyd Webber notes that Arnold's writing is incredibly generous and direct, demonstrating a genuine love for the instrument through lyrical phrasing that naturally draws out the richest, warmest qualities.
Recalling the origin of the piece and their mutual admiration, Lloyd Webber has said that on requesting a commission from the composer, “he readily agreed while refusing to accept a commission fee, explaining that his music was “a gesture of friendship”. As Arnold had never written for cello before, I had no idea what to expect. But I was more than happy with what arrived.”
Consisting of seven short continuous movements, the work conveys the same intensity of expression found in Arnold’s finest works. And fittingly, it will be Lloyd Webber’s wife, Jiaxin Cheng Lloyd Webber – herself an acclaimed cellist – who will take centre stage in this performance.
GUEST ENSEMBLES AND RISING STARS
Joining Jiaxin will be guest ensembles including the Albion Orchestra, Towcester Studio Band, Roger Coull (violin), Nicholas Roberts (cello) and Lynn Arnold (piano), as well as rising stars from the premier international music academies and conservatoires.
GALA CONCERT PROMISES ARNOLD SHOWPIECES
St Matthew’s Church provides the venue for the festival’s Gala Concert when the Northampton Symphony Orchestra presents a rousing celebration of orchestral music by Malcolm Arnold alongside two of his fellow-composers and performed under the baton of the orchestra’s musical director and life-long Arnold champion John Gibbons BEM.
An evening of high-octane performances is promised featuring the composer’s characteristically tuneful themes from the film soundtrack to The Sound Barrier, and his final work, the Little Suite No.3, also known as A Manx Suite, which incorporates traditional tunes from the Isle of Man. The Philharmonic Concerto – a three-movement orchestral showpiece featuring a wealth of percussion including bongos, tam-tam, side drum and tambourine – is to be performed to mark the 250th anniversary this year of the American Declaration of Independence.
Alongside these works will be the spirited Oboe Concerto by Ruth Gipps, written when the composer was just 20 years old and studying under the legendary Léon Goossens at the Royal College of Music, where Malcolm Arnold was a fellow student. As a fine oboist herself, the work demonstrates Gipps’ deep understanding and technical mastery of the instrument and reflects the expressive, lyrical style inspired by her teacher. For this performance, the oboe soloist will be the CBSO’s Principal Second Oboe, Emmet Byrne.
Two contrasting works by Dmitri Shostakovich bookend the programme: his exuberant Festive Overture, and the satirical Symphony No. 9 - a piece famously banned in Soviet Russia until 1955. Acknowledging the composer’s creative influence and shared sentiment, Arnold viewed the symphony as a masterclass in artistic defiance, declaring “we’re kindred souls in a very rough barbaric world.”
FESTIVAL CONTINUES WITH FREE-TO-VIEW LIVE-STREAM
The Malcolm Arnold Festival continues online with a free-to-view live stream on Sunday 1st November presenting an additional programme themed around the composer’s music of 1956 and a discovery of his piano repertoire, plus much more. The live stream can be accessed from the website: www.malcolmarnoldfestival.com
HOW TO BOOK
- Day Ticket
Cripps Hall, Northampton NN1 5RT
£18.00, Under 18s / Student FREE
- Gala Concert
Saint Matthew's Church, Northampton NN1 4RY
£15.00, Concession £12.00, Under 18s £5.00
(Photo of Elif Cansever by Benjamin Ealovega)