Welcome to Faber Music

Sir Malcolm Arnold's musical genius was once widely acclaimed. In the 1950s he could do little wrong, his writing for films, stage and concert hall distinctively melodic and promising an enduring fame.

But when tastes began to change and he found himself increasingly marginalized in an exclusive musical world favouring arid experimentation, Malcolm's genius turned upon itself in acts of massive self-distruction, fuelled by a manic-depressive illness. His music, like his life, darkened. By the beginning of the 1980s he was institutionalized, his career seemingly over. The dramatic manner of his subsequent personal and professional rehabilitation makes remarkable reading.

Authors Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris handle the interlinked stories of life and music with sympathy, shrewdness and humour, offering many new insights into various controversies of his turbulent years. Meticulously researched, their briography has at its heart and enquiry into the nature and cost of genius. The protagonist emerges as an intriguing figure of many contradictions, and his hard-pressed family and friends are all equally vivid personalities. The compelling narrative is dominated by Malcolm Arnold's supreme achievement of nine symphonies, sert out in stark relief against the moving, yet often highly amusing, human story.

The book has a foreword by David Mellor.