On 18 October pianist John Lenehan will premiere his arrangement of Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Two Pianos (3 hands) with the Equilibrium Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mattea Leow. Lenehan has transformed the 13-minute work – originally calling for two instruments – into a virtuoso vehicle for a single soloist and orchestra.
The work follows a traditional three-movement pattern but is a stylistic tour-de-force even across its relatively brief duration. The first movement has a broad Romantic sweep spiked with angular harmonies which tussles with more lyrical material. The ensuing Andante con moto is bookended by a simple, plaintive melody over muted strings, offset by the distant tolling of the bell heard in the opening movement; a darker, more tempestuous section follows, climaxing with a dramatic brass chorale. The finale is a witty and uplifting rumba, with a jocular, laid-back mood underlined with Latin American percussion.
Composed in Arnold’s beloved Cornwall for the 1969 BBC Proms and the legendary three-handed husband and wife team of Phyllis Sellick and Cyril Smith, the original version of the piece has been performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (with Sellick and Smith, conducted by the composer) as well as the BBC Symphony with Martin Roscoe and Peter Honohoe as soloists. In 2012 it was choreographed for the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain by Jo Meredith, appearing at Sadler’s Wells, and made a triumphant return to the BBC Proms in 2013 with Kathryn Stott, Noriko Ogawa, and the BBC Concerto Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth.
The International Malcolm Arnold Festival, whose Director is clarinettist and Faber Music author Paul Harris, are celebrating two decades with performances of all twenty of Arnold’s concertos, whose range showcases his far-ranging idiomatic understanding of a host of instrumental techniques and moods. Works published by Faber Music include the Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra, Clarinet Concerto No.2 , Flute Concerto No.2, Viola Concerto, Recorder Concerto, and Trumpet Concerto. To close the Festival the Berkshire Youth Symphony Orchestra and Jonathan Burnett perform Arnold’s Symphonic Study ‘Machines’: a propulsive, 6-minute set of variations that draws on material from Arnold’s 1948 music for a documentary about the British steel industry.