Malcolm Arnold is a smart composer. His predilection for bright orchestral colors and a balance of tone favoring winds, brass, and percussion means that his music always sounds wonderful, even when played by orchestras with less than wonderful string sections (including most British orchestras and Bostock’s Munich Symphony Orchestra). It’s basically band music with some string parts tossed in, and certainly none the worse for that. His brilliance, warmth, humor, and dynamism make him one of the outstanding figures in 20th century orchestral music, nowhere more so than in his Fifth Symphony, for my money his best in the form. The opening movement alternates fretful, dissonant gestures with innocent, “toy” music on harp and celesta. The second movement features one of Arnold’s best essays in musical schmaltz, while the scherzo is truly demented: a parody of the first movement in which the “toy” harmonies return as department store Muzak. The finale sports some militant fife and drum sounds, climaxing with the big tune from the slow movement before ending with a question mark. The other short works are equally welcome and include some recording premieres, including the early, rowdy Machines and the The Belles of St. Trinians. This is the finest disc so far in Bostock’s English music series.
