The Official Malcolm Arnold Festival 2010

The Festival will be launched by the legendary actress Hayley Mills, star of Whistle Down the Wind. During the launch 12 trumpeters from the award winning Northampton County Youth Orchestra will play Sir Malcolm’s exuberant and high-spirited Hoffnung Fanfare which was written for the celebrated and riotous Hoffnung Music Festival in 1956.

Following the launch Hayley Mills will talk to Paul Harris (Artistic Director of the Festival) about the various films she and her father, the great John Mills, made with Sir Malcolm. After lunch there will be a Malcolm Arnold Young Musician Competition. Young performers are invited to play any solo or ensemble work by Sir Malcolm. The judges will be the conductor John Gibbons, the pianist Moritz Ernst and the composer Matthew Taylor. Next will be an illustrated talk on the film music by composer Martin Ellerby, a real expert in the genre.

The terrific young pianist Moritz Ernst (who has already recorded a CD of Arnold’s piano works) will perform a scintillating piano recital featuring music from both stage and screen, and, most excitingly, the world premiere of a specially commissioned work for the occasion: Matthew Taylor is composing a Fantasy on Whistle down the Wind – this will surely be one of the many highlights of the weekend.

The evening concert welcomes the Northampton Symphony Orchestra to the Festival for the first time. Together with the Abingdon Choral Society under the direction of international conductor Alexander Walker they will performing Sir Malcolm’s wonderfully theatrical (and rarely performed) large-scale choral and orchestral work Return of Odysseus. Also included in the programme will the Suite from Arnold’s well known ballet, Sweeney Todd.

The Sunday will have a very special flavour. The day will begin with some rarely seen film excerpts and then, 2010 being the 50th anniversary of The Pure Hell of
St Trinian’s the midday orchestral concert, given by the acclaimed Northampton County Youth Orchestra, will include the St. Trinian’s Suite (as well as other memorable film music) and after lunch there will be a unique St. Trinian’s event with many of the actors and crew from the original St. Trinian’s films! There will be a song recital by Jessica Gillingwater featuring music from Arnold’s marvellously tuneful musical Parasol as well as the witty and colourful set of songs he wrote as incidental music to Sean O’Casey’s play Purple Dust.

The second theme of this year’s Festival is the music of fellow Northampton composer, the hugely talented William Alwyn. The brilliant Harpham Quartet will be joining us during the afternoon and their concert will include Alwyn’s deeply beautiful First String Quartet as well as Arnold’s highly emotional and Irish-inspired Second Quartet.

The Gala evening concert, ‘A Night To Remember’ will be conducted by the acclaimed John Gibbons, and will again include music by William Alwyn (who, like Sir Malcolm, also wrote about seventy film scores). Alwyn’s ‘overture’ to the first major film about the Titanic will open the programme and will also feature his music to the famous war film Desert Victory as well as some of Sir Malcolm’s best loved film music. The concert will also include Rachmaninoff’s great 2nd Piano Concerto. Altogether an evening of real nostalgia, glamour and excitement!

Paul Harris
Artistic Director