Sir Malcolm Arnold 1921 - 2006

IN most countries a composer responsible for fifteen concertos, nine symphonies, and over eighty film scores would be a national hero, yet here in Britain Sir Malcolm Arnold was unjustly neglected by the powers that be.

And yet, as the delegates gathered in Manchester for the Labour Party Conference, a short distance from the scene of the Peterloo Massacre, news came through that the composer who wrote a Peterloo overture, Malcolm Arnold, had passed away at the age of 84 following a short illness.

In addition to his nine symphonies, written from 1947 to 1992, he also wrote three sinfoniettas for orchestra from 1954 to 1964. His output also included concertos for clarinet (2), flute (2), guitar,, harmonica, horn (2), oboe, organ, piano duet, two pianos (three hands - written for Cyril Smith and Phyllis Sellick), two violins and viola - as well as one for twenty eight players.

He was a trumpet player in both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. After 1948 he turned to composing full time. He lived in various places; Northampton (his birthplace), Cornwall, Dublin and Norfolk.

In total his output for the cinema ran to over eighty scores (one source suggests over a hundred) of which his most famous was for the film "Bridge on the River Kwai" - it won its composer an Academy Award. Other well known films included "The Belles of St Trinians", David Copperfield, Hobson's Choice, The Inn of the Sixth Happimess and Whistle Down the Wind.

He would write for special occasions - a piece entitled "Popular Birthday" marked the 70th Birthday of Sir William Walton. He even wrote a piece for the 21st Birthday of the London Philharmonic. Some of his music was destined for the Brass Band - "Fantasy" was written for the 1974 Brass Band Championships. His famous piece for Brass Band "The Padstow Lifeboat" was obviously written with a twinkle in his eye - a vivid description of the hazardous work of the RNLI.

His Dances for orchestra - six sets of four pieces present a short tour around the British Isles and Ireland. Two sets of English Dances with the other locations Scotland, Cornwall, Ireland and Wales complete the musical journey.

His music has been absent from the concert programmes of Sheffield for a long time although the Sheffield Symphony Orchestra rounded off their Broomhill concert last June with a special arrangement of the Duke of Cambridge March with the winds divided into sixteen parts - I think Sir Malcolm would have approved.