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This project arose as a consequence of a friend who had brought along a recently published and previously unknown piece of Malcolm Arnold called Suite Bourgeouise for flute, oboe and piano. It became quickly apparent that this was a gem of a piece and would form a very welcome addition to this trio’s repertoire.
From there I set about exploring other little known chamber works of Arnold and discovered that there was a considerable quantity which had only recently been published or had not been committed to disc.
The object behind making this double CD was to both add valuable works to the catalogue and to involve a wide group of friends and colleagues in the opportunity to participate in this project.
The disc is quite wide ranging, featuring short pieces of immediate joviality such as his Concert Piece for Piano and Percussion alongside more substantive works such as the John Clare Cantata for SATB and piano duet. One or two ‘classic’ Arnold works such as the Wind Trio, Op 37 and the Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano, Op 29 have also been included and give fresh interpretations to these much loved areas of the repertoire. His popular English Dances (set two appear here in an arrangement by Reizenstein for piano duet.
Eleven of the items here are first recordings, including one of Arnold’s earliest works an evocative song setting – Beauty Haunts the Woods – of words written by Arnold’s elder sister, Ruth, in 1938. A new work for the clarinet repertoire (Scherzetto) buoyantly concludes the second disc of the double CD.
We are most grateful to the artists who made this project possible, all of whom gave freely of their services in order to support the publication of this important addition to the catalogue of Arnold’s recorded work. We were also delighted to be able to use the image of Malcolm Bowman’s oil painting (Aurora Borealis) as the front cover. It tells the onlooker so aptly what lies beneath the surface of so much of Arnold’s music: a wonderful depth of colour, immensely bright yet at the same time with the hint of darker undertones. ‘Bright Jewels’ represents the gems which come from a life peppered with sadness and long periods where the creativity of his earlier years did not flow as so many may have wished. To quote directly from Ruth Arnold’s poem of 1939, entitled The World’s Tears
The World’s Tears
A sad heart
Is a bright jewel in the fabric of Immortality
A merry heart is but a bubble,
Gaily coloured outside,
But a barren substance at the core.
It breaks eventually –
And Wisdom gathers the memory of it in her breast
To keep until the Time of using it.
No heart has blossomed
Til love’s tears has succoured it,
And no heart finds happiness
Till it has born sadness;
For, with the benison of sorrow
Comes the triple blessing of understanding,
And that is the wisdom of all races,
And all ages.
So open wide the gates of sacrifice,
And let the world’s tears
Find solace within your own heart.
So we celebrate the release of this new double CD of music by Air Malcolm Arnold CBE, ‘Bright Jewels’ - music from the 1940s and 50s.
Buy it now online at £14.99 plus £1.50 postage and packing at Link Buy Bright Jewels CD – Malcolm Arnold
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