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Commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival Society and first performed by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on 3rd July 1961 at Cheltenham Town Hall (Cheltenham Festival).

  • 3222/4331/timp.2perc/hp.cel/str
  • see Two Symphonic Movements in Wind/Brass Ensemble/Band section
  • 33 min
    • 11th April 2025, Barbican Hall [Barbican Centre], London, United Kingdom
    • 16th April 2025, Barbican Hall [Barbican Centre], London, United Kingdom
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Programme Note

1. Tempestuoso
2. Andante con moto - Adagio
3. Con fuoco
4. Risoluto - Lento

This symphony is in four movements and is written for a normal symphony orchestra with the addition of a celesta. The four movements are divided into two pairs, the first thematically related to the third, and the second to the fourth. It will be noted that in the second movement, the composer is unable to distinguish between sentiment and sentimentality.

After the first performance of my Fourth Symphony there were so many things I felt needed to be said musically that I am more than grateful for the opportunity given me by the Cheltenham Festival Society to attempt to say these things.

© Sir Malcolm Arnold

Media

Symphony No. 5, Op. 74: I. Tempestuoso
Symphony No. 5, Op. 74: II. Andante con moto - Adagio
Symphony No. 5, Op. 74: III. Con fuoco
Symphony No. 5, Op. 74: IV. Risoluto - Lento

Scores

Reviews

…perhaps we are only just growing able to hear and understand properly that strangely ambivalent tone of voice which longs, perhaps, for the world of Elgar, while stoically inhabiting an unbrave new world. The LSO gave the work a meticulously prepared, sharply focused performance, making the most of its Mahlerian slow movement, its angry acerbic scherzo and its perverse, still enigmatic finale.
Hilary Finch, The Times
1st December 1994

Discography

Arnold: Symphony No. 5

Arnold: Symphony No. 5
  • Label
    Alto
  • Catalogue Number
    ALC1424
  • Conductor
    Douglas Bostock
  • Ensemble
    Munich Philharmonic Orchestra / Royal Aarhus Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra
  • Released
    2020

Arnold conducts Arnold

Arnold conducts Arnold
  • Label
    EMI Classics
  • Catalogue Number
    0946 3 82146 2 5
  • Conductor
    Malcolm Arnold
  • Ensemble
    Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Philharmonia Orchestra
  • Released
    5th February 2007
Title Unavailable
  • Label
    Naxos
  • Catalogue Number
    8 552000
  • Conductor
    Andrew Penny
  • Ensemble
    National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland
Title Unavailable
  • Label
    Classico
  • Catalogue Number
    CLASSCD 294
  • Conductor
    Douglas Bostock
  • Ensemble
    Munich Symphony Orchestra
Title Unavailable
  • Label
    EMI
  • Catalogue Number
    CDM5 66423-2
  • Conductor
    Sir Malcolm Arnold
  • Ensemble
    City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Title Unavailable
  • Label
    Chandos
  • Catalogue Number
    CHAN 9385
  • Conductor
    Richard Hickox
  • Ensemble
    London Symphony Orchestra

The Complete Symphonies

The Complete Symphonies
  • Label
    Conifer Records Limited
  • Conductor
    Vernon Handley
  • Ensemble
    Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / BBC Concert Orchestra / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

More Info