Northern Ballet Theatre Orchestra/John Pryce-Jones
Quartz Records: QTZ2056

Arnold honoured as the Three Musketeers ride again to his music

… It works superbly, giving one an exciting conspectus on the work of one of the 20th century’s most approachable composers. The Overture is an archetypal example of Arnold’s film music, taken from Trapeze, followed by one of the best-known pieces of all – the English Dances used as the signature tune for TV’s What the papers say. The energetic pieces, apt for the Dumas novel, give way to the Wedding Night sequence from Hobson’s Choice, and music from Symphonies Nos 3 & 5, and David Copperfield fits nicely into the sequence.

Act 2 opens with a string orchestra arrangement of the very early Phantasy, recently unearthed on a Naxos disc (5/07). Longstaff’s coup at the emotional climax of the ballet is to have two sections of Symphony 5 – the haunting opening of the slow movement followed by the finale, which ends on the fortissimo reprise of that great melody, rounded off with a few hushed bars of ghostly chimes. In the ballet they represent d’Artagnan’s tender farewell to his beloved Constance, followed by the Musketeers’ race to Calais and their capture.

Having this dazzling sequence on disc is a joy, particularly in this lively performance conducted by John Pryce-Jones. A valuable addition to the Arnold repertory.

Edward Greenfield.