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- Malcolm Arnold
Concerto for Organ & Orchestra (1954)
- Paterson Publications (World)
- 0000/0300/timp/str
- organ
- 13 min
- 20th June 2025, St Alfege, Greenwich, United Kingdom
Programme Note
This Concerto is in three movements, and is written for three trumpets, timpani and strings. The trumpet parts are in the high register, in the tradition of Bach and Handel.
The first movement (Vivace) is based on two themes – the first played by strings in octaves at the start of the movement; the second, later on in the movement, is played by the organ, interrupted angrily by the orchestra.
In the second movement (Lento) the organ is accompanied only by muted strings. The form is very simple (Ternary, in fact) and the movement could best be described as a meditation.
The last movement (Allegretto) is a fugue, the subject of which is a rhythmical variation of the first movement. This leads to a climax when the violins and violas play the fugue subject and organ and trumpets play the theme of the first movement in its original form. A short and loud coda brings the work to an end.
© Sir Malcolm Arnold
The first movement (Vivace) is based on two themes – the first played by strings in octaves at the start of the movement; the second, later on in the movement, is played by the organ, interrupted angrily by the orchestra.
In the second movement (Lento) the organ is accompanied only by muted strings. The form is very simple (Ternary, in fact) and the movement could best be described as a meditation.
The last movement (Allegretto) is a fugue, the subject of which is a rhythmical variation of the first movement. This leads to a climax when the violins and violas play the fugue subject and organ and trumpets play the theme of the first movement in its original form. A short and loud coda brings the work to an end.
© Sir Malcolm Arnold
Media
Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 47: I. Vivace
Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 47: II. Lento
Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 47: III. Allegretto
Malcolm Arnold: Concerto for Organ and Orchestra, Op. 47, movt I. Vivace
Reviews
...a short but most attractive work. The first of its three movements is extrovert, even celebratory. The slow movement finds Arnold in his most winningly lyrical vein.
December 2020
Discography
The Music of Malcolm Arnold
- LabelOrchid Classics
- Catalogue NumberORC100362
- ConductorMichael Waldron
- EnsembleThe London Choral Sinfonia
- SoloistJack Liebeck, violin; Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; James Orford, organ
- Released28th February 2025
Sir Adrian Boult: A Musical Legacy
- LabelLPO
- Catalogue NumberLPO0119
- ConductorSir Adrian Boult
- EnsembleLondon Philharmonic Orchestra
- SoloistHugh McLean, organ
- Released2020
Arnold / Butterworth / Gipps Orchestral Works
- LabelMusical Concepts
- Catalogue NumberMC3105
- ConductorDouglas Bostock
- EnsembleMunich Symphony Orchestra
- SoloistUlrik Spang-Hanssen, organ
- Released2020
- LabelClassico
- Catalogue NumberCLASSCD424
- ConductorDouglas Bostock
- EnsembleRoyal Aarhus Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra
- SoloistUlrik Spang-Hanssen, organ
- Released2002