Work Information
| Publisher |
Paterson Publications |
Category |
Orchestra |
| Sub-Category |
Large Orchestra |
Year Composed |
1961 |
| Duration |
33 Minutes |
Orchestration |
3222/4331/timp.2perc/hp.cel/str
alt.: see Two Symphonic Movements in Wind/Brass Ensemble/Band section |
| Availability |
Hire Explain this... |
Discography |
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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.
Symphony No. 5 was commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival Society.
First performance by the Hallé Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Arnold.
3rd July 1961 at Cheltenham Town Hall (Cheltenham Festival).
© Sir Malcolm Arnold
Reviews
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…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, 01/12/1994
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