Symphony No. 6 Op. 95 (Faber Edition)

ISBN: 0571501877

Author: Arnold, Malcolm

Condition: New

The Sixth Symphony -- completed in 1967 -- is in three movements: Energico; Lento - allegretto; Con fuoco. In the first movement Arnold credited the influence of the Charlie Parker, the jazz saxophonist who, like him, had struggled with mental illness and alcoholism. His homage to bebop takes the form of short phrases stabbing around strange chords, while the eerie second movement includes a section imitating a 60s pop band. The galloping ebullience in the finale seems a defiant attempt to escape the stricken mood of the preceding music, but it continues to be haunted by it, and the bombastic close fails to convince that all is well. Efforts to get the work performed proved that Arnold was sliding further out of favor with the establishment. The appointment of Boulez at the BBC Symphony was a sign of the times and Arnold could no longer hope for a premire in London. The BBC Northern took it on in Manchester, but an internal BBC memo reveals what he was up against: its better