Symphony No. 8: Full Score (Faber Edition)

ISBN: 0571506380

Author: Arnold, Malcolm

Condition: New

The Eighth Symphony was first performed by the Albany Symphony led by Julius Hegyi in 1978. A possible key to its character is the Irish marching tune of the opening movement, a rare instance of Arnold re-using earlier material, here from the 1969 feature The Reckoning. The composer had lived in the Irish Republic since the 70s and the oddly distorted character of this music suggests a parallel between the troubled history of the Irish and his own collapse into a 7-year period of virtual musical silence. The first movement begins with a discordant martial flourish. A simple march emerges on piccolo and harp, against a disquieting backdrop of dissonant strings. This develops over the course of the movement, which ends uncertainly with an almost inaudible tam-tam. The second movement, an elegiac Andantino, ends in a mood of hushed regret. The Vivace finale opens with a slightly crazed upbeat character, in the vein of Arnold's lighter orchestral pieces. The string fugato is remin