Wow! I studied composition at multiple universities for a long time, and I was not familiar with Richard Arnell but I'm glad I am becoming so! I must admit, at the beginning of the piece, I heard what I thought was a stodgy call/response /imitative sequence that made me only very briefly think that I wouldn't be interested in continuing to listen. After a second or two however, I was re-engaged, and transfixed for the duration of the 1st movement. ( all that I've had time to listen to, to this point - but I was excited to comment.) The nuance and complexity of the movement will require much more listening and analysis, but here are some first impressions: he seems to use diatonic, English type folk and hymnal material as a point of departure, before he bursts into jaunts of thrilling yet manageable chromatic prolificacy. The very powerful and skillful orchestration is at times both sinewy and frenetic. I repeat - Wow!
The first thing that came to my mind when listening to this work, is that this could be Copland's 4th Symphony... But then came Vaughan Williams in the second part (Greensleeves)....
A powerful piece, thanks for sharing.
Wow! I studied composition at multiple universities for a long time, and I was not familiar with Richard Arnell but I'm glad I am becoming so! I must admit, at the beginning of the piece, I heard what I thought was a stodgy call/response /imitative sequence that made me only very briefly think that I wouldn't be interested in continuing to listen. After a second or two however, I was re-engaged, and transfixed for the duration of the 1st movement. ( all that I've had time to listen to, to this point - but I was excited to comment.) The nuance and complexity of the movement will require much more listening and analysis, but here are some first impressions: he seems to use diatonic, English type folk and hymnal material as a point of departure, before he bursts into jaunts of thrilling yet manageable chromatic prolificacy. The very powerful and skillful orchestration is at times both sinewy and frenetic. I repeat - Wow!
The first thing that came to my mind when listening to this work, is that this could be Copland's 4th Symphony...
But then came Vaughan Williams in the second part (Greensleeves)....