Austin Symphonic Band Performing Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo by Malcolm Arnold

Austin Symphonic Band. April 8, 2018 concert at Austin ISD Performing Arts Center in Austin TX. ASB performing Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo by Malcolm Arnold (arr. John P. Paynter). Dr. Bradley Kent, Guest Conductor. Concert title: "LEADERS of the Band." [For program notes, select "more."] Audio recording by On Site Digital, Randy Bryant owner.

Program notes by David Cross:

Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo (1963)
Malcolm Arnold (1921–2006), arr. John Paynter

Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold was first inspired to play the trumpet after hearing a performance of Louis Armstrong. Arnold was appointed as second trumpet of the London Philharmonic in 1941 and assumed the principal chair in 1943. In 1948, Sir Malcolm turned to composition and lent his fresh and cheerful voice to movie scores and symphonic works. He contributed music to over 130 film scores and won an Academy Award in 1957 for his score for "The Bridge on the River Kwai."

Arnold rejected the atonality of the serial composers and instead crafted beautiful melodies. His collections of English and Scottish dances are mainstays of the symphonic band repertoire.

Originally written for brass band and entitled “Little Suite for Brass, Op. 80,” "Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo" opens as a dignified procession including mild dissonance and well-placed fanfares. Harmonically straight-forward, it announces the hauntingly beautiful Siciliano, a 6/8 dance featuring trumpet and alto sax solos and arching woodwind lines. The whole thing comes to a joyful conclusion with a romp in Rondo form. Never one to deny his audience, Arnold pushes tempo to the very end for a flag-waving conclusion.