The missing scores – Part two

The search for the missing scores – Part two
by Alan Poulton
(abbr. version of an article originally published in Beckus 116)

Part 1 went into detail about the ‘priority list’, where there is no copy of the manuscript in any form.
Part 2 looks at some of the other cases, where the autograph score is missing although copies exist.

This second part of our survey of Arnold’s missing scores deals with
autograph manuscripts relating mostly to published works.

If you happen to know about the whereabouts of any missing Malcolm Arnold manuscripts (original or copies) please contact the society!

• Three Shanties for wind quintet Op.4 (1943, Pub: Paterson, 1952)
  Famously premiered at a Filton Aerodrome lunchtime concert in the summer of 1943 by the LPO Wind Quintet.  The autograph score could well be in the hands of family members of the original LPO Quintet.
• Beckus the Dandipratt Op.5 (1943, Pub: Lengnick, 1948)
  This overture received twelve broadcasts alone between 1948 and 1953 and it was first recorded by Edward van Beinum with the LPO in late 1947. The autograph manuscript could have been used as the conductor’s copy during this period and was vulnerable to being mislaid. 
• Trio for flute, viola and bassoon Op.6 (1943, Pub: Paterson, 1954)
  First performed by players in the wartime LPO – Richard Adeney, Wrayburn Glasspool and George Alexandra – at a CPNM Concert in January 1944. It is likely that the original manuscript (and parts)
  was used for subsequent performances, given the much later publication date of 1954. The score could have been mislaid during that time and may have been reconstructed for publication from the parts.
• Horn Concerto No.1 Op.11 (1945, Pub: Lengnick, 1947)
  Both the full score and the horn and piano reduction are missing; it is likely that Phil Jones prepared the latter (the slow movement was published separately by Lengnick, also in 1947). The first performance was by Charles Gregory with the LPO conducted by Ernest Ansermet in December 1946. No further performances are documented until the first broadcast in 1951 with Dennis Brain as soloist,  by which time the concerto was published.
• Symphony for strings Op.13 (1946, Pub: Lengnick, 1947)
  First performed by the Riddick String Orchestra conducted by Kathleen Riddick in April 1947. Arnold could have given the autograph score to KR after the work was published. There were at least four further broadcasts of the symphony in 1948 and 1949 under Reginald Jacques and Maurice Miles.
• Violin Sonata No.1 Op.15 (1947, Pub: Lengnick, 1947)
  First performed at a CPNM Concert in October 1951 by Nona Liddell and Daphne Ibbott, some four years after publication. The score could have been presented to Nona Liddell by the composer
• Children’s Suite for piano Op.16 (1947, Pub: Lengnick, 1948)
  No documentation or performance records on this work at the time; it will be difficult
  to trace.
• Viola Sonata Op.17 (1947, Pub: Lengnick, 1948)
  First performed by the work’s dedicatee, Frederick Riddle, in 1948, and subsequently by Watson Forbes the following year in a BBC Third Programme broadcast. It could be in the hands of the Riddle family.
• Flute Sonatina Op.19 (1948, Pub: Lengnick, 1948)
  Richard Adeney was the dedicatee, but we don’t know who gave the first performance. It was four years before Adeney gave the work its first broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 1 October 1952. He may have been gifted the autograph score by the composer, along with the earlier Trio Op.6. 
• Clarinet Concerto No.1 Op.20 (1948, Pub: Lengnick, 1952)
  The autograph score of the Concerto’s piano reduction does exist but it is unusual for the full score and piano reduction to be separated. It may be languishing in the archives of the Reginald Jacques Orchestra, which gave the work’s premiere and several other performances on the Continent during the early 1950s
  (see Beckus No.105).
• String Quartet No.1 Op.23 (1949, Pub: Lengnick, 1951)
  First performed by the New London String Quartet in a BBC Third Programme broadcast in November 1950. They followed this up with the quartet’s first concert performance in October 1951, presumably
  to coincide with the composer’s thirtieth birthday. 
• Oboe Sonatina Op.28 (1951, Pub: Lengnick, 1951)
  Written for and first performed by Leon Goossens in Manchester in 1952. 
• Clarinet Sonatina Op.29 (1951, Pub: Lengnick, 1951)
  Though Colin Davis is credited with giving the premiere there is strong evidence
  that Thurston (the work’s unstated dedicatee) gave the first private performance
  at a National Youth Orchestra summer school (see Beckus No.105).
• A Sussex Overture Op.31 (1951, Pub: Lengnick, 1951)
  Dedicated to and conducted by Herbert Menges, the Overture was premiered at the Brighton Dome on 29 July 1951.
• Two Ceremonial Psalms Op.35 (1952)
• Eight Children’s Piano Pieces Op.36 (1952, Pub: Lengnick, 1952, in their series ‘Five by Ten’)
• Divertimento for wind trio Op.37 (1952, Pub: Paterson, 1952)
  Performed at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate, London, in 1952-53: it may have been a Macnaghten Concert but I am unable to verify this. It was premiered by Richard Adeney, Sidney Sutcliffe and Stephen Waters. 
• Albeniz: Tango in D, arranged for orchestra (1953, Pub: Good Music)
  A unique work which begs a number of questions: who commissioned it? why the Albeniz? was it Arnold’s idea? why didn’t he do other orchestral arrangements? Could it be at the BBC Music Library?
• Recorder Sonatina Op.41 (1953, Pub: Paterson, 1953)
  Written for the blind recorder player, Philip Rodgers, and given its premiere by Rodgers on the BBC Home Service in July 1953. 
• Homage to the Queen, ballet Op.42/Ballet Suite Op.42a (1953, Paterson, 1953)
  The ballet full autgraph score is missing
  The suite score is also missing: this was first performed in
  Northampton by the LPO conducted by the composer.
  The autograph score of the abridged Piano Suite Op.42b is also missing.
• Rinaldo and Armida, ballet Op.49 (1954, Pub: Novello)
  The two-piano reduction (for rehearsals) is extant.
• War in the Air, television series (1954)
  The autograph scores of two of the three episodes scored by Arnold are missing:
  ‘Maximum Effort’ and ‘Operation Overlord’. 
• Piano Trio Op.53 (1956, Pub: Paterson, 1956)
  First performed by the St Cecilia Trio in April 1956. The trio included the violinist,
  Pauline Howgill, the work’s dedicatee. Pauline Howgill was the daughter of Richard Howgill, who at the time was the BBC’s Controller of Music. It may have been gifted to the Howgill family.
• Fanfare for ABC Television (1956, unpublished)
  Written for the launch of the ABC Television network (see Beckus Nos.96 and 97). It could be housed at one of the commercial television archives.
• Sarabande and Polka (1956, Pub: Paterson, 1956)
  These are two further movements from the ballet ‘Solitaire’; both their full score and piano reduction are missing. The autograph scores for the English Dances, that make up the rest of the ballet, have only recently come to light following the death of the daughter of Bernard de Nevers, the Dances’ dedicatee and Arnold’s publisher during the 1940s and early 1950s. 
• A Grand Grand Overture Op.57 (1956, Pub: Paterson, 1956)
  The other Hoffnung/Arnold scores are all extant; some are held by the Hoffnung Estate and others by the Arnold Estate. Maybe Arnold gave the score away? 
• Four Scottish Dances Op.59 (1957, Pub: Paterson, 1957)
  An iconic work written for the BBC’s Light  Music Festival. 
• Oboe Quartet Op.61 (1957)
  I’ve determined that the score was sold into private hands via a Bonhams auction
  on 18 June 2014. It came from the estate of Robin Benson, Arnold’s doctor in Ireland; the title page is inscribed “To Robin with all my thanks, yet again! Malcolm, October 4/76”.
• Richmond Fanfare (1957)
  First performed as part of the ‘Royal Prologue’ television programme on Christmas Day 1957. The fanfare may be in the BBC Music Library, along with the remaining 17 sections of the score (MS 2394).
• Five William Blake Songs Op.66 (1959, Pub: BCMA, 1966)
  First performed by Pamela Bowden
• Guitar Concerto Op.67 (1959, Pub: Paterson,1961)
  Written for and premiered by Julian Bream. Both the full score and piano reduction are missing. 
• March: Overseas Op.70 (1960, Pub: Carl Fischer/Paterson, 1960)
  Commissioned by the Central Office of Information and written for the opening of a British Trade Fair in New York in 1960. There are no records of the exact date, location, name of the band or the conductor. The autograph score possibly resides in the Carl Fischer Archives or in some New York Library.
• Parasol (1960) BBC TV musical
  The full score of this musical was re-constructed from an audio recording by Ian Hytch under the direction of the composer but what happened to the autograph full score remains a mystery. It may be with the Marcus Dods Archive (Dods conducted the premiere) or mis-filed in the BBC Music Library (it was a BBC commission).
• Electra, ballet Op.79 (1963, Pub: Novello [ballet suite] )
  The two-piano rehearsal score is extant but the autograph full score was not at the ROHL when I last checked many years ago. 
• Water Music for wind band Op.82 (1964, Pub: Paterson, 1965 [orchestral version Op.82b] )
  I managed to track down a copy of the score via Brian Priestman in South Africa,  he had conducted the first performance at Stratford-upon-Avon in July 1964 after a performance of ‘Henry V’. But the autograph is missing; it may be at the Shakespeare Centre Library in Stratford-upon-Avon.
• Five Pieces for violin and piano Op.84 (1964)
  My initial searches in the Menuhin Archive at the Royal Academy of Music revealed only a copy of the autograph score alongside the actual autograph score of the Double Violin Concerto Op.77. Later research however indicated that Arnold had actually donated the score of the Five Pieces to the Salvation Army as long ago as March 1972 and it was subsequently auctioned by Sotheby’s in February 1973; it presumably remains in private hands.
• Duo for two cellos Op.85 (1965, Pub: Novello, 1971, in ‘Playing the cello’ )
  Only a rough copy of the score is extant. It may be with the family of Hugo Cole, who commissioned the work, or at Faber Music archives.
• Jolly Old Friar (1965)
  Written for unison voices and piano to a text by Frank Richards. It was published by Cassell in the 1965 ‘Greyfriars School: A Prospectus’. The autograph may therefore be in the Cassell Archives.
• Trevelyan Suite Op.96 (1967, Pub: Faber, 1970, and Emerson, 1979)
  Written for Durham University (Trevelyan College) and may have been presented to the University Library. 
• This Christmas Night (1968, Faber: 1968)
  A setting for unison voices to words by Mary Wilson, the wife of the former Prime Minister, Sir Harold Wilson, in whose archives the autograph score may now reside.
• Peterloo Overture Op.97 (1968, Pub: Faber 1979)
  Written in celebration of the foundation of the TUC.
• Fantasies for trumpet Op.100, trombone Op.101, and tuba Op.102 (1969, Pub: Faber, 1969)
  All three autograph scores of these brass fantasies have mysteriously disappeared. They may have been presented to their named dedicatee, Ernest Hall (trumpet), or to the soloists in their first performance, namely, John Iveson (trombone) and John Fletcher (tuba)
• Concerto for Phyllis and Cyril Op.104 (1969, Pub: Faber, 1969)
  Both the full score and two-piano reduction are missing. It is likely that both these scores were presented to the duo by the composer; however, initial enquiries to the RCM Library, which holds the Smith/Sellick Archives, have drawn a blank.
• Fantasy for guitar Op.107 (1970, Pub: Faber, 1971)
• Popular Birthday (1972, unpublished – chamber music version)
  The score of the orchestral version is extant but the chamber music version is missing. It was first performed by the Nash Ensemble conducted by Marcus Dods on BBC2 Television in March 1972. The autograph may be at the BBC Music Library or with the Marcus Dods Archives.
• Fantasy for brass band Op.114a (1973, Pub: Henrees Music, 1974)
  There is some evidence that this work was included in a list of autograph scores compiled by the Court of Protection during the mid-1980s and may still be in their possession. It is possible that the score is in one of the brass band archives 
• Two John Donne Songs Op.114b (1974, Pub: Roberton, 1977)
  Strangely, there is an extant score of a sketch for a third song; the autograph score of the other two (published) songs way well still be in Ireland 
• Railway Fanfare (1975, Pub: Studio Music, 1986)
  Written for the 150th anniversary of railways in Britain. Initial enquiries through the Railway Museum in York have proved fruitless.
• String Quartet No.2 Op.118 (1975)
  Enquiries via the Allegri String Quartet have so far drawn a blank. Arnold may well have presented the autograph score to Hugh Maguire, the leader of the Allegri String Quartet, which gave the premiere in Dublin in 1976. 
• ‘Hard Times’, music for Granada Television series (1977)
  An arrangement by Marcus Dods of the ‘Cavatina’ from the Little Suite No.2 for brass band Op.93. The autograph may be in the Granada TV archives or with the Marcus Dods estate.

Note: Many of the likely sources of Arnold autograph scores are at his three main publishers’ hire libraries and several orchestral and national libraries. The next phase of this project will be to try to persuade them all to undertake a thorough search of their archives – a daunting task!

If you happen to know about the whereabouts of any missing Malcolm Arnold manuscripts (original or copies) please contact the society!