Few world-class composers can rival the dazzling Sir Malcolm Arnold in terms of voluminous output. His résumé alone -- 132 film scores (an average of six per year), seven ballets, 20 concertos, nine symphonies, and a host of compositions for brass bands, chorales, and chamber musicians -- suggest a creative mind that never ceased, and would doubtless have kept on producing music, indefinitely, for as long as Arnold lived.
Arnold also demonstrates (as do so many of his contemporaries) that the most enviable creative gifts and the most troubling behavioral dysfunction often walk hand in hand. The victim of schizophrenia at an early age, a well-publicized alcoholic, a survivor of numerous mental breakdowns and suicide attempts, and the recipient of severe treatments for mental illness including institutionalization and a possible lobotomy, Arnold suffered from tremendous psychiatric strain. His life was also fraught with external difficulty, including the death of an infant daughter, the birth of an autistic son, and two failed marriages (to Sheila Nicholson and Isobel Gray, respectively), the second of which saw his wife filing a restraining order against the increasingly violent Arnold. He nonetheless survived these traumas, grew stronger, and -- despite a lengthy period in the middle of his life, sans output -- continued to author music right up through the end.
A Northampton native born on October 21, 1921, Arnold studied music theory and composition as a youngster, then picked up a trumpet after hearing a Louis Armstrong performance at age 12. In time, the young man became so proficient that he secured a job performing with local orchestras, while enrolled at the Royal College of Music. He voluntarily enlisted in the RAF in 1944, but so hated the armed forces that he shot his own foot to get discharged. He then occupied a seat as a trumpeter in the London Philharmonic, but withdrew upon receiving the prestigious Mendelssohn Scholarship, which enabled him to devote all of his time to compositions. As the decades passed, he became a key crossover artist who incorporated eccentric (and, by formally accepted standards, inappropriate) instrumentation into symphonies, and even at one point conducted a symphonic work written by the psychedelic rock band Deep Purple.
Even more incredible, given the size of Arnold's output, is the fact that he composed the preponderance of his significant musical works during the 1940s, '50s, '60s. Over the next two decades, Arnold's emotional and psychological difficulties made it virtually impossible for him to compose anything of significance, but he reportedly picked up his rapid-fire pace again in the '90s. Arnold's most famous film score was unquestionably the one he wrote for David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he won an Oscar. Though too numerous to list in full, some of his additional film credits as composer include Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952), Hobson's Choice (1954), The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), The Holly and the Ivy (1954), 1984 (1956), Trapeze (1956), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), Solomon and Sheba (1959), Whistle Down the Wind (1962), The Thin Red Line (1964), and Gypsy Girl (1966). He composed his final film score for 1980's The Wildcats of St. Trinian's, directed by Frank Launder, who had directed the original Belles of St. Trinian's.
Queen Elizabeth knighted Arnold in 1993. He died of a chest infection on September 23, 2006, just under a month prior to his 85th birthday and a Northampton-based musical celebration scheduled in his honor.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Wildcats of St. Trinian's
Composer (Music Score) |
1980 | |||
|
David Copperfield
Composer (Music Score) |
1970 | |||
|
Battle of Britain
Composer (Music Score) |
1969 | |||
|
The Reckoning
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1969 | |||
|
Africa - Texas Style!
Composer (Music Score) |
1967 | |||
|
Gypsy Girl
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1966 | |||
|
The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery
Composer (Music Score) |
1966 | |||
|
The Heroes of Telemark
Composer (Music Score) |
1965 | |||
|
Tamahine
Composer (Music Score) |
1964 | |||
|
The Chalk Garden
Composer (Music Score) |
1964 | |||
|
The Thin Red Line
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1964 | |||
|
Nine Hours to Rama
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1963 | |||
|
The Inspector
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1962 | |||
|
The Lion
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1962 | |||
|
Whistle Down the Wind
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1962 | |||
|
Operation Snafu
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1961 | |||
|
The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1961 | |||
|
No Love for Johnnie
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1960 | |||
|
The Angry Silence
Composer (Music Score) |
1960 | |||
|
Tunes of Glory
Composer (Music Score), Producer |
1960 | |||
|
Blind Date
Musical Direction/Supervision |
1959 | |||
|
Solomon and Sheba
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
Suddenly, Last Summer
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
The Boy and the Bridge
Composer (Music Score) |
1959 | |||
|
Coupe des Alpes: the Story of the 1958 Alpine Rally
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Dunkirk
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1958 | |||
|
The Key
Composer (Music Score), Musical Direction/Supervision |
1958 | |||
|
The Roots of Heaven
Composer (Music Score) |
1958 | |||
|
Island in the Sun
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Composer (Music Score) |
1957 | |||
|
1984
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Hell in Korea
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Invitation to the Dance
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Man of Africa
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Port Afrique
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Portrait in Smoke
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Tiger in the Smoke
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
Trapeze
Composer (Music Score) |
1956 | |||
|
A Prize of Gold
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
I Am a Camera
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
The Constant Husband
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
The Deep Blue Sea
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
The Night My Number Came Up
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
The Woman for Joe
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
Value for Money
Composer (Music Score) |
1955 | |||
|
Devil on Horseback
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Hobson's Choice
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
The Holly and the Ivy
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
The Sea Shall Not Have Them
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
The Sleeping Tiger
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Twist of Fate
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Welcome the Queen
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
You Know What Sailors Are
Composer (Music Score) |
1954 | |||
|
Albert, R.N.
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
Powered Flight: the Story of the Century
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
The Belles of St. Trinian's
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
The Captain's Paradise
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
The Four Sided Triangle
Composer (Music Score) |
1953 | |||
|
A Stolen Face
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Breaking the Sound Barrier
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Curtain Up
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Home at Seven
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
It Started in Paradise
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Wings of Danger
Composer (Music Score) |
1952 | |||
|
Home to Danger
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
No Highway in the Sky
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
The Ringer
Composer (Music Score) |
1951 | |||
|
Up for the Cup
Composer (Music Score) |
1950 | |||
|
Badger's Green
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
Eye Witness
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
Malaya
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 | |||
|
The Forbidden Street
Composer (Music Score) |
1949 |
