Malcolm Arnold

Malcolm Arnold wrote nine symphonies and more than a hundred film scores. Born in Northampton, he studied trumpet and composition at the Royal College of Music and was principal trumpet of the London Philharmonic in his twenties before composition and conducting took over. His orchestral works include the English Dances, the Scottish Dances and Tam O'Shanter. He wrote concertos for players he knew, a large body of brass and wind music, ballets and overtures, and won an Academy Award for The Bridge on the River Kwai. He was knighted in 1993 and died in 2006. He took up the trumpet at twelve after hearing Louis Armstrong play in Bournemouth, studied composition with Gordon Jacob and trumpet with Ernest Hall at the Royal College, and joined the London Philharmonic as second trumpet in 1941, becoming principal two years later and leaving the orchestra in 1948; he was initially a conscientious objector during the Second World War. The Ninth Symphony was finished in 1986, and on the day he died in Norwich the ballet The Three Musketeers was first performed in Bradford, with a score compiled from his music by Anthony Meredith and orchestrated by John Longstaff.