Four Cornish Dances Op.91

Con moto e sempre senza parodia

Allegro ma non troppo

For a few years in the late 1960s and early 1970s Malcolm Arnold found refuge from the pressures of musical life in London by moving to Cornwall. Far from cutting himself off, however, he took such an interest in local activities - presenting the Padstow Lifeboat with a brass-band march for example - that he was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth. The Four Cornish Dances, which were written in Cornwall in 1968, were a natural addition to a series of national dances that already included sets of English Dances and Scottish Dances and would be completed by the Irish and Welsh Dances twenty years later.

Although it begins with a characteristically cheerful Vivace - which, based as it is on just one short tune, is as much an introductory fanfare as a dance - the Cornish set differs from the others in that it explores poetic and spiritual aspects of the region as well as its dances. The eerily scored Andantino seems to be inspired by the mystic landscape while the third movement is a seriously intended tribute to Cornwall’s association with revivalist hymn-singing, tambourine and Amen included. In the last movement a march tune, introduced by horns, and a jig, introduced by flute and harp, vie for supremacy as they approach from different directions and finally overwhelm the listener.

RA