Richard Arnell: Orchestral Works – English Chamber Orchestra & Martin Yates

The selection of Richard Arnell’s works for strings or small orchestra spans 22 years from his student days, through a stay in the USA, to his later career. Arnell studied at the Royal College of Music from 1935 to 1939, his teacher of composition being John Ireland. In the summer of 1939, he visited New York with his newlywed wife

Unexpectedly, World War II broke out in September, and there were no means of return. Thus, Arnell’s career as a composer unexpectedly took off in the early 1940s in the United States, more successfully than would have been possible in England at that time.

Everything on this recording has an engaging freshness – particularly the piano writing – and the orchestrations are tightly-woven tapestries of sound and texture; the piano, violin and cello soloists are all outstanding. — BBC Music Magazine, October 2022, 4 out of 5 stars