The Padstow Lifeboat,
op.94, March for Brass Band was
composed in 1967 when Malcolm Arnold was living with his second wife, Isobel,
in Primrose Cottage at St Merryn, near Padstow, Cornwall. Having recently retreated
from a frantic London life, he entered into the spirit of brass bands and other
local music making. He once described his time in Cornwall as being ‘happy but
not idyllic – there is nothing idyllic about writing music and bringing up a
family.’
Major compositions written during
Arnold’s residence at St Merryn included the Symphony No. 6, op.95 (1967),
the Peterloo Overture, op.97 (1968)
and the Concerto for two pianos (three
hands) op.104 (1969). Locally-inspired
works featured the Four Cornish Dances, op.91 (1966), The Salute to Thomas Merritt, op.98 (1967) and the present work. In recognition of Arnold’s
contribution to local music, he was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd in 1968.
In 1972 Malcolm Arnold left
Cornwall and moved to a village near Dublin.
A new boathouse and slipway had
been commissioned at Trevose Head, near Padstow on 20 October 1967. The same
day the lifeboat James and Catherine
Macfarlane arrived on station.
The Padstow Lifeboat was specifically
written to commemorate the following year’s official inauguration. In their book, Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris, (Norwich,
Thames/Elkin, 2004), the authors suggest that the march is a musical portrayal
of events leading to the rescue of two men from the fishing vessel Deo Gratias during a severe storm on 23
November 1965. The coxswain of the day, Gordon Elliot was awarded a Silver
Medal and the crew received the ‘Thanks of the Institution’, inscribed on
vellum.
The basic musical idea of the work
is to have a lively, typically Arnoldian march composed in A flat major
disrupted by the D natural note representing the foghorn. The score carries a
note: ‘The Padstow Lifeboat has a long and distinguished record. The new
lifeboat station is near Trevose lighthouse, whose foghorn varies in pitch
between middle C and D. For the sake of musical unity it remains at D
throughout the march.’ (Malcolm Arnold
Web-Site)
Hugo Cole (Malcolm Arnold: An Introduction to his Music, London, Faber Music,
1989) has described this interruption as the ‘irreverent younger brother of the
ominous E flat [dropping to D natural] foghorn in Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes.’ The foghorn appears to
have been ‘switched-off’ during the trio section of the march. The piece includes
some fine ‘sea music’ complete with swirling fog and churning waves.
The Padstow Lifeboat was premiered
at the Royal Festival Hall at the BBC International Festival of Light Music on
10 June 1968 by the Black Dyke Mills Band and the B.M.C. Band (Morris Motors) conducted
by Malcolm Arnold.
The first performance in Cornwall
was at Padstow on 19 July 1968, the day of the official inauguration of the
boat and lifeboat station. The St Dennis Silver Band was conducted by the
composer. The ceremony was due to have been carried out by Princess Marina,
Duchess of Kent, who was the president of the Royal National Lifeboat
Institution. Unfortunately, she had been admitted to hospital with a brain
tumour which led to her death on 27 August. The formality in Padstow was duly carried
out by the Duke of Kent.
With thanks to the English Music Festival
2016 Programme Book where this short essay was first published.
The Grimethorpe Colliery Band can
be heard playing The Padstow Lifeboat on YouTube.
1 comment:
Thanks very much for the excellent background you provide for this composition. I'm listening to the performance included in Decca's Malcolm Arnold Edition, played by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band conducted by the composer.
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