Malcolm Arnold Festival - ‘The Sound Barrier’, Philharmonic Concerto, Ruth Gipps’ Oboe Concerto and Shostakovich 9

St Matthew’s Church provides the venue for the Malcolm Arnold Festival’s Gala Concert, following a day of concerts at Cripps Hall, when the Northampton Symphony Orchestra presents a rousing celebration of orchestral music by Malcolm Arnold alongside two of his fellow-composers and performed under the baton of the orchestra’s musical director and life-long Arnold champion John Gibbons BEM.

An evening of high-octane performances is promised featuring the composer’s characteristically tuneful themes from the film soundtrack to The Sound Barrier, and his final work, the Little Suite No.3, also known as A Manx Suite, which incorporates traditional tunes from the Isle of Man. The Philharmonic Concerto – a three-movement orchestral showpiece featuring a wealth of percussion – is to be performed to mark the 250th anniversary this year of the American Declaration of Independence.

Alongside these works will be the spirited Oboe Concerto by Ruth Gipps, written when the composer was just 20 years old and studying under the legendary Léon Goossens at the Royal College of Music, where Malcolm Arnold was a fellow student. The oboe soloist will be the CBSO’s Principal Second Oboe, Emmet Byrne.

Two contrasting works by Shostakovich bookend the programme: his exuberant Festive Overture, and the satirical Symphony No. 9 - a piece famously banned in Soviet Russia until 1955.

Prior to the evening concert, enjoy a day of live music at Cripps Hall. Find full details on the festival website.

Featuring - Northampton Symphony Orchestra