Berkeley Ensemble Celebrates... Malcolm Arnold

Programme:
Phantasy for string quartet 'Vita Abundans'
Fantasy for oboe
Fantasy for cello
Oboe Quartet
Fantasy for guitar
Quartet no. 2

Berkeley Ensemble with Michael Butten, guitar

The Berkeley Ensemble continues its series of composer portraits at the Forge with the chamber works of Sir Malcolm Arnold to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of his birth. Remembered today for his colourful orchestral scores, Malcolm Arnold wrote eloquently for smaller forces in a series of chamber works of surprising intimacy. Join the ensemble in a journey through Arnold’s neglected chamber legacy, from the Oboe Quartet – by turns serene and comical – to his haunted masterpiece, the String Quartet no. 2. Outstanding guitarist Michael Butten also joins the ensemble in a sequence of the composer’s mercurial Fantasies for solo instrumentalists.