Tam O'Shanter Overture
The Tam o' Shanter Overture, Op. 51 by Malcolm Arnold was completed in March 1955.
The overture is a piece of programme music based on the famous poem by Robert Burns. Arnold musically depicts Tam on the trombone, drunkenly clambering on to his mare Meg, encountering the raucous scene at Kirk Alloway before being chased across the Brig o'Doon.
The work was first performed at the BBC Proms on 17 August 1955, with the composer conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Two months later he supervised the first recording of the work by the Philharmonia Orchestra under his assistant conductor, John Hollingsworth.
It is dedicated to John Michael Diack, director of Arnold's then publishing company Paterson Sons & Co..
Selected commercial recordings
- 1955 Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor John Hollingsworth, Philips NBL5021 (in the 1991 and 2007 EMI CD re-releases the conductor is incorrectly listed as Malcolm Arnold)
- 1957 New Symphony Orchestra of London, conductor Alexander Gibson, RCA Victor LSC-2225
- 1958 (USA issue date) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor John Hollingsworth, Epic LC 3422
- 1981 Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conductor Alexander Gibson, Chandos CHAN 8379
- 1993 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Vernon Handley
- 1998 Minnesota Orchestra, conductor Eiji Oue, Reference Recordings RR-82CD
- 2005 BBC Philharmonic, conductor Rumon Gamba, Chandos CHAN 1029
References
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