Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (1921-2006), Composer

Sitter in 6 portraits
Attracted to jazz after seeing Louis Armstrong play, Arnold took up the trumpet, playing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1941. By the end of the 1940s he had devoted himself to composition. His oeuvre includes nine symphonies, seven ballet scores, two operas, over twenty concertos and music for brass-band. He also wrote over 100 film scores including The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Eclectic in style, Arnold's influences included Berlioz , Mahler and Shostakovitch.