The Symphony No. 5, Op. 74 by Malcolm Arnold was finished in 1961. It is in four movements:
The work was commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival Society. The composer conducted the first performance with the Hallé Orchestra on 3 July 1961 at the Cheltenham Music Festival in Cheltenham Town Hall.
The Symphony is a remembrance of four of Arnold's friends who died young:
Humorist Gerard Hoffnung Clarinettist Frederick Thurston Ballet choreographer David Paltenghi Horn player Dennis Brain
Commercial recordings
1973 Malcolm Arnold and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on EMI Classics His Master's Voice ASD 2878 (LP) (latest re-release on EMI 382 1462) 1995 Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra on Chandos Records CHAN 9385 1996 Vernon Handley and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Conifer Records 75605-51257-2 (re-released on Decca 4765337) 2000 Douglas Bostock and the Munich Symphony Orchestra on Classico 294 2001 Andrew Penny and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra on Naxos Records 8.552000 (recorded January 24–25, 2000, in the presence of the composer) 2023: Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra on BBC Music Magazine V31N10 (recorded 27 Aug 2021)
References Chester-Novello page on the Symphony Contains programme notes by the composer.
Further reading Ross, Ryan (2023). "Sibelian Formal Principles in the First Movement of Malcolm Arnold’s Fifth Symphony." Journal of the Royal Musical Association, vol. 148, no. 1, pp. 35-70.