A special commemorative plaque will be unveiled next month in Padstow to celebrate the life and work of composer Sir Malcolm Arnold.

Donated

The plaque will be unveiled by the composer’s daughter, Katherine Arnold, in the famous Cornish fishing village on Monday, 26th May after being donated to the Malcolm Arnold Society by one of its longest serving members, Frank Brand.

Between 1966 and 1971 Arnold lived in St Merryn just a few miles from the harbour at Padstow.

Memorable works

There he wrote some of his most memorable music including the ‘Four Cornish Dances’, his ‘Sixth Symphony’, the ‘Peterloo’ Overture and the Viola Concerto, as well as the score to the feature film ‘David Copperfield’.

St Austell Band under the direction of Aaron Harvey, will perform at the unveiling and will play the ‘Coronation March’ by Thomas Merritt, a Cornish composer whom Arnold much admired, as well as the iconic ‘Padstow Lifeboat’, written in 1967.

It is therefore in celebration of Malcolm Arnold’s considerable musical legacy that this magnificent marble plaque will now be standing proud, overlooking Padstow HarbourAlan Poulton

Legacy

Alan Poulton, Chairman of the Malcolm Arnold Society, told 4BR: "It is therefore in celebration of Malcolm Arnold’s considerable musical legacy that this magnificent marble plaque will now be standing proud, overlooking Padstow Harbour for all to see and to recall his unique place in twentieth century British culture."