Jonathan Byrne Ollivier in rehearsals for The Three Musketeers [Photo: Brian Slater]

Malcolm Arnold & The Three Musketeers

Origins of the Score

In an exclusive for this website Anthony Meredith talks us through the origins of the score for David Nixon's new ballet, The Three Musketeers!

Thirty years ago a young Royal Ballet dancer/choreographer, David Drew, tried to persuade Malcolm Arnold to write him a score for The Three Musketeers. They spent a hilarious day together by a piano in a London hotel, surrounded by any number of bottles of champagne which Malcolm had thoughtfully provided to enhance the creative process. Alas, shortly afterwards, Malcolm had an emotional crisis which put him off work a long time, and Robert Helpmann, who was supporting the project, suddenly left Australian Ballet.

Three years ago, while researching Arnold's biography (co-written with Paul Harris), I asked David Drew about The Three Musketeers, because one piece from his project – Constance's Sad Dance – survived intact. It was clear, as David told the story, that he still nursed a great affection for his Musketeers scenario. It would surely be easy enough, I suggested, to use other music of Arnold's? No composer can have been so Musketeerish? We listened to a passage from a symphony, which clearly had been inspired by D'Artagnan riding off into the sunset with Athos, Aramis and Porthos.

Two years ago, David Nixon, at the end of a day-long conference somewhere in London, turned up at David Drew's Maida Vale flat with the kind of spring in his step which suggested, erroneously, that the day was but young. He was interested in the possibility of the Musketeers for Northern. I like music I can hum while working, he declared, and Arnold just happens to be the most hum-able British composer since Elgar. After some delightful Maida Vale meetings, in which the older of the two Davids would from time to time dance ebulliently around his sitting-room table in lively interpretations of what Porthos might do next, we had an exciting story and some tuneful and dramatic music to go with it. Enter John Pryce-Jones and John Longstaff to have a listen. Yes, they nodded. It could work well musically. By this time the younger of the two Davids had quietly and very searchingly thought his way through the piece, scene by exciting scene. Malcolm Arnold's Musketeers were finally on their way.

Anthony Meredith

The full story of the 1975 Musketeers deliberations can be found in Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris (Thames/Elkin 2004)

Buy the book at Amazon.co.uk.

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