Edward Elgar.

August 17, 2014

 

Elgar:

  • Symphony No. 1.

I love Edward Elgar as a composer. For many years, however, my knowledge of his compositions was pretty well restricted to three works:

  • 1. The Violin Concerto, made famous by the premiere performance by the young Yehudi Menuhin. During the first rehearsal the composer suddenly stopped and said: “Ah, yes; this is going really well; so I am off to the races” . Menuhin had a panic attack, but the concert was just fine.
  • 2. The Cello Concerto, made famous by the amazing performances of Jacqueline DuPre, as conducted by Barenboim.
  • 3. The Enigma Variations as performed by conductor Georg Solti, and later in a memorial concert following Solti’s death, performed at Carnegie Hall, New York, by Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony.

Now I am committed to learn Elgar’s symphonies. And this CD is a great way to start:

Elgar:

Performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo conducting.

It was during the winter of 1900–01 that Elgar began to sketch what he hoped would become his first symphony. However, the sketches were quickly absorbed into several shorter pieces, one of which was the Cockaigne overture – a portrait of ‘old London town’, also on this recording.

As for the First Symphony, seven years would pass before its première in Manchester and subsequent London performance.

The Guardian wrote on the 31st July 2014:

“It’s a finely judged and paced performance, one that avoids extremes but still manages to give a tremendous sense of cumulative momentum to the whole work…Oramo has always obtained a wonderfully refined string tone from the orchestras he conducts, and the hushed playing of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic…is strikingly effective.”

Here is Martyn Brabbins conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Elgar’s Symphony No 1 in A flat major:

 

 

And next, here is another performance of the same work, interpreted by the Jugend Philharmoniker; listen carefully to that beautiful but sad ending at 19:00+ minutes:

 

 

Tags: Edward Elgar, Symphony #1, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo, Yehudi Menuhin, Jacqueline DuPre, Daniel Barenboim, Georg Solti, violin concerto, cello concerto, Enigma Variations