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Sir Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 was his last notable work, and is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. The violoncello (abbreviated to cello, or 'cello, plural cellos or celli —the c is tʃ

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History

The piece was composed during the summer of 1919 at Elgar's secluded cottage named "Brinkwells" in Sussex, where during previous years he had heard the sound of the artillery of World War I rumbling across the Channel at night from France. Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. In 1918, Elgar underwent an operation in London to have an infected tonsil removed, a dangerous operation for a 61-year-old man. After regaining consciousness after sedation, he asked for pencil and paper, and wrote down the melody that would become the first theme from the concerto. He and his wife soon retired to the cottage in an attempt to recover from their health problems. In 1918, Elgar composed three chamber works, which his wife noted were already noticeably different from his previous compositions, and after their premiere in the spring of 1919, he began realising his idea of a cello concerto. [1]

Public reception

The première of the concerto was given by Felix Salmond on 27 October 1919 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer, at the Queen's Hall in London. Felix Adrian Norman Salmond ( 19 November, 1888 &ndash 20 February, 1952) was an English Cellist and Cello teacher Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The London Symphony Orchestra ( LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom. Queen's Hall was a classical music Concert hall in Central London, England, opened in 1893 and was beloved by Londoners until its London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The performance was scheduled such that Albert Coates, the conductor of the London Symphony, would conduct the rest of the program whilst Elgar himself would conduct the concerto. Albert Coates ( April 23, 1882 &ndash December 11, 1953) was an Anglo - Russian conductor and Composer Coates, a self-important man, was well known for using up to forty-five minutes of his hour of rehearsal time lecturing his players. After consuming an hour of Elgar's rehearsal time, Elgar—who was until that time waiting offstage for his chance to rehearse—uncharacteristically exploded. The severely under-rehearsed performance which followed received scathing reviews, with Ernest Newman stating that "the orchestra made a public exhibition of its miserable self. Ernest Newman ( Everton Liverpool, November 30, 1868 – Tadworth, Surrey, July 7, 1959) was an English " Elgar later said that if it weren't for Salmond's diligent work in preparing the piece, he would have pulled it from the concert entirely. [2]

Music

The work has four movements:

  1. Adagio — Moderato (approx. A movement is a self-contained part of a Musical composition or Musical form. 2266-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl or TEMPO is the Chemical compound with the formula (CH23(CMe22NO 7:29)
  2. Lento — Allegro molto (approx. 4:27)
  3. Adagio (approx. 4:40)
  4. Allegro — Moderato — Allegro, ma non troppo — Poco più lento — Adagio. (approx. 11:19)

The piece represented, for Elgar, the angst, despair, and disillusionment he felt after the end of the War, and an introspective look at death and mortality. It was a significant change in his style, as he wrote much of his previous works in a noble and jovial style, inspired by the English way of life and the pre-war renaissance of European art.

The concerto opens with a dramatic recitative in the solo cello, immediately followed by a short cadenza. Recitative /rɛsɪtə'tiv/ (also known by its Italian name "recitativo" (/retʃita'tivo/ is a style of delivery (much used in Operas Oratorios The viola section then presents a rendition of the main theme, then pass it to the solo cello who repeats it and then modifies it into a stronger, more painful restatement. The viola is a bowed String instrument. It is the middle voice of the Violin family, The orchestra reiterates, and the cello presents the theme a final time before moving directly into the lighter-hearted and lyrical middle section. This transitions into another presentation of the main theme, now cold and distant and a mere echo of the original theme. The slower first movement moves directly into the fast, light-hearted second movement (acting as a scherzo although it is not in triple time) without a pause. A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a piece of Music or a movement in a certain style that forms part of a larger piece such as a Symphony.

The third movement starts and ends with an extremely lyrical melody, and one theme runs through the entire movement, giving it a loving and nostalgic feeling. The end flows directly into the finale (again with no pause), contrasting the sweet melody of the B flat major slow movement, with the menacing, B-flat minor opening of the finale. Also see B-flat minor, or B major. B major or B-flat major is a Major scale based on B-flat B or B-flat minor is a Minor scale based on B-flat consisting of the pitches B{{music|flat}}, C, D{{music|flat}}, E{{music|flat}} The fourth movement's main theme is noble and stately, but with menacing undertones and with many key-changes, giving it the feeling of instability. Near the end of the piece, the tempo slows into a più lento section, in which a new set of themes appears. The tempo slows further, to the tempo of the third movement, and the theme from that movement is restated. This tempo continues to slow until it becomes stagnant, and the orchestra holds a chord. Then, at the very end of the piece, the opening of the first movement is played again, with subtle differences. This flows into a reiteration of the main theme of the fourth movement, with tension building until the final three chords, which close the piece.

Recordings

Pablo Casals, Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier, and Mstislav Rostropovich all recorded the concerto, but it was popularized by Jacqueline du Pré's 1965 recording with John Barbirolli and the London Symphony Orchestra on EMI. Pierre Fournier ( June 24, 1906 &ndash January 8, 1986) was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists" Paul Tortelier ( March 21, 1914 - December 18, 1990) was a French cellist and Composer. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich KBE ( Russian: Мстисла́в Jacqueline Mary du Pré, OBE ( January 26, 1945 &ndash October 19, 1987) was an English cellist, today acknowledged WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Sir John Giovanni Battista Barbirolli, CH ( 2 December During a break in the recording session, the 20-year-old du Pré left the studio, returning to find a large audience of local musicians and critics who had heard that a star was in the making. Many critics consider du Pré's recording to be the definitive recording of the Elgar concerto; upon hearing it, Rostropovich is said to have erased the work from his repertoire. [3] Du Pré's recording has been continually praised for its astonishing passion as well as a remarkably secure technique.

The recording by Julian Lloyd Webber conducted by Yehudi Menuhin (who himself recorded with Elgar) conducting won the 1987 BRIT Award for the best British classical recording of that year. Julian Lloyd Webber (born April 14 1951) is one of the world's most renowned solo cellists Yehudi Menuhin Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE (April 22 1916 – March 12 1999 was an American -born Violinist and conductor who spent [4]

Media

References

  1. ^ Steinberg, M. The Concerto: A Listener's Guide, Oxford (1998) p. 185-189.
  2. ^ Stevenson, Joseph. Felix Salmond: Biography. All Music Guide. allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-23. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish
  3. ^ Lebrecht, Norman (2007). The Life and Death of Classical Music. New York: Anchor Books, 208-209. ISBN 978-1-4000-9658-9.  
  4. ^ 1987 BRIT Award Winners. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev

Trivia

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