"and in fact, the ""Daily Mail"" gave it a warm review, stating, ""the symphony was received with unhesitating and most cordial warmth"". There is much speculation as to who inspired Elgar to write this symphony. It was officially dedicated to Edward VII, who died in May 1910, but many scholars nonetheless believe his close friend Alice Stuart Wortley, with whom he was rumoured to have a romantic liaison, served as inspiration. Others tie the work to Elgar's grief over the death of his close friend Alfred E. Rodewald in 1903, as shortly thereafter, Elgar started sketching the ""Larghetto"" movement of"
"Symphony No. 2 (Elgar) Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2 in E major, Op. 63, was completed on 28 February 1911 and was premiered at the London Musical Festival at the Queen's Hall by the Queen's Hall Orchestra on 24 May 1911 with the composer conducting. The work, which Elgar called ""the passionate pilgrimage of the soul"", was his last completed symphony; the composition of his Symphony No. 3, begun in 1933, was cut short by his death in 1934. The dedication reads: The more personal nature of this work, however, is clear in a letter to friend and close"
"Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the ""Enigma Variations"", the ""Pomp and Circumstance Marches"", concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including ""The Dream of Gerontius"", chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924. Although Elgar is often regarded as a typically English composer, most of his musical influences were not from England"
"The Kingdom (Elgar) The Kingdom, Op. 51, is an English-language oratorio composed in 1906 by Edward Elgar. It was first performed at the Birmingham Music Festival on 3 October 1906, with the orchestra conducted by the composer, and soloists Agnes Nicholls, Muriel Foster, John Coates and William Higley. The dedication is """"A. M. D. G."""" Elgar wrote ""The Kingdom"" for choral and instrumental forces. Following ""The Dream of Gerontius"" and ""The Apostles"", the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival commissioned Elgar to produce another large oratorio for the 1906 festival. This was ""The Kingdom"", which continues the narrative of the lives of"
"Europe and America within just over a year of its première. The symphony is regularly programmed by British orchestras, and features occasionally in concert programmes in North America and Europe. It is well represented on record, with recordings ranging from the composer's 1931 version with the London Symphony Orchestra to modern digital recordings, of which more than 20 have been issued since the mid-1980s. Nearly ten years before composing his first symphony, Elgar had been intrigued by the idea of writing a symphony to commemorate General Charles George Gordon rather as Beethoven's Eroica was originally intended to celebrate Napoleon Bonaparte."
"March 1924, inspired the ""Times"" critic to remark upon the second movement: ""one wondered whether any nobler or more beautiful funeral music has been written than this, which unrolls like some vast tapestry richly woven of purple and crimson threads."" Adrian Boult's rendering of the piece with the London Symphony Orchestra on 16 March 1920 was received with ""frantic enthusiasm,"" and stirred Elgar to declare, ""I feel that my reputation in the future is safe in your hands."" Today, Elgar's Symphony No. 2, though regularly performed in the UK, is not a central part of the international symphonic repertory. Although"
"Imperial March (Elgar) Imperial March is a piece for full orchestra written by the English composer Edward Elgar to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, as his Op. 32. In 1896 the publisher Novello's requested that he write an 'Imperial March' for the occasion, as well as a cantata based on the story of St. George and the Dragon. The first performance of the march was at a Crystal Palace concert on 19 April 1897, conducted by August Manns. It was played by massed bands at the Crystal Palace a week later, at a Royal Garden Party"
"Coronation Ode Coronation Ode, Op. 44 is a work composed by Edward Elgar for soprano, contralto, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and orchestra, with words by A. C. Benson. It was written for the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1902, and dedicated ""by Special Permission, to His Most Gracious Majesty King Edward VII"". But the Coronation was postponed due to the King being ill, so the first performance was not until 2 October 1902 at the Sheffield Festival, by the Sheffield Choir, soloists Agnes Nicholls, Muriel Foster, John Coates and David Ffrangcon Davies, with Elgar conducting."
"second movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 ""Pathétique"". Elgar disclosed to Dora that the opening bars of ""Nimrod"" were made to suggest that theme. ""Can't you hear it at the beginning? Only a hint, not a quotation."" This variation has become popular in its own right and is sometimes used at British funerals, memorial services, and other solemn occasions. It is always played at the Cenotaph, Whitehall in London at the National Service of Remembrance. A version was also played during the Hong Kong handover ceremony in 1997 and at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games."
"than ""The Dream of Gerontius"". Some of Elgar's more percipient supporters, including Adrian Boult, consider it his greatest choral work, of more consistent quality than even ""Gerontius"". As Elgar was an amateur chemist, the original manuscript of the work is stained with chemicals from his home laboratory. The Kingdom (Elgar) The Kingdom, Op. 51, is an English-language oratorio composed in 1906 by Edward Elgar. It was first performed at the Birmingham Music Festival on 3 October 1906, with the orchestra conducted by the composer, and soloists Agnes Nicholls, Muriel Foster, John Coates and William Higley. The dedication is """"A. M."
"brilliant and unforgettable occasion."" So great was the impact of the concerto that Kreisler's rival Eugène Ysaÿe spent much time with Elgar going through the work. There was great disappointment when contractual difficulties prevented Ysaÿe from playing it in London. The Violin Concerto was Elgar's last popular triumph. The following year he presented his Second Symphony in London, but was disappointed at its reception. Unlike the First Symphony, it ends not in a blaze of orchestral splendour but quietly and contemplatively. Reed, who played at the premiere, later wrote that Elgar was recalled to the platform several times to acknowledge"
"which Elgar conducted. In contrast with the First Symphony and its hundred performances in just over a year, the Cello Concerto did not have a second performance in London for more than a year. Although in the 1920s Elgar's music was no longer in fashion, his admirers continued to present his works when possible. Reed singles out a performance of the Second Symphony in March 1920 conducted by ""a young man almost unknown to the public"", Adrian Boult, for bringing ""the grandeur and nobility of the work"" to a wider public. Also in 1920, Landon Ronald presented an all-Elgar concert"
"Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. His activities also included conducting orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Concerts Colonne, and others in Copenhagen, The Hague, Madrid, Athens and Prague. Later in life, he wrote a great deal of incidental music for radio plays. His other compositions include an organ prelude, ""Rorate Coeli"" (1916), Variations on a Hill Tune, for piano (1920), and songs. Robert Simpson dedicated his Symphony No. 2 (1956) to Anthony Bernard, who conducted the premiere performance with the LCO. Bernard died in 1963, aged 72. Anthony Bernard played a role in the story of Edward Elgar's"
"two of Elgar's most large-scale works, the Violin Concerto and the Second Symphony, and is a contrastingly short and gentle piece, lasting under eight minutes in performance. The Elgar expert Michael Kennedy remarks of it that it portrays the bassoon as poet and singer rather than comedian. The work is scored for an orchestra consisting of, besides the solo bassoon, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons (2nd ad lib) 3 horns in F, 3 trombones ad lib, timpani, and strings. Both versions have been recorded. Liner notes to EMI recordings mentioned above, by Michael Kennedy and"
"the Central European tradition typified at the time by the work of Richard Strauss. The ""Enigma Variations"" were well received in Germany and Italy, and remain to the present day a worldwide concert staple. Elgar's biographer Basil Maine commented, ""When Sir Arthur Sullivan died in 1900 it became apparent to many that Elgar, although a composer of another build, was his true successor as first musician of the land."" Elgar's next major work was eagerly awaited. For the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival of 1900, he set Cardinal John Henry Newman's poem ""The Dream of Gerontius"" for soloists, chorus and orchestra."
"his fondness for England. He suppressed his father's will because it attempted to split the Hanoverian succession between George II's future grandsons rather than vest all the domains (both in Britain and Hanover) in a single person. Both British and Hanoverian ministers considered the will unlawful, as George I did not have the legal power to determine the succession personally. Critics supposed that George II hid the will to avoid paying out his father's legacies. George II was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 11/22 October 1727. The composer George Frideric Handel was commissioned to write four new anthems for the"
"corrected the proofs of Dowland´s ""Second Book of Songs"", which was published in London in 1600. He was also mentioned in connection with arrangements for the funeral of his patron Sir Thomas Kitson, an event which took place in Hengrave in 1603. It is not known what happened to him subsequently. Perhaps his best-known work is ""Eliza Is the Fairest Queen"" (a tribute to Elizabeth I). Other works include: Edward Johnson (composer) Edward Johnson (fl. 1572–1601) was an English composer. Johnson's compositions were highly regarded in his time, but few of them survive. Johnson was born about 1549. He composed"
"copy of the score, ""This copy is the property of Adrian Boult who first caused ""The Planets"" to shine in public and thereby earned the gratitude of Gustav Holst."" Elgar was another composer who had cause to be grateful to Boult. His Second Symphony had, since its premiere nine years earlier, received few performances. When Boult conducted it at the Queen's Hall in March 1920 to ""great applause"" and ""frantic enthusiasm"", the composer wrote to him: ""With the sounds ringing in my ears I send a word of thanks for your splendid conducting of the Sym. ... I feel that"
"hall responded to the new symphony, according to ""The Times"" reviewer, ""with much favour, though with rather less enthusiasm than usual."" Reasons for this perceived waning of interest could include the performance of ""The Dream of Gerontius"" and the Violin Concerto earlier the same week, the presence of two other composer-conductor premieres on the programme, or the high ticket prices. The emotional disconnect between an audience eager for the coronation of a new monarch and a brooding symphony in mournful commemoration of the late king may have also affected the reaction. Regardless, the lukewarm response prompted Elgar to remark to"
"the tone of ""The Spirit of England"" and that of other imperialist Elgar works: ""The conception is grandiose, but not as the ""Pomp and Circumstance"" Marches are. It moves along with no less splendour, but with a more austere deliberation."" The Spirit of England The Spirit of England, Op. 80, is a work for chorus, orchestra, and soprano/tenor soloist in three movements composed by Edward Elgar between 1915 and 1917, setting text from Laurence Binyon's 1914 anthology of poems ""The Winnowing Fan"". The work acts as a requiem for the dead of World War I and is dedicated ""to the"
"references to back this interpretation he puts forth in his courses ""The symphonies of Beethoven"" and ""How to listen to and understand great music"". Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven) The Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36, is a symphony in four movements written by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1801 and 1802. The work is dedicated to Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky. Beethoven's Second Symphony was mostly written during Beethoven's stay at Heiligenstadt in 1802, at a time when his deafness was becoming more pronounced and he began to realize that it might be incurable. The work was premiered in the"
"Queen Alexandra's Memorial Ode Queen Alexandra's Memorial Ode is an ode ""So many true Princesses who have gone"" written by John Masefield and set to music for choir and orchestra by Sir Edward Elgar for the occasion of the unveiling of Sir Alfred Gilbert's memorial to Queen Alexandra on 8 June 1932 outside Marlborough House in London. It was Masefield's first commission as Poet Laureate, and Elgar, as Master of the King's Musick, was requested to set the verses in mid-May 1932, shortly before his seventy-fifth birthday. Elgar originally set the poem to an orchestral accompaniment but, due to a"
"the suggestion into his ""Coronation Ode"", for which he asked the poet and essayist A. C. Benson to write the words. The last section of the ""Ode"" uses the march's melody. Due to the King's illness, the coronation was postponed. Elgar created a separate song, which was first performed by Madame Clara Butt in June 1902. In fact, only the first of the seven stanzas of the Ode's final section was re-used, as the first four lines of the second stanza below. This stanza is the part which is popularly sung today. <poem> ""Solo"" ""Chorus"" ""Solo"" ""Chorus"" </poem> The writing"
"country, and Richter's colleague Arthur Nikisch considered the First Symphony ""a masterpiece of the first order"" to be ""justly ranked with the great symphonic models – Beethoven and Brahms."" By contrast, the critic W. J. Turner, in the mid-twentieth century, wrote of Elgar's ""Salvation Army symphonies,"" and Herbert von Karajan called the ""Enigma Variations"" ""second-hand Brahms"". Elgar's immense popularity was not long-lived. After the success of his First Symphony and Violin Concerto, his Second Symphony and Cello Concerto were politely received but without the earlier wild enthusiasm. His music was identified in the public mind with the Edwardian era, and"
"Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven) The Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36, is a symphony in four movements written by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1801 and 1802. The work is dedicated to Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky. Beethoven's Second Symphony was mostly written during Beethoven's stay at Heiligenstadt in 1802, at a time when his deafness was becoming more pronounced and he began to realize that it might be incurable. The work was premiered in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 5 April 1803, and was conducted by the composer. During that same concert, the Third Piano Concerto"
"The Crown of India The Crown of India, was a masque, an elaborate theatrical presentation, staged in 1912 to celebrate the visit the preceding December of King George V and Queen Mary to Delhi for their coronation as Emperor and Empress of India. For this masque, the English composer Sir Edward Elgar wrote the music as his Op. 66, with a libretto by Henry Hamilton. The masque consisted of two tableaux: 'The Cities of Ind' and 'Ave Imperator!'. The masque was first performed at the Coliseum Theatre in London on 11 March 1912. Elgar composed twelve pieces for contralto, bass,"
"as some form of muse for the composer as he drew upon his time in Tintagel whilst writing his second symphony. Elgar, though always prone to spells of intense self-doubt, had come to expect positive reactions to his new works. The premiere of Symphony No. 1 in 1908 was received enthusiastically by an exuberant audience and press; Elgar's name was linked with the likes of Beethoven and Brahms, and the work was performed 82 times over the following year. Thus, Elgar was unpleasantly surprised by the very different reception given the premiere of his Symphony No. 2. The less-than-capacity filled"
"""The Music Makers"" to Birmingham University; the Cello Concerto to the Royal College of Music; ""The Kingdom"" to the Bodleian Library; and other manuscripts to the British Museum. The Elgar Society dedicated to the composer and his works was formed in 1951. The University of Birmingham's Special Collections contain an archive of letters written by Elgar. Elgar's statue at the end of Worcester High Street stands facing the cathedral, only yards from where his father's shop once stood. Another statue of the composer by Rose Garrard is at the top of Church Street in Malvern, overlooking the town and giving"
"One of Gordon's poems, ""The Swimmer"", forms the libretto for the fifth movement of Edward Elgar's song cycle ""Sea Pictures"", and Elgar also set to music another of his poems, ""A Song of Autumn"". After a particularly trying year for the British Royal Family, Elizabeth II quoted from one of Gordon's more famous poems in her Christmas Message of 1992, ""Kindness in another's trouble, courage in one's own.."", but did not mention the poet's name. Dingley Dell, Gordon's property and home from 1862 to 1866, are preserved as a conservation park and as a museum. The museum houses early volumes"
"greatest conductors of his time, including Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Adrian Boult and Sir Thomas Beecham. When in England he sang in every season of Sir Henry Wood's Promenade Concerts in 1921-51. An acclaimed performer in Elgar's oratorio ""The Dream of Gerontius"", Williams often worked with the composer. He sang at Elgar's memorial service in 1934 as well as at the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937. In 1938, he was one of 16 eminent singers invited to take part in the first performance of the ""Serenade to Music"", written"
"Symphony's Adagio, as horn and trombones twice softly intone a phrase of utter grief"", whereas to Michael Kennedy, the movement is notable for its lack of anguished yearning and ""angst"" and is marked instead by a ""benevolent tranquillity."" Despite the fluctuating critical assessment of the various works over the years, Elgar's major works taken as a whole have in the twenty-first century recovered strongly from their neglect in the 1950s. ""The Record Guide"" in 1955 could list only one currently available recording of the First Symphony, none of the Second, one of the Violin Concerto, two of the Cello Concerto,"
"of the second interlude, a piano C major chord in the brass and a hushed roll on the side-drum portray Falstaff's death. The work ends with a very brief version of Prince Hal's theme showing, in the composer's words, that ""the man of stern reality has triumphed."" In 1912 the Leeds Festival commissioned Elgar to write a new work to be performed the following year. Before the première Elgar told a reporter, ""I have, I think, enjoyed writing it more than any other music I have composed and perhaps for that reason it may prove to be among my better"
"Falstaff (Elgar) Falstaff – Symphonic Study in C minor, Op. 68, is an orchestral work by the English composer Edward Elgar. Though not so designated by the composer, it is a symphonic poem in the tradition of Franz Liszt and Richard Strauss. It portrays Sir John Falstaff, the ""fat knight"" of William Shakespeare's ""Henry IV"" Parts 1 and 2. The work was well received at its première in 1913, but did not inspire the great enthusiasm aroused by some of Elgar's earlier works. The composer thought it his finest orchestral piece, and many Elgar admirers agree, but it has not"