Elgar Sesquicentenary

Started by karlhenning, June 27, 2007, 07:04:26 AM

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karlhenning

Quote from: Boris_G on June 27, 2007, 12:43:38 PM
And yes, I do enjoy listening to Falstaff from time to time: btw it includes some extraordinary moments which, I think, John Williams clearly lifted for some of his more 'exotic' moments in (for instance) the Indiana Jones movies. I enjoy the work, but it doesn't quite make the list of my all-time favs.

I was discussing with a Berklee student the other day, what a tasteful burglar Williams is :-)

Not to flog a failing filly, but what is it that keeps Falstaff from your Top X list?

Boris_G

Quote from: karlhenning on June 27, 2007, 12:50:19 PM
I was discussing with a Berklee student the other day, what a tasteful burglar Williams is :-)

Not to flog a failing filly, but what is it that keeps Falstaff from your Top X list?

It's not a 'political' decision, in that it's not meant to reflect on its worth. The works I've included in my 'fav' Elgar list are ones I've not only lived with but which I return to for - for want of a better word - nourishment: more than that, they 'speak' to me, and in a comforting way. Falstaff is undoubtedly a great work, but perhaps because it's ultimately bleak and pessimistic I find I have to be 'in the mood' to listen to it more than the ones I've specified in my 'fav' list. No better reason than that. I could say more about the other works if you want (why they're on the list and what they mean to me) but I suspect you'll have my drift already.

71 dB

Quote from: bwv 1080 on June 27, 2007, 12:26:43 PM
But did Elgar really write the music that was attributed to him, or was it someone else....

The other way around, Elgar wrote music using pseudonymes like "Gustav Franke".  ;)
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bhodges

All this commentary has made me want to hear Falstaff, and coincidentally, I just received a version with Sir Colin Davis and the Concertgebouw from June 20, 1970, which I'll listen to later.  (It's in the orchestra's latest box set of live recordings.)

I don't think I've ever heard this piece, and I do like Elgar.

--Bruce

71 dB

Quote from: karlhenning on June 27, 2007, 12:50:19 PM
...what is it that keeps Falstaff from your Top X list?

Too small X!  ;)
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Montpellier

#25
Quote from: 71 dB on June 27, 2007, 09:34:03 AM
You don't need to listen to those works if find them "intolerable". I enjoy Payne's elaboration of the third symphony, against Elgar's own wishes or not. The Piano Concerto (Not by Anthony Payne but Robert Walker!) sounds pretty Elgarian to me (noticed that it's 30's Elgar).
Quite right. 

I'd like to get more musically engaged in Elgar - his 2nd Symphony featured strong in my studies of orchestra - he was an absolute master of full orchestral tutti inter alia - but I never quite caught on with the 1st.  It could be because I stuck with one of the Boult recordings so if anyone can recommend something that might get closer to the heart of it I'd be grateful and thanks.  I'm familiar with a few of his works, obviously the Enigma Variations, Concertos - more recently Starlight Express.  

Otherwise, I'll take others' advice and steer clear of this thread!   Fans only, not enquirers! 

karlhenning

Quote from: Anancho on June 28, 2007, 06:33:42 AM
Otherwise, I'll take others' advice and steer clear of this thread!   Fans only, not enquirers! 

No, no!  This is the thread for enquirers!  The other thread is strictly fanzine!  ;)

71 dB

Quote from: Anancho on June 28, 2007, 06:33:42 AM
Quite right. 

I'd like to get more musically engaged in Elgar - his 2nd Symphony featured strong in my studies of orchestra - he was an absolute master of full orchestral tutti inter alia - but I never quite caught on with the 1st.  It could be because I stuck with one of the Boult recordings so if anyone can recommend something that might get closer to the heart of it I'd be grateful and thanks.  I'm familiar with a few of his works, obviously the Enigma Variations, Concertos - more recently Starlight Express.  

My recommendation of Elgar's symphonies is Naxos (1st Hurst, 2nd Downes & 3rd Daniel). Those performances reveal well the complex structures of the music, at least compared to Slatkin on RCA.

And yes, Elgar did wonders with full orchestra. He created sonic world with depth, contrasts and life. 
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karlhenning

Quote from: 71 dB on June 28, 2007, 06:58:46 AM
My recommendation of Elgar's symphonies is Naxos (1st Hurst, 2nd Downes & 3rd Daniel).

Three different conductors?  Interesting that Naxos divvied them up like that.  What orchestra(s)?

71 dB

Quote from: karlhenning on June 28, 2007, 07:03:43 AM
Three different conductors?  Interesting that Naxos divvied them up like that.  What orchestra(s)?

Yes, three conductors.  ;)

1 & 2 are played by BBC Philharmonic (1992, 1993). The third is by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (1999)
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Sergeant Rock

Quote from: karlhenning on June 27, 2007, 12:48:21 PM
Understood.  In context, though, that post was more Finnophobe, I think  8)

I'm also shocked that your list does not include the Violin Sonata!  That piece alone would qualify Elgar for greatness.

Yes indeed. The Elgar anniversary explains why they've programmed the Sonata during this season's chamber muisc series in Ludwigshafen. We'd never hear it otherwise. A pity. And a pity too our orchestra (the one with the long, unwieldy name I refuse to type here) hasn't programmed any Elgar at all.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

karlhenning

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on June 28, 2007, 07:19:26 AM
Yes indeed. The Elgar anniversary explains why they've programmed the Sonata during this season's chamber muisc series in Ludwigshafen.

Splendid! You're going, Sarge?

Sergeant Rock

#32
Quote from: Anancho on June 27, 2007, 09:05:24 AM
Don't mention pain or is it payne, the guy who against Elgar's own wishes tampered with the sketches of the 3rd Symphony.   Intolerable that...

You know, the only way an artist, any artist, can avoid having unfinished works, juvenilia, etc--anything deemed unworthy or not ready for publication--is to destroy the works himself. Sibelius did that. Otherwise, the public will eventually see them. It's a given. Nothing stays hidden forever and I think every artist knows that.

Personally I'm glad we have Payne's Elgar (and Cooke's Mahler). And I very much enjoy T.S. Eliot's Inventions of the March Hare. I'd give anything to hear that Sibelius 8th.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: karlhenning on June 28, 2007, 07:23:19 AM
Splendid! You're going, Sarge?

Oh, yes. The musicians are unknown to me (they look quite young) but the program is great. Wouldn't miss it:

Beethoven Violin Sonata #1
Elgar Violin Sonata
Prokofiev Violin Sonata #2
Tchaikovsky Waltz and Scherzo Op.34

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Hector

#34
Quote from: Boris_G on June 27, 2007, 12:43:38 PM
Hi Karl, sorry if I suffered a sense of humour drop-out, but I get riled by lazily Anglophobe statements. Too often they're a cheap way of making whoever's making them feel superior when it just makes them appear (or even perhaps shows them) to be an ignorant schmuck IMHO.

And yes, I do enjoy listening to Falstaff from time to time: btw it includes some extraordinary moments which, I think, John Williams clearly lifted for some of his more 'exotic' moments in (for instance) the Indiana Jones movies. I enjoy the work, but it doesn't quite make the list of my all-time favs.

Quite right.

Remember, Boris, we are not foreign, we are English ;D

M forever

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on June 27, 2007, 08:14:07 AM
Much like your posts, the answer is emphatically no.

I see PW has been upholding my legacy while I was gone.

karlhenning

Quote from: Larry Rinkel on July 05, 2007, 06:13:21 PM
b) this thread is not open only to Elgar admirers.

Oh, but it might be.

That's why I opened this one up, as a precaution  0:)

Larry Rinkel

#37
Quote from: Bonehelm on June 27, 2007, 10:34:14 AM
People don't need to be so disgusted by any thread/post about Elgar...I mean, he's an accomplished composer and he does have memorable works..if you don't like him you don't need to derail the thread about him..you can just ignore it. Don't ruin it for the others who are a fan of Elgar.

And this is the same guy who once wrote:
QuoteI'll say it one last time: I AM NOT INTERESTED IN EDWARD ELGAR.

:D

Larry Rinkel

Quote from: Boris_G on June 27, 2007, 12:43:38 PM
Hi Karl, sorry if I suffered a sense of humour drop-out, but I get riled by lazily Anglophobe statements. Too often they're a cheap way of making whoever's making them feel superior when it just makes them appear (or even perhaps shows them) to be an ignorant schmuck IMHO.

Or perhaps you just don't have a sense of humor. Spelling the word with only one "u" makes all the difference.

Sergeant Rock

Just received the schedule for this season's Pro Arte concerts in Mannheim. The BBC SO will be here in May, playing Enigma and Pomp and Circumstance Marches. Not the most adventurous programming but at least we'll hear some orchestral Elgar this year.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"