Elgar Concerto Showdown: the "Violin Concerto" vs. the "Cello Concerto"

[Mirror Image]

Let the Elgar Concerto Death Match Begin!!!

[Sergeant Rock]

This one I'm not touching 

Sarge

[Chronochromie]

The Cello Concerto for sure, although I'm not a big fan of either.

[Mirror Image]

This one I'm not touching 

Sarge

Hah!

Well, the choice for me was very easy: the Violin Concerto in B minor. It used to be the Cello Concerto that I admired more than the Violin Concerto, but now it's quite the reverse and I attribute this to the fact that the Violin Concerto is a work I had to make a bit of an effort to understand fully. The Cello Concerto came to me too easily. Not that this is the criteria that I always use of course, but it seemed that the effort I made with the VC rewarded me more deeply than the CC.

[Green Destiny]

As much as I love the Cello Concerto the Violin Concerto is my favourite of the 2 easily - Possibly even the greatest VC I know

[Mirror Image]

As much as I love the Cello Concerto the Violin Concerto is my favourite of the 2 easily - Possibly even the greatest VC I know

Certainly is an astonishing work, Conor. Will be interested to see my other fellow Elgarians weigh in on this one (in particular: Elgarian, 71 dB, and Monkey Greg).

[71 dB]

Will be interested to see my other fellow Elgarians weigh in on this one (in particular: Elgarian, 71 dB, and Monkey Greg).

Well, this is easy: My vote goes to the VC. My first Elgar CD was this:

[asin]B000027440[/asin]

[springrite]

A close one, but not close enough to trouble my vote. Cello!

[kishnevi]

This one I'm not touching 

Sarge

Neither can I.   So I will vote for Two Songs, Op. 73 as a compromise.

[Karl Henning]

"My kingdom for a banana!"

[Mirror Image]

The Cello Concerto for sure, although I'm not a big fan of either.

Welcome aboard, Chronochromie! Please introduce yourself!

[springrite]

"My kingdom for a banana!"

Your kingdom IS a banana!

[Elgarian]

Well, the choice for me was very easy: the Violin Concerto in B minor. It used to be the Cello Concerto that I admired more than the Violin Concerto, but now it's quite the reverse and I attribute this to the fact that the Violin Concerto is a work I had to make a bit of an effort to understand fully. The Cello Concerto came to me too easily. Not that this is the criteria that I always use of course, but it seemed that the effort I made with the VC rewarded me more deeply than the CC.

This was my experience pretty much exactly. My only addition would be that the transformation has taken (is taking?) a lifetime.  I  first heard both works in about 1964/5, and the cello concerto was at that time a clear winner. I was in the habit of saturating myself in Elgar and then going for long wanderings around the Derbyshire hills (I hadn't yet found my way to Malvern at the age of 17), and the cello concerto provided me with a suitably solemn, close-to-pastoral soundtrack-in-the-head for that sort of activity. But the violin concerto didn't fit anything like so well - I didn't realise at the time why its preoccupations were so very different, and I didn't listen to it anything like so much.

That situation continued for a very long time, and it was only many years later that the 'puzzle' of the VC began to solve itself. Once that process began - once the windfloweriness of it started to sink in - I was on a roll. At some stage (I can't identify when) it overtook the cello concerto in my affections, and now, 50 years on, there's really no contest. No other single work has occupied my thoughts so much for so long.

It all culminated a few months ago, appropriately in Malvern, where it was performed by the English Symphony Orchestra with Alexander Sitkovetsky as soloist and Kenneth Woods conducting. I've already reported on this concert elsewhere, but it's worth saying again that despite (or perhaps assisted by) low expectation, it blew my head off. By some distance it was the most profoundly moving live performance of anything that I've ever heard - so intensely affecting that it's hard to understand how music that invoked such emotional pain could actually be regarded as a pleasurable activity; yet I felt as if I could gladly have soaked myself in it forever. If I needed any reassurance of the profundity of the inspiration of the VC, this was it.

Incidentally, the Elgar Society - who are overseeing the publication of all Elgar's diaries and letters - are about to republish The Windflower Letters - a collection long out of print.

[71 dB]

The Cello Concerto was actually a disappointment to me when I heard it the first time (Kliegel, Naxos). I couldn't believe it was one of the most loved works by Elgar. Over the time I have learned to appreciate the work more and buying the classic Jacqueline du Pre/Barbirolli some 10 years ago did help. The two concertos complement each other nicely. The VC is bright and 'large' while the The CC is dark and 'small'.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I voted the cello concerto!

If I voted otherwise my wonderful cellist partner would not be impressed

[Karl Henning]

Your kingdom IS a banana!

You may be right at that!

[Karl Henning]

I voted the cello concerto!

If I voted otherwise my wonderful cellist partner would not be impressed

Compulsion!

[Mirror Image]

This was my experience pretty much exactly. My only addition would be that the transformation has taken (is taking?) a lifetime.  I  first heard both works in about 1964/5, and the cello concerto was at that time a clear winner. I was in the habit of saturating myself in Elgar and then going for long wanderings around the Derbyshire hills (I hadn't yet found my way to Malvern at the age of 17), and the cello concerto provided me with a suitably solemn, close-to-pastoral soundtrack-in-the-head for that sort of activity. But the violin concerto didn't fit anything like so well - I didn't realise at the time why its preoccupations were so very different, and I didn't listen to it anything like so much.

That situation continued for a very long time, and it was only many years later that the 'puzzle' of the VC began to solve itself. Once that process began - once the windfloweriness of it started to sink in - I was on a roll. At some stage (I can't identify when) it overtook the cello concerto in my affections, and now, 50 years on, there's really no contest. No other single work has occupied my thoughts so much for so long.

It all culminated a few months ago, appropriately in Malvern, where it was performed by the English Symphony Orchestra with Alexander Sitkovetsky as soloist and Kenneth Woods conducting. I've already reported on this concert elsewhere, but it's worth saying again that despite (or perhaps assisted by) low expectation, it blew my head off. By some distance it was the most profoundly moving live performance of anything that I've ever heard - so intensely affecting that it's hard to understand how music that invoked such emotional pain could actually be regarded as a pleasurable activity; yet I felt as if I could gladly have soaked myself in it forever. If I needed any reassurance of the profundity of the inspiration of the VC, this was it.

Incidentally, the Elgar Society - who are overseeing the publication of all Elgar's diaries and letters - are about to republish The Windflower Letters - a collection long out of print.

Thanks for this post, Elgarian. Most interesting. The Violin Concerto has so many layers that I simply can't wade through them all even after hearing the work so many times now. I'd love to see a performance of this work with Tasmin Little as it was this violinist who really turned this work around for me, although Nigel Kennedy's early recording with Handley also helped solidify things for me as well. If I recall, your favorite performance is the Hugh Bean/Groves on EMI, correct? I've read many mixed reviews of this performance mainly concerning the slower pace of the performance. What's your take on it?

[Cato]

I voted for the Busoni Violin Concerto!   

"It looks like I picked the wrong month to give up Elgar!"  0:)

Sooo, I will need to become acquainted with the works: a gap in my musical education!

[Mirror Image]

I voted for the Busoni Violin Concerto!   

"It looks like I picked the wrong month to give up Elgar!"  0:)

Sooo, I will need to become acquainted with the works: a gap in my musical education!

Yes, Cato! Do you have a large Elgar collection?