Elgar's Hillside

[Parsifal]

For me the standard for Elgar's second symphony is Barbirolli, but this release has me curious.

[Maestro267]

Listening this evening to the Symphony No. 3 (elaborated by Payne). I distinctly remember thinking the first time I heard this (c. 2 years ago) that this is exactly how I imagine an Elgar work in the 1930s would sound, if he had carried on writing large-scale works after the Cello Concerto. Quite extraordinary.

[71 dB]

Listening this evening to the Symphony No. 3 (elaborated by Payne). I distinctly remember thinking the first time I heard this (c. 2 years ago) that this is exactly how I imagine an Elgar work in the 1930s would sound, if he had carried on writing large-scale works after the Cello Concerto. Quite extraordinary.

Yes, I agree. The third symphony is so "Elgar in the 30's". He DID work on several large compositions at that time, or rather tried to work as a terminally ill man suffering from cancer, but sadly passed away before finishing any of them. 

[71 dB]

I listened to the Cello Concerto on Spotify from this set because I was intersted to hear how the stereo reconstruction sounds. I had not heard this performance before. Despite of the very bad sound quality I found the performance great! I have always found this work have a non-Elgarian feel apart from the last moment. This was 100 % Elgar from start to finish! This work is often played so darkly and sadly, but Elgar's music is about the whole spectrum of feelings, you need hope to illustrate despair and joy to contrast sadness. Elgar's playfulness with the already fast tempi made this concerto really work for me. I wonder if there are similar modern performances with good sound?

[asin]B01HO8DUE8[/asin]

[Moonfish]

Elgar:
Sea Pictures
Symphony No. 2 
 
Larissa Avdeyeva     
USSR State Symphony Orchestra
Svetlanov

I stumbled upon a pleasant surprise this afternoon with a Russian perspective of Elgar's Sea Picture as well as Symphony No. 2.  If you are an Elgar fan these are actually well worth listening to. The orchestra is vibrant and the performance is powerful. Perhaps not as nostalgic and thoughtful as I prefer it, but I had a great time regardless. The reviews are certainly mixed at Amazon.uk, but I felt it was a positive experience. Certainly not a replacement for one's favorite recordings, but worthwhile for the different sensations triggered by Svetlanov's forces.

a. Sea Pictures - Great performance, but a bit odd hearing it in Russian. Avdeyeva has a great voice, but it is quite unusual (even unsettling) to hear these works sung in the Russian language. However, the orchestration around her voice is supreme.

b. Symphony No. 2 - Surprisingly, I took a liking for Svetlanov's performance. I didn't quite know what to expect hearing the USSR State SO taking on Elgar's beautiful symphony. The brass (as always) is great and brings thundering crescendos into the stormy parts of the symphony. It is a little fast compared to what I'm used to (Boult in particular), but it is a very enjoyable performance. I wish it was more widely available. I just stumbled upon it in the Svetlanov compilation. Serendipity!

[Elgarian Redux]

Seems to have been very quiet around these parts, so I thought I'd ramble on a bit about things Elgarish.

Recordings
I haven't bought any Elgar recordings for quite a long time, though I almost pulled the trigger on that box of recordings from Elgar's personal library - this one:



I notice someone posted about it a while back - I'd be glad of some responses to it. It sounds like the kind of thing I ought to have.

Books
I have, by contrast, kept up more or less with the massive project of publishing Elgar's letters and diaries. There are now several volumes available, including the Windflower letters, his letters to Carice, and three volumes of Diaries taking the story up to 1904, with more to come. They aren't cheap at about £35 each, but of course this is a project that isn't commercially driven, and is unlikely to pay for itself I should think. They're all available for sale here: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?sortby=0&vci=62926846

Elgar's Birthplace
This has now been taken over by the National Trust. It closed for a while while they rejigged everything, but I understand it has now reopened, complete with teashop. I haven't been there myself since the reopening. It was inevitable - I gather it would have run into serious financial trouble within another year or two if there had been no change in the arrangements. But it's sad to see a place that was unique, and so gloriously idiosyncratic, being absorbed into the great National Trust machine. But better of course to have this, than nothing at all.

[Karl Henning]

Completely understand the mixed feelings there.  Isabella Stewart Gardner bequeathed her mansion, with all its objets d'art, to the City of Boston with the condition that (basically) they not change anything.  It is only relatively recently that they lit upon the solution of building an adjoining modern wing, which leaves the "home structure" as is.

[Elgarian Redux]

Completely understand the mixed feelings there.  Isabella Stewart Gardner bequeathed her mansion, with all its objets d'art, to the City of Boston with the condition that (basically) they not change anything.  It is only relatively recently that they lit upon the solution of building an adjoining modern wing, which leaves the "home structure" as is.

That sounds eminently sensible. The Bronte Parsonage in Haworth has been treated in a similar manner - the parsonage is pretty much unchanged, but a wing has been added to house a shop, etc.

My understanding about the Elgar Birthplace Cottage is that it will remain essentially unchanged, but my concern is that the National Trust casts the same sort of modern 'Heritage' blanket over most of the things it touches. At some point I'll revisit, and report back. But when I think, for example, of the glorious afternoon I spent there copying Elgar's cycling routes from his old maps so I could cycle the same tracks myself ... I suspect such informality may no longer be possible.

[Karl Henning]

All things must pass.  But we don't have to like it.

[Elgarian Redux]

Indeed we don't. However, I have a thought. What I did that afternoon a few years ago was to copy Elgar's routes onto a modern reproduction of a Ordnance Survey map of the period, so that all the information on Elgar's original map is on my hand-drawn copy. Should anyone want to go cycling in Elgar's bike tracks, it wouldn't be necessary to seek access to the original maps. Mine is good enough.

Well, here it is, at reduced scale first of all. Routes cycled by Elgar are marked in red.



If this is interesting enough for anyone to want the full size image (which you need, if you want to read the place names etc), it can be downloaded here:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1855/42515669440_6501be0820_o.jpg

[Karl Henning]

Without making an unseemly ruckus, I applaud you.

[Elgarian Redux]

Without making an unseemly ruckus, I applaud you.

I  thank you, Sir. I was wondering what that seemly ruckus was that I could hear.

[71 dB]

Seems to have been very quiet around these parts,...

Yeah, it has been quiet. Elgar isn't a new exciting obscure composer nor is he Beethoven who people talk about a lot anyway. Elgar falls in between.

Good effort Elgarian. I can't.

[Karl Henning]

Books
I have, by contrast, kept up more or less with the massive project of publishing Elgar's letters and diaries. There are now several volumes available, including the Windflower letter, his letters to Carice, and three volumes of Diaries taking the story up to 1904, with more to come. They aren't cheap at about £35 each, but of course this is a project that isn't commercially driven, and is unlikely to pay for itself I should think. They're all available for sale here: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?sortby=0&vci=62926846

This is something. (He said, keeping the ruckus seemly.)

[Biffo]

That sounds eminently sensible. The Bronte Parsonage in Haworth has been treated in a similar manner - the parsonage is pretty much unchanged, but a wing has been added to house a shop, etc.

My understanding about the Elgar Birthplace Cottage is that it will remain essentially unchanged, but my concern is that the National Trust casts the same sort of modern 'Heritage' blanket over most of the things it touches. At some point I'll revisit, and report back. But when I think, for example, of the glorious afternoon I spent there copying Elgar's cycling routes from his old maps so I could cycle the same tracks myself ... I suspect such informality may no longer be possible.

This is just nitpicking really but the comparison between Elgar's birthplace and the Bronte Parsonage Museum isn't exact. After the death of Charlotte's husband the entire contents of the house were dispersed. Over the years The Bronte Society (who own and run the museum) have painstakingly reassembled as much of the original contents as possible. What you see now is the result of years of work (and restoration) not the intact original. I have a feeling the museum is run by volunteers who must be very dedicated.

Not much Elgarian activity here except Gardner's new recording of Symphony No 2 - still not sure about it.

[knight66]

As noted above there has not been much action here recently. I looked back over the last year or so. As there has been no mention of the following piece, I will promote King Olaf. Last year I learned this work, based on a Norse Saga it tells a highly complex story of vikings and their queens and battles. At one point there is the telling of a story within the story about....Norse kings and queens. The story is all but impossible to follow and the choir referred to it as Noggin the Nog, after the kids books.

However during its 90 or so minutes there is a lot of beautiful and stirring music  and I was very happy to have been made to pay attention to it. Of the 150 or so of us, I don't think there was even one who knew the piece. Andrew Davis conducted us and in prep I got his Chandos recording which is excellent and rather more vivid, and in the main better sung, than the Handley. Though Handley does have Teresa Cahill who is always worth seeking out.

Mike

[Karl Henning]

Splendid, Mike.

[Elgarian Redux]

This is just nitpicking really but the comparison between Elgar's birthplace and the Bronte Parsonage Museum isn't exact.

Actually I wasn't making any comparison between them at all. Karl had referred to the attaching of a wing to the Isabella Stuart Gardner house in Boston so as to preserve the mansion itself intact, and I commented incidentally that the added wing at the Bronte Parsonage was a broadly similar sort of solution. There was no implied connection with the Elgar Birthplace.

As far as the interior is concerned there's nothing inherently to be preserved intact in the Elgar Birthplace because (unlike the Brontes at the Parsonage) he didn't live there. Just born there, and in later years was fond of revisiting the place. The interior is just a sort of homely Elgar museum - hugely atmospheric and deeply moving, but not the same sort of thing as the BP.

[Elgarian Redux]

As noted above there has not been much action here recently. I looked back over the last year or so. As there has been no mention of the following piece, I will promote King Olaf. Last year I learned this work, based on a Norse Saga it tells a highly complex story of vikings and their queens and battles. At one point there is the telling of a story within the story about....Norse kings and queens. The story is all but impossible to follow and the choir referred to it as Noggin the Nog, after the kids books.

However during its 90 or so minutes there is a lot of beautiful and stirring music  and I was very happy to have been made to pay attention to it. Of the 150 or so of us, I don't think there was even one who knew the piece. Andrew Davis conducted us and in prep I got his Chandos recording which is excellent and rather more vivid, and in the main better sung, than the Handley. Though Handley does have Teresa Cahill who is always worth seeking out.

Mike

I'm kind of reassured by your comment that you found Olaf hard to follow, Mike. So do I find - I thought there must be something vaguely not-so-bright about me, but now I see that either we are both not-so-bright, or it really is tricky to follow.

I've never really taken to it myself, though I've only had two or three goes at it, mostly (as you note) because of the presence of Ms Cahill in the Handley recording. Sounds like I should try again.

[Elgarian Redux]

This is something. (He said, keeping the ruckus seemly.)

You, Sir, are capable of making the seemliest ruckuses of my experience.