Elgar's Hillside

[revdrdave]

I would just to say I've been enjoying reading your posts, revdrdave. Keep up the good work!

Thank you, Mirror Image--I don't feel that I'm contributing a great deal because I'm so early on in my experience with Elgar, but I appreciate your encouragement!

[Mirror Image]

Thank you, Mirror Image--I don't feel that I'm contributing a great deal because I'm so early on in my experience with Elgar, but I appreciate your encouragement!

You're welcome. Whether you have one year or 40 years experience with Elgar's music, posts about Elgar and your own journey with his music are always welcomed, and, of course, encouraged here.

[Elgarian]

I don't feel that I'm contributing a great deal ...

Doesn't seem like that to me. I'm enjoying these conversations ever so much.

[revdrdave]

We've been discussing our collective inability to separate Elgar's music from Elgar the man...

http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/elgars-enigma-love-child-named-pearl

This is link to a lengthy article that discusses Elgar's supposed relationship to Anna Nelson with whom--supposedly--he had a love child and that it is Nelson, not Alice Wortley, who was the inspiration for both the Violin Concerto and the 13th of the Enigma variations. The article says in part:

Elgar's assumed muse for the Violin Concerto has always been Mrs Alice Stuart Wortley, but the initials, reproduced in the Sunday Telegraph article, were much more obviously A.N. than A.W. If Elgar had indeed been serious when he inscribed those initials, it did not fit the standard wisdom. Furthermore, Elgar had not even met Mrs Wortley when he composed the Engima Variations, and - for what it is worth - it was the strong view of two of his close associates, the music critic Ernest Newman and the conductor Leopold Stokowski, that one and the same woman inspired both works.

I'm less intrigued that Anna Nelson may be the "assumed muse" than Alice Wortley. Either way, the Violin Concerto still reflects Elgar's struggle with deeply-felt emotions about someone. I'm more interested in how this story explains the emotional turmoil that gripped Elgar during the writing of The Kingdom and his subsequent falling-away from a faith that had been such a significant part of his life to that point.

What do the rest of you think?

[Elgarian]

We've been discussing our collective inability to separate Elgar's music from Elgar the man...

http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/elgars-enigma-love-child-named-pearl

This is link to a lengthy article that discusses Elgar's supposed relationship to Anna Nelson with whom--supposedly--he had a love child and that it is Nelson, not Alice Wortley, who was the inspiration for both the Violin Concerto and the 13th of the Enigma variations. The article says in part:

Elgar's assumed muse for the Violin Concerto has always been Mrs Alice Stuart Wortley, but the initials, reproduced in the Sunday Telegraph article, were much more obviously A.N. than A.W. If Elgar had indeed been serious when he inscribed those initials, it did not fit the standard wisdom. Furthermore, Elgar had not even met Mrs Wortley when he composed the Engima Variations, and - for what it is worth - it was the strong view of two of his close associates, the music critic Ernest Newman and the conductor Leopold Stokowski, that one and the same woman inspired both works.

I'm less intrigued that Anna Nelson may be the "assumed muse" than Alice Wortley. Either way, the Violin Concerto still reflects Elgar's struggle with deeply-felt emotions about someone. I'm more interested in how this story explains the emotional turmoil that gripped Elgar during the writing of The Kingdom and his subsequent falling-away from a faith that had been such a significant part of his life to that point.

What do the rest of you think?

This A.N. business is completely new to me. It's not surprising, I think. Elgar fell in love several times in his life. There was Helen Weaver  before he married Alice. It's always supposed that he had a very close relationship with Alice Stuart Wortley, though no one knows how close, exactly. He had a fleeting passion for the violinist Jelly D'Aranyi at some point. After Alice Elgar's death he fell in love with Vera Hockman - who inspired the lovely theme in the third symphony. As far as I know there's no reason to suppose the inspiration for the 13th variation had anything to do with the inspiration for the VC. (We DO know that he referred to the 'windflowery bits' in the VC when discussing it with Alice Wortley.) So ... why not Anna Nelson as another lady in his life?

I agree with you  David. As far as we listeners to the music are concerned, it doesn't matter which of his muses was engaged in any given piece - it's that 'eternal feminine' that counts, whoever it was at the time.

[revdrdave]

As far as I know there's no reason to suppose the inspiration for the 13th variation had anything to do with the inspiration for the VC.

Well, only the insistence of Ernest Newman and Leopold Stokowski that it was the same woman.  In any case, re: the so-called "windflower" themes in the Violin Concerto...did Elgar himself refer to the themes that way or did the reference arise after the fact because Elgar referred to the Violin Concerto as "our concerto," i.e. Alice Wortley and her nickname was "windflower"?  If the reference came from Elgar himself, that would seem to mitigate against the possibility that the muse for the concerto was Anna Nelson.  On the other hand, if the themes were so named after the fact, they could just as easily have been called the "Nelson" themes, assuming it was known then about Elgar's relationship with Anna (although, admittedly, "windflower" is a good deal more evocative name for the themes than "Nelson").

All that said, there's still the question of the impact of Elgar's relationship with Anna on his Catholicism.  I know comparatively little about that period in Elgar's life, but I do know his Catholic faith had been a significant part of his life.  It thus struck me as odd that he'd turn his back on Catholicism--and, apparently, God--as a consequence of a nervous breakdown of sorts brought on by his struggles in finishing The Kingdom.  Even if we allow for the possibility that Elgar's Catholicism was more cultural than the consequence of a deep spiritual commitment (witness his comment after the disastrous premier of Gerontius, "I always said God was against art and I still believe it...I have allowed my heart to open once--it is now shut against every religious feeling and every soft, gentle impulse for ever") it's difficult to see how a struggle with finishing The Kingdom could result in a spiritual crisis of a magnitude sufficient to drive Elgar to turn his back on his faith.  However, if we assume that the story of his relationship with Anna Nelson is true, the shame and stress of being discovered as having fathered a child outside of his marriage goes much further in explaining Elgar's actions.

All speculation, of course, and none of it probably had any significant impact on his music.  Still, it potentially lifts the veil on a part of Elgar's life and character that provides additional insight into the issues in his life.  And, if true, it does put a slightly different spin on the whole matter of the "eternal feminine'," doesn't it?

[Elgarian]

Well, only the insistence of Ernest Newman and Leopold Stokowski that it was the same woman. 

There's no shortage of opinions on these things - I just don't know of much actual evidence one way or another. A case has been made for Helen Weaver as the 13th variation, but I can't see any way of being sure.

In any case, re: the so-called "windflower" themes in the Violin Concerto...did Elgar himself refer to the themes that way or did the reference arise after the fact because Elgar referred to the Violin Concerto as "our concerto," i.e. Alice Wortley and her nickname was "windflower"?  If the reference came from Elgar himself, that would seem to mitigate against the possibility that the muse for the concerto was Anna Nelson.  On the other hand, if the themes were so named after the fact, they could just as easily have been called the "Nelson" themes, assuming it was known then about Elgar's relationship with Anna (although, admittedly, "windflower" is a good deal more evocative name for the themes than "Nelson").

I don't recall the details, but I don't think there's much doubt that 'windflower' is Elgar's way of linking those themes from the VC with Alice Wortley. But I do wonder how slippery the 'windflower' idea might have been - that is, I suspect Elgar's feminine ideal was a transferable thing, perceived in all his lady friends to some degree. I mentioned earlier the theme from the third symphony, and it sounds ever so windflowery to me - but it is definitely linked with Vera Hockman, not Alice W.

All that said, there's still the question of the impact of Elgar's relationship with Anna on his Catholicism.  I know comparatively little about that period in Elgar's life, but I do know his Catholic faith had been a significant part of his life.  It thus struck me as odd that he'd turn his back on Catholicism--and, apparently, God--as a consequence of a nervous breakdown of sorts brought on by his struggles in finishing The Kingdom.  Even if we allow for the possibility that Elgar's Catholicism was more cultural than the consequence of a deep spiritual commitment (witness his comment after the disastrous premier of Gerontius, "I always said God was against art and I still believe it...I have allowed my heart to open once--it is now shut against every religious feeling and every soft, gentle impulse for ever") it's difficult to see how a struggle with finishing The Kingdom could result in a spiritual crisis of a magnitude sufficient to drive Elgar to turn his back on his faith.  However, if we assume that the story of his relationship with Anna Nelson is true, the shame and stress of being discovered as having fathered a child outside of his marriage goes much further in explaining Elgar's actions.

I don't know anything about the background to Elgar's loss of his faith. As you say, this A.N. business may well shed important light on that. I'd not actually thought that a 'reason' could necessarily be found - there's that story of him conducting The Kingdom in tears, isn't there? It could  illuminate that, one might think. I'd always assumed (with no evidence at all!) that, for whatever reason, he lost his faith during the course of writing  it, and the tears resulted from his recognition that he'd created a masterpiece based on something he no longer believed. But I'm just rambling now. Time to stop!

[Moonfish]

Elgar:
Enigma Variations (original piano version)
and other piano pieces
Maria Garzon

It is interesting how different characteristics emerge as one hear pieces transcribed to the piano. The Enigma variations as performed by Maria Garzon are delightful and seem to occupy those enigmatic ( ) spaces between sleep and wakefulness that tunnel through space and time. They certainly filled my mind this afternoon. Now I need to revisit Ashley Wass' performance!


[asin] B00001W088[/asin]

[TheGSMoeller]

Elgar:
Enigma Variations (original piano version)
and other piano pieces
Maria Garzon

It is interesting how different characteristics emerge as one hear pieces transcribed to the piano. The Enigma variations as performed by Maria Garzon are delightful and seem to occupy those enigmatic ( ) spaces between sleep and wakefulness that tunnel through space and time. They certainly filled my mind this afternoon. Now I need to revisit Ashley Wass' performance!


[asin] B00001W088[/asin]

Thanks for the write up, Peter.
I only have the Waas performance, and am interested in knowing if there is a clear difference in interpretation. 

[Hiker]

I'm still awaiting the discovery of a rumoured Conan Doyle manuscript: The Adventure of the Enigma Variations.

After a fitful night's sleep, I left my room to find Holmes already taking his breakfast, a slice of toast in one hand and a well-thumbed Baedeker in the other.

"Watson, before you take advantage of Mrs Hudson's culinary prowess, would you do me the great favour of fetching the volume marked "N" from the bookcase? The three minutes required to boil your egg should leave me enough time to satisfy my curiosity before we leave for Paddington. I trust that you have no objection to visiting Great Malvern today?"

[revdrdave]

I'm still awaiting the discovery of a rumoured Conan Doyle manuscript: The Adventure of the Enigma Variations.

Don't know if you're joking or not, but there is a short story by an author named James Miles, "The Worcester Enigma," that has Holmes meeting Elgar and offering a solution to the mystery of the Enigma Variations. 

[Elgarian]

The game is definitely afoot.

[Klaatu]

Not Sherlockian, but this Elgar mystery is worth a read:



...while this Elgar novel is outstanding:

[Elgarian]

Here's another curious piece of Elgar fiction:



It's basically a novel woven around Dora Penny's relationship with Elgar. The most notable thing about it, for me, was the imagined description of Dora's 40-mile journey on her bicycle from Wolverhampton to Malvern. Not a great novel, but I found it entertaining.

[revdrdave]

All this conversation about Elgar in fiction raises a question: what, in your opinion, are the top five must-read books on Elgar?

I'm currently reading Michael Kennedy's Life of Elgar because it seemed like a good place to start an exploration of Elgar's life (although 40 pages in I'm still waiting for it to grab me...nothing yet) and I'm thinking about Diana McVeagh's Elgar: The Music Maker next.

[Elgarian]

All this conversation about Elgar in fiction raises a question: what, in your opinion, are the top five must-read books on Elgar?

They're going to be different for everyone according to temperament, of course, but I'll list the five books that, if I had to give all my other Elgar books away, would be the five I'd keep. Certainly these have given me the greatest pleasure to read, and re-read, often several times over. (Pace Michael Kennedy, but I find his writing style tends to put me to sleep, for some reason.)

1. Dora Powell: Memories of a Variation. My favourite Elgar book, of all Elgar books. Get the later edition (third, I think) which has extra material. The writer is Dora Penny (Powell is her married name), that is, 'Dorabella' of the Enigma Variations. An indispensable 'I-was-there' book.

2. Rosa Burley: The Record of a Friendship. Headmistress of the school where Elgar taught the violin before he was famous, and later a cycling companion and close friend. When asked why she wasn't a 'Variation', she replied 'I'm the theme!'

3. W.H. Reed. Elgar as I knew him. Violin player and friend. He was there when Elgar was composing the violin concerto, playing it through with him with sheets of manuscript scattered about the room.

4. Jerrold Northrop Moore: Elgar on record. Fascinating account of Elgar's involvement with recording for the gramophone. The perfect companion to the CD box of Elgar's electrical recordings.

5. Kevin Allen: Elgar in Love. I found myself with wet eyes several times while reading this for the first time. The tale of how old Sir Edward Elgar fell in love with a young violinist, Vera Hockman, who also fell in love with him. The third symphony was never quite the same again after I'd read this.

If you're going to read a biography, go for the big one:
Jerrold Northrop Moore: Edward Elgar. A Creative Life.

[revdrdave]

They're going to be different for everyone according to temperament, of course, but I'll list the five books that, if I had to give all my other Elgar books away, would be the five I'd keep. Certainly these have given me the greatest pleasure to read, and re-read, often several times over. (Pace Michael Kennedy, but I find his writing style tends to put me to sleep, for some reason.)

1. Dora Powell: Memories of a Variation. My favourite Elgar book, of all Elgar books. Get the later edition (third, I think) which has extra material. The writer is Dora Penny (Powell is her married name), that is, 'Dorabella' of the Enigma Variations. An indispensable 'I-was-there' book.

2. Rosa Burley: The Record of a Friendship. Headmistress of the school where Elgar taught the violin before he was famous, and later a cycling companion and close friend. When asked why she wasn't a 'Variation', she replied 'I'm the theme!'

3. W.H. Reed. Elgar as I knew him. Violin player and friend. He was there when Elgar was composing the violin concerto, playing it through with him with sheets of manuscript scattered about the room.

4. Jerrold Northrop Moore: Elgar on record. Fascinating account of Elgar's involvement with recording for the gramophone. The perfect companion to the CD box of Elgar's electrical recordings.

5. Kevin Allen: Elgar in Love. I found myself with wet eyes several times while reading this for the first time. The tale of how old Sir Edward Elgar fell in love with a young violinist, Vera Hockman, who also fell in love with him. The third symphony was never quite the same again after I'd read this.

If you're going to read a biography, go for the big one:
Jerrold Northrop Moore: Edward Elgar. A Creative Life.

Thanks, Alan--I really appreciate your recommendations, but couldn't you have chosen cheaper books? 
I'll have to take out a second mortgage on my house to purchase these!

You're right about Kennedy's writing style... At least in the Elgar book, it's pretty dreadful. I have his book on the music of Vaughan Williams and it's much better, almost as if it was written by a different author.

[Elgarian]

couldn't you have chosen cheaper books? 

Well I did wonder about that! But I think the only really expensive ones are the two Northrop Moores, aren't they? Or am I too far out of touch?

Dorabella can be easily picked up, for instance:

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=15300877844&searchurl=tn%3Dmemories+variation%26an%3Dpowell%26sts%3Dt

I hasten to add that when I bought all of these, none of them had been elevated to the ranks of fancy priced rarities.

[revdrdave]

Well I did wonder about that! But I think the only really expensive ones are the two Northrop Moores, aren't they? Or am I too far out of touch?

Dorabella can be easily picked up, for instance:

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=15300877844&searchurl=tn%3Dmemories+variation%26an%3Dpowell%26sts%3Dt

I hasten to add that when I bought all of these, none of them had been elevated to the ranks of fancy priced rarities.

Well, OK.  A cursory search had me looking at $500 for all six books, but I spent some more time and found copies of all six for $150, which is more doable.

In case you're interested, here's the cost I found for each (including shipping):
Powell (from the UK) $20
Burley $39
Reed $4
Moore (Elgar on Record) $4
Allen $25
Moore (Creative Life) $54

All this said, I've been spending most of my evenings lately--while listening to Elgar--trolling the internet about Elgar and I'm surprised at the volume (and depth) of research and writing about Elgar.  Much of it is speculative in nature which, I suppose, shouldn't be surprising given that what we don't know with certainty about Elgar is likely more interesting than what we do (though the same could be said about many of us).  Much of it seems to have been written within the past 20 years or so, suggesting a resurgence of interest in the man and his music.  It's also interesting to me in searching out and reading critical responses to Elgar's music, whether on classical chat forums like this one or from professional critics, that rarely is someone lukewarm about Elgar.  He usually generates intense interest or intense dislike; it's rare to encounter indifference.  And, on the chat forums in particular, it's equally interesting to discover how many of those who respond positively to Elgar do so, like me, after a period of not liking Elgar or simply ignoring him altogether. 

All of which leads me to wonder if there's something about Elgar's music that only reveals itself to us as listeners once we have a certain amount of life behind us.  In posing that, I'm not suggesting Elgar is unique in this respect.  In my own listening, I know that I've responded in completely new (and, I think, deeper) ways in the last few years to, say, Sibelius and Mahler, than I did when I listened to them 20 years ago.  Partly, that's me.  But I think it also must do with the composer and the music, too.  Elgar's Cello Concerto is a good example.  It contains, in its way, a lifetime of longing and regret...for people, for love, for a way of life...that, as listeners, is unlikely to resonate with us fully unless/until we ourselves have lived through (and, in some measure, come to terms with) longing and regret of our own.     

[revdrdave]

Alright, Alan...Powell, Reed, Allen, and Moore (Elgar on Record) are on the way.  Burley and Moore (Creative Life) will follow in due course.  And, in the meantime, I'll continue to slog through Kennedy.

Of course, once Elgar on Record arrives, then I have to buy the 9 disc EMI set of the electrical recordings, don't I?  See what you've started?