Elgar's Hillside

[Hiker]

A preview of the April edition of BBC Music Magazine mentions one article that might cause Elgarian and others to don their clips: "Elgar and his bike - Rick Jones dresses up and reconstructs the English composer's journey from Great Malvern to Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club."

I think there might also be an article about Elgar's correspondence, as well as the cover CD featuring his Sea Songs.

[Leo K.]

I've been enjoying the latest discussions here, thank you gentleman!

I now have 18 recordings of the 1st Symphony, I'm so fascinated by the different interpretations, it is such a joy. Aces!

[71 dB]

Tasmin Little / Andrew Davies disc arrived today. I listened to it once. "Spacious" sound. It's like there's 10 meters distance between the players. Somehow I failed to pay attention to Tasmin Little's playing, but since I didn't notice any problems I suppose it must be good. Second listening will show that. The performance is calm rather than energic. Orchestral balance is good.

I listened with headphones. Multichannel SACD layer downmixed by my Blu-ray player to Lt/Rt stereo and then crossfeeded at strong level -1 dB for headphones.

[revdrdave]

The EMI collection of all Elgar's electrical recordings arrived from the UK yesterday. I'm looking forward to hearing how The Man himself interpreted his own music (I have Moore's Elgar on Record in hand).

I also finished reading Dora Powell's book on Elgar and found it, well, fawning and, in her apparent willingness to accept everything about Elgar at face value, naive. The best part of the book for me was the last chapter where she described (and provided pictures of) each of the subjects of the Enigma Variations. I'm now reading W. H. Reed's Elgar As I Knew Him and finding it a good deal more insightful.  In light of our earlier exchanges about the possibility of Elgar being bipolar, I can't resist pointing out that both Powell and Reed write of Elgar's drastic "mood swings." 

[Elgarian]

I also finished reading Dora Powell's book on Elgar and found it, well, fawning and, in her apparent willingness to accept everything about Elgar at face value, naive.

I can see exactly why you'd think that, but where you see 'naive' and 'fawning', I see  'charming' and 'overawed'. I can't imagine how it must have felt to an impressionable young woman to have a 'Variation' dedicated to her, written by someone so very much larger than life as Elgar - but Dora tries to tell us. Now it might just be a matter of temperament as to how one reads her book, but all those little incidents and anecdotes that she relates build up a picture of what it was like being around him, and we simply don't get that from anywhere else. I suppose what I'm suggesting is that you don't need to enjoy her personality, or the style/manner of her book, to get the real Elgarian gold that can be found glittering among its pages.

When you read Rosa Burley, you'll get the direct opposite: someone who obviously found Elgar fascinating, but also often found his ways annoying - so much so that there are times when one realises that she's working off a chip or two that remains on her shoulder. With Billy Reed you're getting the - different again - experience of a professional musician. My point is that if you take just one of those books you get a very incomplete picture, but when you've read all three, a kind of 'real' Elgar, full of contradictions, and irascibility, and flirtatiousness, and insecurity, and deep sensitivity, starts to emerge.

In light of our earlier exchanges about the possibility of Elgar being bipolar, I can't resist pointing out that both Powell and Reed write of Elgar's drastic "mood swings." 

Just to clarify - I wasn't denying that the mood swings are a well-known aspect of his character. My reservation isn't about whether he had them, but about whether we can diagnose the underlying cause of them.

[Karl Henning]

Just so.

[Elgarian]

Just back from a couple of days wandering around the Malvern area, and thought I'd post a few photos - first, these from the British Camp (of Caractacus legend) at the top of the Herefordshire Beacon.










"Are the trees singing my music, or am I singing theirs?"

[Elgarian]

And a couple of the great man himself enjoying the spring sunshine in the garden of the birthplace cottage.

[Moonfish]

Yes, it does seem that Boult had an affinity for Symphony No. 2. I just bought a set containing the 1956 Nixa-Westminster performance, so hopefully I can share my thoughts of this one soon. I know Andre can tell us a bit more about it. I seem to recall from the 'Listening' thread that he enjoyed the performance.

Hey John!
How was the 1956 Nixa-Westminster performance of the 2nd symphony? Actually, how was that Boult set (Nixa Vol 1? ) overall?

[Moonfish]

Just back from a couple of days wandering around the Malvern area, and thought I'd post a few photos - first, these from the British Camp (of Caractacus legend) at the top of the Herefordshire Beacon.


"Are the trees singing my music, or am I singing theirs?"

Beautiful landscapes Elgarian!  My mind can so easily get lost in all the shades and incantations of green as well as within the dance of shadows on the hillsides. Wonderful and inspirational photos. Thanks for posting them!  I feel the urge of listening now....   

[Mirror Image]

Hey John!
How was the 1956 Nixa-Westminster performance of the 2nd symphony? Actually, how was that Boult set (Nixa Vol 1? ) overall?

The whole set was actually quite good (esp. good Walton 1st and Britten Four Interludes), but I wouldn't say this performance of the 2nd is any better than the Lyrita or EMI versions. They're all strong, but, overall, I believe I prefer the EMI performance above the other two.

[revdrdave]

I can see exactly why you'd think that, but where you see 'naive' and 'fawning', I see  'charming' and 'overawed'. I can't imagine how it must have felt to an impressionable young woman to have a 'Variation' dedicated to her, written by someone so very much larger than life as Elgar - but Dora tries to tell us. Now it might just be a matter of temperament as to how one reads her book, but all those little incidents and anecdotes that she relates build up a picture of what it was like being around him, and we simply don't get that from anywhere else. I suppose what I'm suggesting is that you don't need to enjoy her personality, or the style/manner of her book, to get the real Elgarian gold that can be found glittering among its pages.

It could, of course, entirely be me but you're correct--I think the manner of her book did get in the way of me finding much in the way of Elgarian gold in her narrative.  I'm half-way through Reed's Elgar As I Knew Him and finding it much more insightful...more of the "gold" of which you speak.  And I suspect that's due, at least in part, to the fact that I'm responding much more positively to Reed's more even-handed tone.  Clearly he loved and had great respect for Elgar the composer and Elgar the man, but that didn't prevent him from seeing--or, at least, from writing about--Elgar's humanity with its foibles as well as its attributes.  I'm looking forward to reading Burley's book but it's the one of those you recommended I've yet to order because it ended up being the most expensive.  I'll be ordering it from the UK next week.  In the meantime, once Reed is finished, I'm moving on to Elgar in Love by Kevin Allen.  Looming on the horizon, of course, is Jerrold Northrop Moore's Elgar: A Creative Life.  And, through it all, now that the EMI set of all the electrical recordings has arrived, I'm about to start listening, with Moore's Elgar on Record in hand.  I must say, Alan, that you've given me quite the passion for Elgar, not just to know his music but to know him!

[revdrdave]

And a couple of the great man himself enjoying the spring sunshine in the garden of the birthplace cottage.

Thank you so much, Alan, for these and all the other photos you posted.  Several thousand miles away, it helps to better picture (and understand) the man and his music to see the places he actually lived and worked.  I, for one, would be interested in any others you may have and are willing to share.

[71 dB]

Tasmin Little / Andrew Davies disc arrived today. I listened to it once. "Spacious" sound. It's like there's 10 meters distance between the players. Somehow I failed to pay attention to Tasmin Little's playing, but since I didn't notice any problems I suppose it must be good. Second listening will show that. The performance is calm rather than energic. Orchestral balance is good.

I listened with headphones. Multichannel SACD layer downmixed by my Blu-ray player to Lt/Rt stereo and then crossfeeded at strong level -1 dB for headphones.

Second listen. I discovered that lower crossfeed level works better. This is surprising with this kind of orchestral multichannel SACD downmixed to Lt/Rt stereo. Tasmin Little's playing is soft and silky. I think I prefer more aggressive and energetic playing, but this is nevertheless a very good performance with great sound quality.

[Moonfish]

The whole set was actually quite good (esp. good Walton 1st and Britten Four Interludes), but I wouldn't say this performance of the 2nd is any better than the Lyrita or EMI versions. They're all strong, but, overall, I believe I prefer the EMI performance above the other two.

Thanks John!     Good to know!

[Leo K.]

I've been enjoying Elgar's Suites, In particular James Judd's account of the The Wand of Youth, a deeply moving account that touches my soul. Today I find Groves' account of the Nursery Suite quite exciting and epic with beautiful instances of beauty and rapture. Aces!

[71 dB]

I've been enjoying Elgar's Suites, In particular James Judd's account of the The Wand of Youth, a deeply moving account that touches my soul. Today I find Groves' account of the Nursery Suite quite exciting and epic with beautiful instances of beauty and rapture. Aces!

Yes, these suites are most lovely music. I have these performances:

The Wand of Youth:

Ulster Orchestra / Bryden Thomson / Chandos CHAN 8318
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley / EMI
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / James Judd / Naxos 8.557166

Nursery Suite:

Ulster Orchestra / Bryden Thomson / Chandos CHAN 8318
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Groves / EMI
English Chamber Orchestra / Paul Goodwin / HMU 907258
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / James Judd / Naxos 8.557166

[revdrdave]

I've begun working my way through the Complete Electrical Recordings. Normally, when I start listening to a multi-disc set like this, I'd start with Disc 1 which, in this case, would've meant the Symphony No. 1 and Falstaff. But, instead, I started with Disc 2--Symphony No. 2.  I mention this because, at the moment at least, I think this is my favorite piece by Elgar...it really is glorious music!  I know it through Barbirolli's EMI recording with the Halle Orchestra because I quickly discovered I really responded to Barbirolli's way with Elgar...more so than, say, Boult's.  So, obviously, my experience with multiple interpretations of the piece is limited.  That said, my reaction to Elgar's own recording has been interesting (to me, anyway), by which I mean that my understanding of Elgar's interpretations of his own music is that they were, in terms of tempo, pretty consistently fast.  So much so, in fact, that others have questioned whether or not Elgar's tempos were really how he intended the music to be played or dictated by the realities of 78 rpm recordings.  In any case, here are the timings of Elgar and Barbirolli:

                         Elgar                 Barbirolli
mvmt 1             14:36                 19:25
mvmt 2             12:57                 13:51
mvmt 3               7:50                   8:20
mvmt 4             12:21                 14:21
Total                 47:44                 55:57

The difference is substantial.  But, to my ears, at no point does Elgar's own interpretation sound overly fast, let alone rushed, vis-a-vis Barbirolli's, even in the first movement where Elgar dispatches the movement four minutes faster than Barbirolli.  Partly, I suspect, this is a function of the subjective experience of time.  And partly it's a function of the integrity of the interpretation: experienced as a whole, Elgar's traversal is as--how to describe this?--communicative as Barbirolli's.  If more detail in the inner voices in the orchestration is evident in Barbirolli, that's likely more a function of technology than tempo even if the quality of the 1927 electrical recording is astonishingly good (helped, no doubt, by remastering).  So often composers are not the best conductors of their own work, but once you get past the thrill of knowing this is Elgar conducting and he clearly was a good conductor, it's easy to respond to the performance as a performance, even if, as in this case, it's faster than what you've hitherto known and appreciated.

A final comment.  The closing pages of the symphony, where the music slows and softens... Listening to Elgar sent me back to listen again to Barbirolli... I was struck, as I'd not been before, by a parallel with the ending of Vaughan William's Fifth...not just that both works slow and soften but that, somehow, there is an emotional (spiritual?) kinship between them...I'm not suggesting it was intentional on Vaughan Williams' part, just that it's one of those special moments you sometimes find in music where two compositions separated by time and space somehow seem to breathe the same air.   

[Moonfish]

Elgar: Enigma Variations        London SO/Colin Davis      (1965)

I really like this version! A performance one grows into with its richness! I had not listened too much to the Enigma Variations before this year, but with each exposure I grow fonder of this work. I have not spent any time reading about the background of the "enigma" nor the associations to the different variations. However, the work does not need its "history" to stand on its own feet. Like many other works by Elgar I find the intrinsic complexity and the reoccurring theme to build a very attractive soundscape. It is becoming (and growing into) an individual in my ears with its own complex psyche (if that makes any sense at all?).  Davis and the LSO forces definitely bring luminescence to the Variations in this recording!

PS! I love the photograph on the cover!

[Elgarian]

my reaction to Elgar's own recording has been interesting (to me, anyway), by which I mean that my understanding of Elgar's interpretations of his own music is that they were, in terms of tempo, pretty consistently fast.  So much so, in fact, that others have questioned whether or not Elgar's tempos were really how he intended the music to be played or dictated by the realities of 78 rpm recordings.  In any case, here are the timings of Elgar and Barbirolli:

                         Elgar                 Barbirolli
mvmt 1             14:36                 19:25
mvmt 2             12:57                 13:51
mvmt 3               7:50                   8:20
mvmt 4             12:21                 14:21
Total                 47:44                 55:57

The difference is substantial.  But, to my ears, at no point does Elgar's own interpretation sound overly fast, let alone rushed, vis-a-vis Barbirolli's, even in the first movement where Elgar dispatches the movement four minutes faster than Barbirolli.  Partly, I suspect, this is a function of the subjective experience of time.  And partly it's a function of the integrity of the interpretation: experienced as a whole, Elgar's traversal is as--how to describe this?--communicative as Barbirolli's.  If more detail in the inner voices in the orchestration is evident in Barbirolli, that's likely more a function of technology than tempo even if the quality of the 1927 electrical recording is astonishingly good (helped, no doubt, by remastering).  So often composers are not the best conductors of their own work, but once you get past the thrill of knowing this is Elgar conducting and he clearly was a good conductor, it's easy to respond to the performance as a performance, even if, as in this case, it's faster than what you've hitherto known and appreciated.

Yes, I find the speed of Elgar's recordings can still come as quite a shock when I haven't listened to them for a while. I remember reading somewhere (but frustratingly I can't remember where) a very persuasive discussion - and ultimate rejection - of the idea that Elgar's hectic pace was driven by the need to fit the music onto 78 rpm sides (which you mention in your post). The rejection of that idea makes sense to me. I can understand him editing the music due to technical contraints (as he did, for instance, with the early and purely acoustic recording of the Violin Concerto with Marie Hall), but the idea of him charging through it at breakneck speed to make it fit 78rpm sides just doesn't seem like something Elgar would be willing to do. So like you, I approach them on the understanding that this is how he intended them to be. He was, after all, enchanted with the whole process of recording, and believed that it opened an entirely new way of listening to music. Even so,  those comparisons with Barbirolli that you make do make you blink a bit, don't they?!