Sir Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 was his last notable work, and is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. Sir Edward Elgar Sir Edward Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 â€“ 23 February 1934) was an English Romantic composer. ... The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello, or cello (the c is pronounced as the ch in cheese), is a bowed stringed instrument, the lowest-sounding member of the violin family. ...

History

The piece was composed during the summer of 1919 at Elgar's secluded cottage named "Brinkwells" in Sussex, where during previous years he had heard the sound of the artillery of World War I rumbling across the Channel at night from France. In 1918, Elgar underwent an operation in London to have an infected tonsil removed, a dangerous operation for a sixty-year-old man. After regaining consciousness after sedation, he asked for pencil and paper, and wrote down the melody that would become the first theme from the cello concerto. He and his wife soon retired to the cottage in an attempt to recover from their health problems. In 1918, Elgar composed three chamber works, which his wife noted were already noticeably different from his previous compositions, and after their premiere in the spring of 1919, he began realizing his idea of a cello concerto. Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert Henry Asquith Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche (IPA: ), the sleeve) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... A violoncello concerto is a concerto for solo violoncello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. ...

The première of the cello concerto was given by Felix Salmond on 27 October 1919 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer, at the Queen's Hall in London. His wife's death a few months after the premiere of the cello concerto effectively ended his composing career. October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... It has been suggested that London (orchestra) be merged into this article or section. ... The Queens Hall was a classical music concert hall in Central London, opened in 1893 but is best known for being where The Promenade Concerts were founded in 1895. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Music

The work has four movements: In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ...

1. Adagio — Moderato
2. Lento — Allegro molto
3. Adagio
4. Allegro — Moderato — Allegro, ma non troppo — Poco più lento — Adagio.

This piece represented, for Elgar, the angst, despair, and disillusionment he felt after the end of the War, and an introspective look at death and mortality. It was a significant change in his style, as he wrote much of his previous works to be noble and jovial, inspired by the English way of life and the pre-war renaissance of European art.

The concerto opens with a dramatic recitative in the solo cello, immediately followed by a short cadenza. The viola section then presents a distant rendition of the main theme, who pass it to the solo cello, who repeats it and then modifies it into a stronger, more painful restatement. The orchestra reiterates, and the cello presents the theme a final time before moving directly into the lighthearted and lyrical middle section. This transitions into another presentation of the main theme, but cold and distant, a mere echo of the original theme, and moves directly into the fast, light-hearted second movement. The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a string instrument played with a bow. ...

The third movement starts and ends with a melody in which the entire orchestra starts together, but drops out leaving the cello playing alone. One theme runs through the entire movement, giving it a loving nostalgic feeling. The end of the third movement flows directly into the fourth movement, contrasting the sweetness of the B-flat major third movement, with the menacing, B-flat minor opening of the fourth movement. The fourth movement's main theme is noble and stately, but with menacing undertones and with many key-changes, giving it the feeling of instability. Near the end of the piece, the tempo slows into a piu lento section, in which a new set of themes appears. The tempo slows further, to the tempo of the third movement, and the theme from the third movement is restated. This tempo continues to slow until it becomes stagnant, and the orchestra holds a chord. Then, at the very end of the piece, the opening of the first movement is played again, with subtle differences. This flows into a reiteration of the main theme of the fourth movement, which closes the piece.

Trivia

• Elgar hummed the concerto's opening theme to a friend in 1934 during his final illness, telling him, "If ever after I'm dead you hear someone whistling this tune on the Malvern Hills, don't be alarmed. It's only me."

• J. B. Priestley used the concerto in his 1948 play The Linden Tree in which the daughter of the play's main character, an aging professor of history who is under pressure to retire, is a cellist, and in Act II she practises the concerto offstage.

• The best-loved performance of this piece is that by Jacqueline du Pré, whose recording of the piece in 1965 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli brought her international recognition. The sixty-six year-old John Barbirolli had played in the orchestra at the work's première in 1919. More recently, there is the award winning recording by Julian Lloyd Webber with Yehudi Menhuin conducting, who himself recorded with Elgar.

• Venetian Snares sampled part of the concerto for use in his song "Szamár madár," from the 2005 album "Rossz csillag alatt született."

Malvern Hills could refer to: Malvern Hills District Council, in Worcestershire, England Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the border of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, England This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Priestley at the microphone during one of his Second World War broadcasts John Matthew Smith Priestley, OM (September 13, 1894, Bradford, England - August 14, 1984, Stratford-upon-Avon) was an English writer and broadcaster. ... Jacqueline Mary du Pré OBE (January 26, 1945 – October 19, 1987) was an English cellist. ... It has been suggested that London (orchestra) be merged into this article or section. ... Sir John (Giovanni Battista) Barbirolli (December 2, 1899 - July 29, 1970), was a British conductor and cellist who led the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. ... Julian Lloyd Webber (born April 14, 1951) is a British cellist. ... Aaron Funk Venetian Snares is the performing name of Aaron Funk, an electronic music producer and performer from Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. ... Rossz csillag alatt született (often referred to as The Hungarian Album) is a 2005 album by IDM artist Venetian Snares on the Planet Mu label. ...

External link

• Guide to the Concerto from Elgar.org - includes a Musical Tour and a History
• Elgar Cello Concerto performed by Julian Lloyd Webber and conducted by Yehudi Menuhin