Product Description
Sir Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934) was an English composer, known for his Enigma Variations and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. Written in 1919, the Cello Concerto is one of the last of Elgar's notable works composed. As the First World War broke out in 1914, Elgar's health was in decline. Throughout his life he was considered an outsider, both personally (for example, he was a practicing Catholic in Protestant Britain) and musically (many of his influences are broadly European). This, in addition to feelings of torment, anguish and depression, are reflected in a piece written toward the end of his life, arguably as a 'farewell' of sorts. The war also had a considerable impact on the composer's life, the destruction bringing further torment. It has been said that at the cottage he stayed in 1918 when recovering, the sounds of artillery fire could be heard from France.
The first movement of the concerto is written in ternary form, opening and closing with a theme introduced by the violas and eventually played by the solo cello and stated again by the orchestra. This theme is one that Elgar considered to be his, saying, "if you ever hear someone whistling this melody around the Malvern Hills, that will be me." The piece then modulates into a lyrical E Major, before recapitulating the main theme.
This arrangement of the first movement changes the octaves at which the viola plays some passages and smaller pieces, in addition to various slight changes in bowings and articulations. The piano accompaniment remains generally unchanged from Elgar's original.
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