Cello Concerto (Elgar)

Elgar is not known to have begun work on the concerto until 1919. In 1900 the cellist of the Brodsky Quartet, {{ill|Carl Fuchs|de|Carl Fuchs (Cellist)}}, had obtained the composer's agreement to write something for the cello one day.Moore, p. 299 Fuchs and his friend the cellist Paul Grümmer later reminded Elgar of this.Moore, p. 406 The composer's biographer Jerrold Northrop Moore speculates that Elgar may have recalled the promise when planning a new concerto in 1919.Moore, p. 741

In 1918 Elgar underwent an operation in London to have an infected tonsil removed.Moore, p. 714 The night after his return from hospital to his London house he wrote down the melody that would become the first theme of the concerto.Moore, p. 715 He and his wife soon retired to their secluded country cottage "Brinkwells" near Fittleworth, Sussex. During 1918 Elgar composed three chamber works there{{refn|The Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82; the String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83; and the Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84|group=n}} which his wife commented were noticeably different in style and character from his previous compositions. After their premieres in the spring of 1919, he began realising his idea of a cello concerto.Steinberg, pp. 185–89. The work is dedicated to Sidney Colvin and his wife, friends of Elgar.[https://www.elgarsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Cello-Concerto-in-E-minor-op-85.pdf "Cello Concerto in E minor, op 85"], Elgar Society. Retrieved 1 March 2024

The concerto had a disastrous premiere, at the opening concert of the London Symphony Orchestra's 1919–20 season on 27 October 1919. Apart from the concerto, which the composer conducted, the rest of the programme was conducted by Albert Coates, who overran his rehearsal time at the expense of Elgar's. Lady Elgar wrote, "that brutal selfish ill-mannered bounder ... that brute Coates went on rehearsing."Anderson, p. 141 The critic of The Observer, Ernest Newman, wrote, "There have been rumours about during the week of inadequate rehearsal. Whatever the explanation, the sad fact remains that never, in all probability, has so great an orchestra made so lamentable an exhibition of itself. ... The work itself is lovely stuff, very simple – that pregnant simplicity that has come upon Elgar's music in the last couple of years – but with a profound wisdom and beauty underlying its simplicity."Newman, Ernest, "Music of the Week", The Observer, 2 November 1919 Elgar attached no blame to his soloist, Felix Salmond, who played for him again later.Reed, p. 131 Elgar said that if it had not been for Salmond's diligent work in preparing the piece, he would have withdrawn it from the concert entirely.{{cite web | last = Stevenson | first = Joseph | title = Felix Salmond: Biography | publisher = Allmusic | url = {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q50431/biography|pure_url=yes}} | access-date = 23 June 2007 }}

In contrast with the First Symphony, which received a hundred performances worldwide in just over a year from its premiere, the Cello Concerto did not have a second performance in London for more than a year.The Observer, 16 January 1921, p. 15 Elgar's music was by this time widely seen as old-fashioned, less appropriate to the post-war era than to the Edwardian.{{cite encyclopedia|author-link=Michael Kennedy (music critic)|last=Kennedy|first=Michael|title=Elgar, Sir Edward William, baronet (1857–1934)|encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32988}} The American premiere of the concerto was given in Carnegie Hall, New York on 21 November 1922 by Jean Gerardy with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.Henderson, W. J., "Gerardy Plays With Quaker Orchestra", New York Herald, 22 November 1922, p. 10 It was received with little enthusiasm: The New York Herald found most of the work "reflective, melancholy and generally depressing"; The New York Times thought the thematic material "is not rich; it is spun out, sometimes pretty thin".Aldrich, Richard, "Music", The New York Times, 22 November 1922, p. 18 Gerardy later introduced the concerto in Poland and Australia."Music and Drama", Sydney Morning Herald, 13 January 1923, p. 8; and "Evening with Gerardy", The Sun, 22 April 1923, p. 2 The Sydney Morning Herald found the work original, musicianly and an admirable addition to the cello repertoire, but "without the qualities that kindle the imagination of the listener"."Jean Gerardy", Sydney Morning Herald, 24 April 1923, p. 10

Later the concerto gained greater appreciation. In 1955 the authors of The Record Guide wrote of "the irresistible appeal of the Cello Concerto", although "the task of interpreting the solo is extremely difficult", requiring "a reserved dignity that is peculiarly English".Sackville-West and Shawe-Taylor, p. 255 By 1967, according to the critic Edward Greenfield, Jacqueline du Pré was "convincing audiences from New York to Moscow that Elgar is – on occasion at least – exportable".March (1967), p. 15

The work has become, along with Dvořák's Op. 104, one of the two most frequently performed cello concertos in the international repertoire.

This work is scored for solo cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.

The work typically plays for a little under 30 minutes;{{refn|Elgar's second recording with Harrison plays for 25m 11s; later recordings are generally slower: Tortelier (1954), du Pré (1965), Isserlis (1987) and Mørk (2009) range from 28m 33s to 30m.06s.|group=n}} it has four movements:

{{Ordered list|type=upper-roman

|Adagio – Moderato (approx. 8:00)

|Lento – Allegro molto (approx. 4:30)

|Adagio (approx. 4:50)

|Allegro – Moderato – Allegro, ma non-troppo – Poco più lento – Adagio (approx. 11:30)

}}

The first movement is in ternary form with an introduction. It opens with a recitative for the solo cello, immediately followed by a short answer from the clarinets, bassoons and horn.

\relative c' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"cello" \clef bass \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 \key e \minor \tempo "Adagio" 4 = 56 2\downbow\ff-^_"nobilmente" \downbow-^ | \stemDown 8\downbow\sf[ c] b[ c] 4\sf }

{{Main|Elgar Cello Concerto discography}}

{{Reflist|group=n}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book | last = Anderson| first = Robert| title = Elgar| date = 1993| location = London| publisher = J. M. Dent| url =https://archive.org/details/elgar0000ande/page/140/mode/2up?brute=&q=brute | isbn = 978-0-46-086054-3}}
• {{cite book | last = Clough | first = Francis F. | author2 = G. G. Cuming | title = World's Encyclopedia of Recorded Music | year = 1952 | location = London | publisher = Sidgwick and Jackson | oclc = 847382507}}
• {{cite book|last=Lebrecht|first=Norman|author-link=Norman Lebrecht|year=2007|title=The Life and Death of Classical Music|location=New York|publisher=Anchor Books|isbn=978-1-4000-9658-9}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=March|editor-first=Ivan|editor-link=Ivan March|year=1967|title=The Great Records|location=Blackpool|publisher=Long Playing Record Library|oclc=555041974}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=March|editor-first=Ivan|year=1977|orig-date=1975|edition=second|title=The Penguin Stereo Record Guide|location=London|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-046223-4}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=March|editor-first=Ivan|year=2007|title=The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music|location=London|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-103336-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Moore|first=Jerrold Northrop|author-link=Jerrold Northrop Moore|year=1999|title=Elgar – A Creative Life|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198163664}}
• {{cite book|last=Reed|first=W. H.|author-link=William Henry Reed|title=Elgar|location=London|publisher=Dent|year=1946|oclc=8858707}}
• {{cite book|last= Sackville-West |first= Edward|authorlink=Edward Sackville-West |author2=Desmond Shawe-Taylor|year=1955 |title= The Record Guide |location=London |publisher=Collins |oclc= 500373060}}
• {{cite book | last =Steinberg | first =Michael | title = The Concerto: A Listener's Guide| date =1998 | location =Oxford | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =978-0-19-510330-4 }}

• {{IMSLP|work=Cello Concerto, Op.85 (Elgar, Edward)|cname=Cello Concerto}}
• [http://www.elgar.org/3cellcon.htm Guide to the Concerto from Elgar.org – includes a Musical Tour and a History]
• {{YouTube|Q6UmdmmUqZk|Vdeo}}, third movement performed by Julian Lloyd Webber, conducted by Yehudi Menuhin
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/elgar/notes/note_celloconc.shtml Cello Elgar's Cello Concerto], BBC
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/pip/80tke/ Discovering Music – Elgar's Cello Concerto], BBC