Elgar's Violin Concerto: Exploring the first movement
His Violin Concerto is widely thought to be 'pinnacle Elgar'
Last updated 3rd Sep 2020
Sir Edward Elgar is best known for 'Land of Hope and Glory'. Some even consider it the UK's unofficial second national. Elgar is also the man behind his popular 'Enigma Variations' and the choral masterpiece 'The Dream of Gerontius'.
In addition to his symphonies, many regard the Violin Concerto as 'pinnacle Elgar'. First performed in 1910, it's a much-loved staple of the violin repertoire.
It's also a work which forms the centrepiece of Nicola Benedetti's recent release with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski on Decca.
We've conjured up a handful of questions which think you might want the answers to accompany you listening to the poignant first movement.
When did Elgar write his violin concerto?
Elgar originally began writing a violin concerto in 1890, but was frustrated with its progress. He destroyed all written copies of the work.
But it wasn't until 1907 that work on a concerto began again when he was approached by violinist Fritz Kreisler - a fan of 'Gerontius' - to write a violin concerto, two years after he'd told a newspaper of his desire.
It turns out Kreisler was a bit of a fan.
"If you want to know whom I consider to be the greatest living composer, I say without hesitation Elgar," said Kreisler. "I say this to please no one; it is my own conviction... I place him on an equal footing with my idols, Beethoven and Brahms. He is of the same aristocratic family. His invention, his orchestration, his harmony, his grandeur, it is wonderful. And it is all pure, unaffected music. I wish Elgar would write something for the violin."
Elgar was officially commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society of London to write a violin concerto in 1909, and the piece saw its first performance in November 1910. His friend Charles Sanford Terry said of the work, "I have never heard Elgar speak of the personal note in his music except in regard to the concerto, and of it I heard him say more than once, 'I love it'."
Who was the work dedicated to?
Elgar was arguably apprehensive in writing a violin concerto - not only had his initial attempt stalled 20 years prior, but he'd also sought advice from London Symphony Orchestra violinist W. H. 'Billy' Reed for more technical insight - despite the violin being Elgar's first instrument.
The pair played through the piece almost endlessly to ensure Elgar was completely satisfied, and even held a private performance before the official premiere. It was a huge success, and is still often performed nowadays. In 2010, to celebrate the centenary year, Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider performed the concerto in cities around the world with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic.
Although the concerto is dedicated to the man who kick-started Elgar on creating the work - Kreisler - the score carries a cryptic inscription in Spanish: 'Aqui está encerrada el alma de.....', which translates as, 'Herein is enshrined the soul of.....' There were many rumours around who those five dots represented, until a story recounted by his friend Dora Powell - the subject of an 'Enigma' variation herself - revealed it to be another old friend of Elgar's, in her autobiography.
Apparently, Dora had been left perplexed by the inscription whilst in the company of Elgar's wife, Caroline Alice, Lady Elgar. It was Caroline who confirmed the inscription was for Mrs. Julia H. Worthington, the couple's American friend, of whom little is known.
Elgar's violin concerto: the story behind the music
The first movement starts quietly but quickly gains momentum and volume, leaving the listener feeling as though they've joined a conversation halfway through. The same could be said for 'Land of Hope and Glory'; there are no opening moments to lead the piece in. Perhaps Elgar just liked to get on with it.
Great swells of music are quickly brought back down to busy rumblings in the strings. Mournful moments in the brass evoke moments of intense melancholy, but the drama is never far away, strings whisking us off from one location to another.
A hauntingly beautiful solo line from the violin centres around the violin's lower notes. From time to time there are moments when the solo violin is playing so low it could even be mistaken for a viola.
Higher notes on the solo violin are soon used to Elgar's advantage in a series of striking sequences that emulate birdsong (hear Vaughan Williams' stunning 'The Lark Ascending' for the most obvious illustration of the technique).
Elgar's Violin Concerto is considered to be one of the most difficult violin pieces to play. And not only because of the length of the first movement either - 17 or so minutes. Technically too, it makes all manner of demands on the performer. The notes travel all over the instrument's fingerboard in great leaps and bounds without a second thought for the player's fingertips.
After a few bars of frantic almost-glissandos, the piece slows and the whole orchestra 'sighs' in a beautiful moment with the soloist. It's almost as if the piece is someone restless and distressed, telling an emotive and passionate story that has left them short of breath
As the tempo slows again, the story becomes wistful. Is it a lost love? Or loss of another kind? The orchestra re-enters briefly, evoking a climactic sense of struggle, before the solo takes over again to quell the thunder - until a sudden, furious staccato moment, and ride out the turbulent melody to the end of the movement. It certainly is a musical rollercoaster.
What key is Elgar's Violin Concerto in?
Elgar's Violin Concerto, Op. 61, is in B Minor.