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In a country with such an integrated love of music and music-making,
it is surprising that we have bred so few eminent composers. However,
among that select band, we do have Edward Elgar, whose music has all the
warmth and affection of a dear friend revisited. Elgar was born and died
in his beloved Worcestershire. His career, beset by disappointments and
self-doubt, eventually took him to a position of love and respect both
at home and abroad. At the turn of the century he was depressed by the
early failure of his great oratorio, "The Dream of Gerontius", a state
of mind that drew the famous, "I always knew God was against art." Nevertheless,
Elgar set to work on his new overture enthusing to his publisher that
here was a work that is "stout and steaky….honest, healthy, humorous and
strong but not vulgar." He dedicated it to: "My many friends, the members
of British orchestras", ending the score with a quotation, redolent of
his native Worcestershire, from the medieval poet Piers Plowman: "Meteless
and moneless on Malverne hulles."
Elgar's Overture is not a prelude to an opera but a substantial concert
opener based on the idea of Cockaigne. This fantasy land of splendour
and delights, which may well have spawned the term "cockney", was an Edwardian
conceit. Thus, considering the strength and position of the British Empire
in 1901 when Elgar wrote his Overture, it is hardly surprising that the
mythical land of Cockaigne represented a vibrant London Town, then the
foremost capital of the world. The music is a tapestry of London life
portraying its dignity and brashness. We hear the passage of a brilliant
military band and catch a glimpse of street-corner Salvationists complete
with their tambourines. At the centre of the Overture, away from the bustle
of street life, there is a passage of quiet and tenderness perhaps reflecting
the tranquillity of London's parks and secluded corners. The strident
life of the city, all too familiar in the present day, is soon recalled.
The band re-enters to preface a final statement of Elgar's typically "noble"
theme and the kettle drums end it all with a triumphant flourish.
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