Elgar Serenade for Strings
EDWARD ELGAR 1857 - 1934
Serenade For Strings in E minor Opus 20
Allegro piacevole
Larghetto
Allegretto
Elgar was still virtually unknown outside his native Worcester area when the Serenade was written in 1888. After withdrawing the score briefly for amendment, the finished composition was finally released in its present form in 1892. Throughout his life, Elgar is known to have retained a particular affection for this short work, not surprisingly, for it is both beautifully written for strings, and also wholly characteristic in the contrasts between carefree melody and a certain melancholy introspection.
The first movement opens with a rhythmic figure from which there springs a lilting theme in 6/8 time. In contrast the second subject is sad and wistful, beginning with a characteristic upward leap of a seventh.
The central Larghetto, with its elegaic tenderness, is a microcosm of the extended slow movements of the symphonies and concertos that were to follow many years later. It is a long, flowing stream of melody, lyrical and pensive, moving forward with the gentle undulations of the English landscape of Elgar's own West Country.
The third movement begins with its own theme, in 12/8, but soon takes up the subject matter of the first movement. The combination of these two themes is then easily and unassertively worked out until the end of the piece.
It seems hard to believe that seven years were to pass after the Serenade's completion before it was played in full in England and that a publisher rejected it in 1892 with the words: "We find that this class of music is practically unsaleable". Today the Serenade is one of Elgar's most popular and best loved works.
The first movement opens with a rhythmic figure from which there springs a lilting theme in 6/8 time. In contrast the second subject is sad and wistful, beginning with a characteristic upward leap of a seventh.
The central Larghetto, with its elegaic tenderness, is a microcosm of the extended slow movements of the symphonies and concertos that were to follow many years later. It is a long, flowing stream of melody, lyrical and pensive, moving forward with the gentle undulations of the English landscape of Elgar's own West Country.
The third movement begins with its own theme, in 12/8, but soon takes up the subject matter of the first movement. The combination of these two themes is then easily and unassertively worked out until the end of the piece.
It seems hard to believe that seven years were to pass after the Serenade's completion before it was played in full in England and that a publisher rejected it in 1892 with the words: "We find that this class of music is practically unsaleable". Today the Serenade is one of Elgar's most popular and best loved works.
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