Froissart Overture (Elgar)

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Froissart, Op 19, is a concert overture by Edward Elgar, inspired by the 14th century chronicals of Jean Froissart.

It was composed in 1890 to the commission of the Worcester Festival, and was Elgar's first large-scale work for full orchestra. It was first performed in Worcester, conducted by the composer, on 9 September 1890.

The motto of the work, written by Elgar on the manuscript score, is a quotation from an 1817 poem by Keats: 'When Chivalry lifted up her lance on high.' The opening is a graphically chivalric flourish, but commentators have found the subsequent working out of the themes too long and discursive. Nevertheless, although an obviously early work, it contains some touches of the mature Elgar. W H Reed singles out 'the quick rise from G sharp through two octaves and a semitone to the top A at the ninth bar after letter B', and notes a 'growing habit of scattering expression marks in great profusion', leaving conductors 'very little room for the introduction of their own idiosyncrasies'. However, it is generally agreed that the piece shows immaturity: Michael Kennedy comments on the 'weak and too-lengthy development' and the 'half digested' influence of other composers. Elgar himself concluded that the work was too long, but even after he had gone on to write more characteristic and mature compositions he described Froissart as 'good, healthy stuff.'

Froissart is not a programmatic work: unlike the later Falstaff or even Cockaigne it does not tell a detailed story; it evokes a mood and manner in broad terms.

The work has been recorded many times, perhaps the best known version being the 1966 EMI recording by the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

[edit] References

• Reed, W H (1943). Elgar. London: J M Dent.
• Kennedy, Michael (1970). Elgar Orchestral Music. London: BBC.