Symphony No. 1 (Elgar)
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The Symphony No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 55 of Edward Elgar is the first of only two that he composed. He wrote it in 1907–1908, dedicating it on the title page to "Hans Richter, Mus. Doc., true artist and true friend." It was premiered on 3 December 1908 in Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England, with Hans Richter conducting.
The symphony is scored for three flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon), four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (including snare drum, bass drum and cymbals), 2 harps, and strings.
It is in four movements:
- I. Andante. Nobilmente e semplice
- II. Allegro molto
- III. Adagio
- IV. Lento — Allegro
While Elgar never explicitly stated a programme for the symphony, it has been suggested that the work was inspired by the death of General Charles George Gordon: its "Eroica" character parallels the similar Beethoven symphony which was, according to the story, originally dedicated to Napoleon. In 1899 Elgar wrote to his friend A. J. Jaeger (the "Nimrod" of the Enigma Variations) that he intended someday to write a work dedicated to the military hero: "the thing possesses me, but I cannot write it down yet."
The symphony is in a cyclic form: the incomplete "nobilmente" theme from the first movement returns in the finale for a complete grandioso statement after various transformations throughout the work. Unlike thematic transformations in the work of other composers who used cyclic form, such as Mahler and Liszt, Elgar does not use the theme so much as a source of motivic material for the rest of the work, but as a mood; it transforms whatever it touches, and returns triumphantly at the close.
This work is one of very few symphonies in the repertoire to use A-flat major as its main key; the first movement contrasts the "nobilmente" theme in A-flat with anxious "Allegro" music in D minor.
A close look at the score will reveal what is not obvious to the ear: that the melodic line of the first eight-bar semiquaver passage of the first violin part in the second movement is the same as the melodic line of the first thirteen bars of the third movement (excepting bar 7 of the third movement where the top A is omitted and the shape is very slightly modified), despite their contrasting tempi and different keys.
Critical reaction to the symphony at first was mixed. Hans Richter, the symphony's dedicatee, extravagantly praised it at a rehearsal in 1908: "[it is] the greatest symphony of modern times, written by the greatest modern composer — and not only in this country." On the other hand, some reviewers criticized it for slack structure and an overabundance of themes. In spite of this, it caused a sensation at its first performance and received more than one hundred repeat performances during its first year, and has maintained a place in the standard orchestral repertory ever since.
The "nobilmente" theme was used in the movie Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
[edit] Sources
- David Cox, "Edward Elgar", in The Symphony, ed. Robert Simpson. Penguin Books Ltd., Middlesex, England, 1967. ISBN 01402.07732 (Cox specifically mentions General Gordon as being the possible inspiration for the symphony.)
- Diana McVeagh, "Edward Elgar", in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
- Diana McVeagh: "Edward Elgar", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed May 8, 2005), (subscription access)
