Edward Elgar - Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61

Composer: Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 -- 23 February 1934)
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Sir Malcolm Sargent
Soloist: Jascha Heifetz
Year of recording: 1949

Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, written in 1909-1910.

00:00 - I. Allegro
15:51 - II. Andante
25:54 - III. Allegro molto

As a youth, Sir Edward Elgar was a devoted student of the violin; later on in life, as his orchestral skills began to unfold, the violin concerto became a form of great interest to him, and, though he completed only one such work, it is indeed a spectacular entry in the genre. It was slow to gain acceptance into the regular performing repertory, and it remains, for many reasons (not the least of which are a complex, demanding structure and extensive technical hurdles), a rather neglected work. In the hands of an intelligent and capable soloist/conductor pair, however, the work's unique juxtaposition of electric virtuosity and moving intimacy cannot fail to please.

Elgar places one of his famous enigmas at the head of the score, whose Spanish inscription translates as "In here is enshrined the soul of.....," with the five dots indicating the name of some individual with whom Elgar felt the work to be intimately associated. The work is cast in the standard three movements, but Elgar's characteristically rhapsodic approach to tempo and highly episodic musical architecture tend to obscure the usual landmarks of concerto form. And yet we must not think of the work as overly sectional, for, as anyone who has heard Elgar's own recording of the work (made with a teenage Yehudi Menuhin as soloist) will attest, all of these smaller episodes are meant to flow together into larger, seamless bodies of music.

The opening movement begins with one of the longest orchestral expositions in the concerto repertory, containing no fewer than three themes. The solo violin enters, darkly, on the G-string, with a closing version of the searching first theme. Various meditations -- both lyric and virtuosic, and frequently quite chromatic -- are made on each of the themes during the soloist's exposition and subsequent development. The exact moment of recapitulation is intentionally blurred, and the incessant tension between soloist and ensemble is such that no room can be found for a traditional cadenza.
The Andante second movement is one of the simplest-sounding pieces of music one can find, and yet it is of the cleverest and most intricate construction. Upon its entrance, the solo violin assumes a countermelodic role while the orchestral fiddlers continue on with the lovely B flat major melody that opened the movement. A second thematic idea is less settled than the first. During the central section the orchestra interjects and then develops a moving "nobilmente" phrase. This same idea ushers in the reprise of the movement's main theme, now even more intimate-sounding than before.
The Finale treads on some innovative musical ground, not so much in the way its richly varied theme groups are continuously developed (against fiendishly difficult violin arabesques, arpeggios, scales and chords) throughout the movement, but rather during the colorful accompanied cadenza that precedes the final grandiose conclusion (Schumann's Cello Concerto, a work Elgar knew, employs the same unusual device). Indeed, the cadenza is the very heart and soul of the movement, and all the musical fireworks that precede it are just a drawn-out introduction. During the cadenza (which features a background of tremolo pizzicati, a string effect that Elgar seems to have invented), melodies from the previous movements are revisited. Most striking of all is a powerful, wonderfully subdued rendition of the Andante's main theme.

The concerto was composed for the violinist Fritz Kreisler, who gave the premiere in London in 1910, with the composer conducting.