Couldn't live without.....
I’ve been asked who my favourite composer is. This is always a terribly difficult question, because there are so many composers I love for many different reasons, but if I was forced to choose one, I think I would have to plump for Edward Elgar, if only because he has given me more of those "magic" moments than anybody else.
What do I mean? Well, I’m sure you’ve all had that experience listening to music, when something unexpectedly wonderful happens, and the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. That’s what I mean by a magic moment, and for me, Elgar is the man. Here are four examples -
Perhaps the best known is the transition from "W.N." to "Nimrod" in the Enigma Variations. W.N. ends on a chord of G, and everything stops except the violins quietly holding the note G, and then, so, so softly, the orchestra creeps back in for the start of Nimrod in the key of E flat. It’s a well-known enough trick - the tonic of one chord is the mediant of the relatively distant chord four semi-tones below. I used to play piano in a club, and it’s the basis of a standard "out" at the end of a tune (e.g. C, A flat seventh, C), but in Elgar’s hands it becomes a thing of sheer enchantment.
Then there’s the Violin Concerto, which starts out very much in classical form, so you think you know when the violin entry is going to come, but then Elgar catches you completely unawares by bringing the violin in at the "wrong" time on the "wrong" note, but the effect again is just delightful.
The slow movement of the Second Symphony was written as a valedictory tribute to Edward VII, who had just died. There’s a point at which the music swells, and you’re expecting a big crescendo, when suddenly Elgar switches off everything except the violins, which are left shimmering on a high chord - tremendously moving.
And the ultimate - the ‘Cello Concerto, where having come through the gut-wrenching slow movement with it’s oh-so-poignant melody, you get to the final movement and, after the initial statement of the themes, the ‘cello seems to go walk-about, meandering sadly around without any apparent purpose, and then - you realise what’s going to happen just before it does - it slides softly into the melody from the slow movement. I must have listened to that hundreds of times, and it still brings tears to my eyes every time.
There are many composers whom I would miss terribly if I were never able to hear anything by them again, but none more than Elgar.
What do I mean? Well, I’m sure you’ve all had that experience listening to music, when something unexpectedly wonderful happens, and the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. That’s what I mean by a magic moment, and for me, Elgar is the man. Here are four examples -
Perhaps the best known is the transition from "W.N." to "Nimrod" in the Enigma Variations. W.N. ends on a chord of G, and everything stops except the violins quietly holding the note G, and then, so, so softly, the orchestra creeps back in for the start of Nimrod in the key of E flat. It’s a well-known enough trick - the tonic of one chord is the mediant of the relatively distant chord four semi-tones below. I used to play piano in a club, and it’s the basis of a standard "out" at the end of a tune (e.g. C, A flat seventh, C), but in Elgar’s hands it becomes a thing of sheer enchantment.
Then there’s the Violin Concerto, which starts out very much in classical form, so you think you know when the violin entry is going to come, but then Elgar catches you completely unawares by bringing the violin in at the "wrong" time on the "wrong" note, but the effect again is just delightful.
The slow movement of the Second Symphony was written as a valedictory tribute to Edward VII, who had just died. There’s a point at which the music swells, and you’re expecting a big crescendo, when suddenly Elgar switches off everything except the violins, which are left shimmering on a high chord - tremendously moving.
And the ultimate - the ‘Cello Concerto, where having come through the gut-wrenching slow movement with it’s oh-so-poignant melody, you get to the final movement and, after the initial statement of the themes, the ‘cello seems to go walk-about, meandering sadly around without any apparent purpose, and then - you realise what’s going to happen just before it does - it slides softly into the melody from the slow movement. I must have listened to that hundreds of times, and it still brings tears to my eyes every time.
There are many composers whom I would miss terribly if I were never able to hear anything by them again, but none more than Elgar.
posted by David Random @ 10:44 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home