Music
This work is scored for Solo Cello, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in A, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in C, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, and strings.
The work has four movements:
- Adagio — Moderato (approx. 8:00)
- Lento — Allegro molto (approx. 4:30)
- Adagio (approx. 4:50)
- Allegro — Moderato — Allegro, ma non troppo — Poco più lento — Adagio. (approx. 11:30)
The piece represented, for Elgar, the angst, despair, and disillusionment he felt after the end of the War, and an introspective look at death and mortality. It was a significant change in his style, as he wrote much of his previous works in a noble and jovial style, inspired by the English way of life and the pre-war renaissance of European art.
The first movement is in ternary form with introduction. It opens with a recitative in the solo cello, immediately followed by a short answer from the clarinets, bassoons and horn. An ad lib modified scale played by the solo cello follows. The viola section then presents a rendition of the main theme in Moderato, then passes it to the solo cello who repeats it. The string section plays the theme a third time and then the solo cello modifies it into a fortissimo restatement. The orchestra reiterates, and the cello presents the theme a final time before moving directly into a lyrical E major middle section. This transitions into a similar repetition of the first section. This section omits the fortissimo modified theme in the solo cello. The slower first movement moves directly into the second movement.
The second movement opens with a fast crescendo with pizzicate chords in the cello. Then, the solo cello plays what will be the main motive of the Allegro molto section. Pizzicato chords follow. A brief cadenza is played, and sixteenth-note motive and chords follow. Then a ritardando leads directly to a scherzo-like section which remains until the end.
The slow third movement starts and ends with a lyrical melody, and one theme runs through the entire movement. The end flows directly into the finale (again with no pause). The fourth movement begins with another fast crescendo and ends at fortissimo. The solo cello follows with another recitative and cadenza. The movement's main theme is noble and stately, but with undertones and with many key-changes. Near the end of the piece, the tempo slows into a più lento section, in which a new set of themes appears. The tempo slows further, to the tempo of the third movement, and the theme from that movement is restated. This tempo continues to slow until it becomes stagnant, and the orchestra holds a chord. Then, at the very end of the piece, the recitative of the first movement is played again. This flows into a reiteration of the main theme of the fourth movement, with tension building until the final three chords, which close the piece.
Read more about this topic: Cello Concerto (Elgar)
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