Symphony No. 1 (Elgar)

The Symphony in A Flat Major, Opus 55 (composed in 1907-08, premiered on December 3, 1908 in Manchester by the Hallé Orchestra under the direction of the dedicatee, Hans Richter ) is the first of two completed symphonies of Edward Elgar. The work immediately found its way into the standard repertoire of the UK and international concert business and is at the base of the British symphonic music of the 20th century (which was continued by composers such as Arnold Bax, Havergal Brian, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, and George Lloyd). The First Symphony is still regarded as one of the masterpieces of its creator.

The symphony is in four movements. The total time is just under 50 minutes.

First drafts of the work originated in 1899 after Elgar had decided in 1898 to devote General Charles George Gordon's work and death of a heroic- tragic symphony. By 1904, the composer worked on the sketches, finally rejected this however - later they found in the Second Symphony entrance.

The slow introduction to the broad head movement presents an issue of solemn hymn-like character, which serves the whole work as a motto and occurs again and again in evidence in the course. The epic is part of Allegro in D minor, ie a key that kinship extremely far away because of the tritone interval of the fundamental tones from the initial flat major. The scherzo alternates between sections with partly hectic, partly rhythmically aggressive zupackendem character and smoother (trio -like ) passages. After a period of calm it comes attacca over into the next singing full Adagio. This technique, known as Hans Richter: ". Genuine slow movement, as it would have written Beethoven" The sprawling complex in character and closing movement ends with a triumphant apotheosis of the motto theme in a striking tonal closing fireworks.

Source

Notes by Michael Kennedy for holding Adrian Boult with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1977 )