Symphony No. 2 (Elgar)

The Symphony in E Flat Major, Opus 63 is the second of the two completed symphonies of Edward Elgar. The work was composed in 1909-1911, but using discarded sketches for the First Symphony, which were created in 1903. The composer finished its work on February 28, 1911, conducted the premiere in London's Queen 's Hall on 24 May of the same year.

The Symphony in E flat major consists of four movements with a total duration of just over 50 minutes:

Elgar described the symphony as one of his most personal works, in addition to his Violin Concerto and the vocal work The Music Makers. This trait occurs in particular in the pathetic and tragic slow movement and the sometimes furious scherzo, with its multiple repeated hammer blows to light. Both sets of expression was, for all the difference in structure and harmony, moved into the vicinity of the music of the contemporary Gustav Mahler.

A striking contrast to the first symphony is that it starts with an ecstatic exuberance and at the end of the last sentence in " mellowed " rest fades away, while the first is initiated with a first act presented topic, which at the end of the finale to a terrific " fireworks " increases.

Source

Notes by Michael Kennedy for holding Adrian Boult with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1976 )

• Symphony
• Work of Edward Elgar