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English Choral Music

ELGARPart-Songs

My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land • Evening SceneThe Shower • The Fountain • Death on the Hills

Cambridge University Chamber ChoirChristopher Robinson

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One of the many and varied musical experiences theyoung Elgar enjoyed in Worcester was the Glee Clubwhich met weekly at the Crown Hotel during the wintermonths. Its musical core was made up of the Cathedrallay clerks, and the total membership was around ahundred. Once a month there was an instrumental night,when a small band played arrangements of overtures andother short orchestral pieces. Elgar’s father played theviolin and Edward himself joined in the late 1860s whenhe was about twelve years old. He progressed tobecoming leader of the band, and also its accompanist,later telling an interviewer: “It was an enjoyable andartistic gathering, and the programmes were principallydrawn from the splendid English compositions formen’s voices. The younger generation seemed to preferordinary part-songs, . . . and the tone of the thingchanged”. Elgar’s name soon appeared on theprogramme as a composer: his first biographer R. J.Buckley wrote: “His compositions showed a decidedversatility. He wrote for the glee party, for the band, forthe solo singers, for anything and everything . . .”

On 1st March 1881 the Club performed a part-songby Elgar: Why so pale and wan? It has not survived, andit was almost twenty years before he wrote another, bywhich time a ready market for such pieces wasestablished: the competition festival movement. Theenormous growth in the number of choirs led to thepopularity of these contests, particularly in the north ofEngland. My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land 9, towords by Andrew Lang, was published by Novello in1890, thus beginning a relationship with the publisherswhich spanned Elgar’s most creative years. He later toldhis friend Jaeger – the ‘Nimrod’ of the EnigmaVariations – that when the song first appeared: “. . . itwas said to be crude, ill-written for the voices, laid outwithout knowledge of the capabilities of the humanvoice!!” Michael Hurd was surely nearer the mark whenhe described it as “. . . magnificently grand andpassionate – as if a Parry had suddenly been releasedfrom gentlemanly reticence”. It is a fine song, much

loved by singers, beginning simply in four parts. In thethird verse, however, Elgar divides the men’s parts, andthe melody is given to the sopranos and first tenors,while the rest of the choir sing the words to a repetitive,rhythmic motif – an accompanimental device whichElgar later used in Death on the Hills 0 and Serenade@. The point has often been made that Elgar’s musicalthinking was always in orchestral terms, and in hisgreatest songs he loved to fill out the sound by writingfor more than the usual four parts.

During the 1890s the Elgars enjoyed severalholidays in Bavaria: Edward loved the countryside, therelaxed atmosphere, and the fact that Catholicism wasthe predominant religion. They were particularly fond ofthe local Schuhplattler dancing, and in 1895 Elgar wrotea suite of six ‘choral songs’ to his wife’s words, whichtried to imitate the spirit of these dances. The work wasentitled Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands %-). Itwas later orchestrated, and Elgar also arranged three ofthe songs as the orchestral suite Three Bavarian Dances.His love of Bavaria is evident in the joyful exuberanceof the work, particularly the outer movements. Five ofthe movements are in triple time, and only one, FalseLove ^, strikes a sad note. The harmonic interest isoften in the accompaniment, especially in the famousLullaby &, and in the final movement, The Marksmen).

The following year, 1896, was a significant one forElgar with the successful premières of two choral works:The Light of Life at the Worcester Festival, and KingOlaf at the North Staffordshire Festival. Included in theEpilogue of the latter work was an unaccompanied part-song, As Torrents in Summer 5, which has become thecomposer’s best known work in this genre, as RosaBurley, the Malvern schoolmistress realised when hefirst played it to her: “I knew that he had written anending to his cantata which . . . would send his audienceaway with a memorable tune ringing in their ears”.

In 1902, by which time Elgar was becoming anational figure through the success of the Enigma

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)Part-Songs

I cannot linger here,I cannot wait below;To seek my maiden dear,I, to the alm must go.The mountain’s call I hearAnd up the height I bound;I know my maiden dearWill mark my Juchhé sound.

Rejoicing come I hereMy flaxen-haired sweet-heart;I love thee, maiden dear,Nay! bid me not depart!

) The MarksmenCome from the mountain side,Come from the valleys wide,See, how we muster strong,Tramping along!

Rifle on shoulder sling,Powder and bullets bring,Manly in mind and heart,Play we our part.

Sure be each eye today,Steady each hand must stayIf in the trial weVictors would be!

Sharp is the crack! ’tis done!Lost is the chance, or won;Right in the gold is it?Huzza! the hit!

The sun will sink and light the westAnd touch the peaks with crimson glow;Then shadows fill the vale with restWhile stars look peace on all below.

In triumph then we take our way,And with our prizes homeward wend;Through meadows sweet with new-mown hay,A song exultant will we send.

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Variations, The Dream of Gerontius and the first twoPomp and Circumstance marches, he was approachedby the Morecambe Musical Festival to write a test pieceand attend the meeting as an adjudicator. He wroteWeary Wind of the West for the 1903 festival and twoyears later followed it with Evening Scene #. This hadits première in May 1906 and was dedicated to RobertHowson, conductor of the Morecambe Choir, whomElgar described as “the musical soul of the Morecambeaffair”. Samuel Langford in The Manchester Guardiancalled it “. . . a highly original bit of writing, asingularly faithful translation into tone of the drowsy,dreamy atmosphere of evening in the fields and itssubdued sounds”.

In late 1907 the Elgars went to Rome for thewinter. Edward was trying to write a symphony, butover the Christmas period he wrote five of his finestpart-songs – The Reveille for men’s voices, and the fourmixed-voice part-songs Opus 53. These were notcommissions and it is strange that he wrote them at thistime: maybe he wanted a change from writing for theorchestra. He selected the words to the first three, andwrote the fourth himself. The first song, There is SweetMusic 1, is dedicated to Canon Charles Gorton, Rectorof Morecambe and founder and President of the festivalthere. Elgar called it “. . . a clinker and the best I havedone”. It broke new ground by being written in twokeys at once, the tenor and bass parts in G, the sopranoand alto in A flat. Its difficulty meant that when it wasperformed in the highest class at the 1909 MorecambeFestival, only five choirs entered (instead of the usualtwenty or so).

The second song, Deep in my soul 2, is a heartfeltsetting of words by Byron; and as the song is dedicatedto an American lady, Julia Worthington, known as‘Pippa’ to Elgar’s circle, some have sought for a deepermeaning in the words, especially as Mrs Worthingtonhas been suggested as the ‘soul’ “enshrined” in theViolin Concerto, written two years later. O Wild WestWind 3 is dedicated to Dr W. G. McNaught, doyen ofcompetition adjudicators, who had served with Elgar atMorecambe. Though marked with the familiar Elgarian

nobilmente, the composer added the note “with thegreatest animation but without hurry”. It is impassionedmusic, as befits words in which the poet begs the windto inspire his efforts in order to bring his message to theworld: “Be through my lips to unawakened earth/ Thetrumpet of a prophecy”. For Elgar, deep into writing hislong-awaited symphony, the words must have had aparticular potency. The final song of the opus, Owls 4,is probably the strangest that Elgar ever set. It is verychromatic and there are some weird harmonies. Jaegersaid that it baffled analysis and he knew “. . . nothinglike it. The words . . . are as strange and vague as themusic . . . It is frankly nihilistic . . . and the musicdeepens the gloom”. However he found it “as full ofgenius as anything Elgar has done”. The composer hadtold Jaeger: “It is only a fantasy and means nothing. Itis in [a] wood at night evidently and the recurring‘Nothing’ is only an owlish sound”. The sense ofdespair heard by Jaeger is surely correct, however, andmakes one imagine that Elgar’s “It . . . means nothing”is an attempt to cover up something deeply personalwhich he was unwilling to explain.

In April 1909 the Elgars were in Italy again,staying at Careggi near Florence in a villa rented byJulia Worthington. Here he composed what is felt bymany to be his greatest part-song, Go, Song of Mine $,written in six parts. The words, a translation by Rossettiof a medieval Italian poem, again have a distinctlyautobiographical ring: the author’s “song” is sent out“to break the hardness of the heart of man”. To whatextent Elgar applied them to himself we can onlyspeculate, but he certainly gave it “a big setting”, as hewrote to Gorton. It had its première at the 1909 ThreeChoirs Festival at Hereford, and was soon taken up bythe major competition festivals as another excellent andtaxing test piece.

Diana McVeagh has written: “From now on[1907], Elgar’s choral songs are elaborate, expansive,and gorgeous as sheer sound . . . In the adventurous useof texture, colour and interplay of sonorities thesesongs are markedly original”. Writing in theContemporary Review in 1911 Gerald Cumberland

Down the path the lights are gleaming,Friendly faces gladly beaming,Welcome us with song.Dancing makes the heart grow lighter,Makes the world and life grow brighterAs we dance along!

^ False LoveNow we hear the Spring’s sweet voiceSinging gladly through the world;Bidding all the earth rejoice.

All is merry in the field,Flowers grow amidst the grass,Blossoms blue, red, white they yield.

As I seek my maiden true,Sings the little lark on highFain to send her praises due.As I climb and reach her door,Ah! I see a rival there,So farewell for evermore!

Ever true was I to thee,Never grieved or vexed thee, love,False, oh! false, art thou to me.

Now amid the forest green,Far from cruel eyes that mockWill I dwell unloved, unseen.

& LullabySleep, my son, oh! slumber softly,While thy mother watches o’er thee,Nothing can affright or harm theeSleep, oh! sleep, my son.

Far-awayZithers play,Dancing gayCalls to-day.

Vainly playZithers gay!Here I stayAll the day.HappilyGuarding thee,PeacefullyWatching thee.

Sleep, my son, oh! slumber softly,While thy mother watches o’er thee,Sleep, oh! sleep, my son.

* AspirationOver the heights the snow lies deep,Sunk is the land in peaceful sleep;Here by the house of God we pray,Lead, Lord, our souls today.

Shielding, like the silent snow,Fall His mercies here below.

Calmly then, like the snow-bound land,Rest we in His protecting hand;Bowing, we wait His mighty will:Lead, Lord, and guide us still.

( On the AlmA mellow bell peals near,It has so sweet a sound;I know a maiden dearWith voice as full and round.

A sunlit alm shines clear,With clover blossoms sweet;There dwells my maiden dear,And there my love I meet.

There flying with no fearThe swallows pass all day;And fast, my maiden dear,Sees chamois haste away.

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said: “The creative energy of many Europeancomposers is being directed into channels where it maymost quickly reach large masses of the people – that isto say, it is exploring the possibilities of the humanvoice and creating music which is largely experimentalin its attempt to arrive at hitherto undreamt-of effects intone colour, dramatic description and lyricalexpressiveness”. Cumberland mentions Elgar, Bantock,and Brian among English composers, and RichardStrauss, Debussy, and Sibelius in Europe. He couldhave also added Mackenzie, whose Op. 71 part-songsof 1911 are sadly neglected, and Schoenberg, whosefiendishly difficult eight-part Friede auf Erden datesfrom 1907, the same year as Elgar’s Opus 53 set.

By 1914 Elgar had formally split from Novello,who nevertheless were still anxious to make moneyfrom his works where they could. They knew that part-songs were financially rewarding, and the firm’schairman, Alfred Littleton, wrote to the secretary: “Idon’t want any more Elgar symphonies or concertos,but am ready to take as many part-songs as he canproduce”. That year the composer “produced” fivemore. The two Op. 71 songs, to words by HenryVaughan, are exquisitely written, deceptive in their(relative) simplicity. In The Shower 7, the altos andtenors have pattering semiquavers against the tune’squavers in a couple of places, suggesting the “train ofdrops” of the title. The second song, The Fountain 8,refers to a stillness in nature (“all the earth lay hush”);but then, “Only a little fountain lent some use for ears”.The music of nature was always a potent force forElgar: as a boy he had been found lying by the RiverSevern, “trying to fix the sounds”, as he wrote manyyears later. The largest of these 1914 songs is Op. 72,

Death on the Hills 0, a translation of some grim wordsby the Russian poet Maikov, concerning Death stalkinga village looking for victims. In the second half of thesong, the three upper parts sing “with a thin andsomewhat veiled tone” some repetitive linesrepresenting the villagers, while beneath them thebasses intone Death’s grisly words. More translationsfrom the Russian make up Op. 73. Each verse of Love’sTempest ! begins quietly and slowly before a greatoutburst allegro con fuoco, representing first a storm atsea, and then a “tumult” in the poet’s heart created by amental image of his loved one. The song’s companion,Serenade @, has a repeated refrain, “Dreams all toobrief, dreams without grief, once they are broken, comenot again”; ideal for a composer preoccupied withdreams, and whose precarious emotional equilibriumwas being constantly threatened.

The decade after Alice Elgar’s death in 1920 sawfew new works from Elgar, although there were anumber of part-songs, the best of them being TheWanderer (1923) for men’s voices, and the mixed-voice part-song The Prince of Sleep 6, from 1925,which Diana McVeagh has rightly described as“beautiful and mysterious”. The languid settingcaptures masterfully the Lethean sentiments of thewords; imagery of dreams and the natural world(especially woodland) again seemed to inspire Elgar,and this neglected song can stand comparison with hisfinest in the genre. The closing words of de la Mare’spoem strike once more an autobiographical note: “Androsy, as with morning buds, Along his dales of broomand birk [birch] Dreams haunt his solitary woods”.

© 2008 Geoffrey Hodgkins

@ Serenade, Op. 73, No. 2Rosa Newmarch adapted from a Russian text by Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov

Dreams all too brief,Dreams without grief,Once they are broken, come not again.

Across the sky the dark clouds sweep,And all is dark and drear above;The bare trees toss their arms and weep,Rest on, and do not wake, dear Love.Since glad dreams haunt your slumbers deep,Why should you scatter them in vain?

Happy is he, when Autumn falls,Who feels the dream-kiss of the Spring;And happy he in prison wallsWho dreams of freedom’s rescuing;

But woe to him who vainly callsThrough sleepless nights for ease from pain!

# Evening Scene (1905)Coventry Patmore (1823–96), from The River

The sheep-bell tolleth curfew-time;The gnats, a busy rout,Fleck the warm air; the dismal owlShouteth a sleepy shout;The voiceless bat, more felt than seen,Is flitting round about.

The aspen leaflets scarcely stir:The river seems to think:Athwart the dusk, broad primrosesLook coldly from the brink,Where, list’ning to the freshet’s noise,The quiet cattle drink.

The bees boom past, the white moths riseLike spirits from the ground;The gray flies hum their weary tune,A distant, dream-like sound;And far, far off to the slumb’rous eve,Bayeth an old guard-hound.

$ Go, Song of Mine, Op. 57Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–82) adapted from an Italian text by Guido Cavalcanti (c. 1250–1300)

Dishevell’d and in tears, go, song of mine,To break the hardness of the heart of man:Say how his life beganFrom dust, and in that dust doth sink supine:Yet, say, the unerring spirit of grief shall guideHis soul, being purified,To seek its Maker at the heav’nly shrine.

SCENES FROM THE BAVARIAN HIGHLANDS, OP. 27From Bavarian Volkslieder & Schnadahüpfleradapted by Caroline Alice Elgar (1848–1920)

% The DanceCome and hasten to the dancing,Merry eyes will soon be glancing,Ha! my heart upbounds!Come and dance a merry measureQuaff the bright brown ale, my treasure,Hark! what joyous sounds!

Sweet-heart come, on let us haste,On, on, no time let us waste,With my heart I love thee!Dance, dance, for rest we disdain,Turn, twirl and spin round again,With my arm I hold thee!

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Cambridge University Chamber Choir Cambridge University Chamber Choir was founded in its current form in 1986 by Timothy Brown, and is nowdirected by David Lowe and Daniel Hyde. Its members are drawn from the graduate and undergraduate communitiesof the University. The chief purpose of the choir is to explore the secular and non-liturgical choral repertoire that isoften untouched by College Chapel Choirs. The Chamber Choir works frequently with professional soloists andinstrumental ensembles; performances have been undertaken with orchestras such as the Academy of AncientMusic, the King’s Consort, His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts, London Sinfonietta, and City of London Sinfonia.The choir has broadcast on Radio 3 and has made a number of recordings. In November 2006 the Choir performedMozart’s Requiem under Timothy Brown in a sell-out concert as part of the Cambridge Music Festival, and inJanuary 2007 the choir performed Bach’s Mass in B minor in King’s College Chapel, under the direction of DanielHyde. In May 2007 the Choir gave a concert which included many of the Part-Songs recorded on this CD, conductedby Christopher Robinson CBE.

SOPRANOAmy DaldorphKatherine HambridgeElizabeth HeighwayCerian HollandMegan Housley Emilia HughesClare LloydGina OwensTessie PrakasEmma Walshe

ALTORachel BeaumontCathy BellFrances BurnElisabeth FlemingLucy GoddardChristopher LowreyKate Symonds-JoyLeo Tomita

TENORGerald BeattyAlastair BennettRhys BowdenPierre DechantJonathan LangridgePeter Morton

BASSEdward BallardThomas FaulknerMatthew FlinnCharley HendersonTom KeenChris Law Benjamin Lewis Jonathan MidgleyTimothy ScottGreg Swinford

9 My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land,Op. 18, No. 3Andrew Lang (1844–1912)My love dwelt in a Northern land.A dim tower in a forest greenWas his, and far away the sandAnd gray wash of the waves were seenThe woven forest-boughs between:And through the Northern summer nightThe sunset slowly died away,And herds of strange deer, silver-white,Came gleaming through the forest gray,And fled like ghosts before the day.

And oft, that month, we watch’d the moonWax great and white o’er wood and lawn,And wane, with waning of the June,Till, like a brand for battle drawn,She fell and flamed in a wild dawn.

I know not if the forest greenStill girdles round that castle gray,I know not if the boughs betweenThe white deer vanish ere the day:The grass above my love is green,His heart is colder than the clay.

0 Death on the Hills, Op. 72Rosa Newmarch (1857–1940) adapted from a Russian text by Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov (1821–97)

Why o’er the dark’ning hill-slopesDo dusky shadows creep?Because the wind blows keenly there,Or rainstorms lash and leap?

No wind blows chill upon them,Nor are they lash’d by rain:’Tis Death who rides across the hillsWith all his shadowy train.

The old bring up the cortège,In front the young folk ride,And on Death’s saddle in a rowThe babes sit side by side.

The young folk lift their voices,The old folk plead with Death:“O let us take the village-road,Or by the brook draw breath.“There let the old drink water,There let the young folk play,And let the little childrenRun and pluck the blossoms gay”.

“I must not pass the villageNor halt beside the rill,For there the wives and mothers allTheir buckets take to fill.

“The wife might see her husband,The mother see her son;So close they’d cling – their claspingsCould never be undone”.

TWO CHORAL SONGS, OP. 73

! Love’s Tempest, Op. 73, No. 1Rosa Newmarch adapted from a Russian text by Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov

Silent lay the sapphire ocean,Till a tempest came to wakeAll its roaring, seething billowsThat upon earth’s ramparts break.

Quiet was my heart within me,Till your image, suddenlyRising there, awoke a tumult,Wilder than the storm at sea.

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Iain FarringtonIain Farrington has an exceptionally busy and diverse career as a pianist, organist,composer, and arranger. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and atCambridge University. He has also participated in master-classes with MalcolmMartineau at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh. As a solo pianist, accompanist,chamber musician and organist, he has performed at all the major United Kingdomvenues, including the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, the Proms 2005 and 2004, theRoyal Opera House, the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, andBirmingham Symphony Hall. Abroad, he has given concerts in Japan, South Africa,Jordan, Malaysia, Iceland, and all across Europe. He works with many of the country’sleading musicians, including John Mark Ainsley, Lesley Garrett, the Royal Ballet, SirSimon Rattle, and Sir Colin Davis. He regularly gives broadcasts on BBC Radio Threewith the BBC Singers. Iain Farrington was Organ Scholar at St John’s College, CambridgeUniversity, and with the College Choir he toured extensively, and recorded four CDs onthe Naxos and Nimbus labels. He was also Organ Scholar at St George’s Chapel, WindsorCastle, where he played for numerous Royal occasions. He is also a prolific composer and arranger; his solo pianoarrangement of Elgar/Payne Symphony No. 3 is published by Boosey and Hawkes, and his transcription of Elgar’sFive Piano Improvisations is published by Novello. As a composer, his works have been performed in New Zealand,Canada, Sweden, France, Germany and recorded on the Hyperion label.

Christopher RobinsonChristopher Robinson was educated at Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford, wherehe was Organ Scholar. After a period as Organist and Master of the Choristers atWorcester Cathedral, where he was also conductor of several Three ChoirsFestivals, Christopher Robinson moved to St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle,where he was Organist and Choirmaster until 1991. He was conductor of theOxford Bach Choir from 1976 to 1997 and of the City of Birmingham Choir from1964 to 2002. He recently retired from the prestigious post of Organist andDirector of Music at St John’s College, Cambridge, a choir with an internationalreputation for excellence. He holds honorary degrees from BirminghamUniversity and the University of Central England and is an honorary member ofthe Royal Academy of Music. He has been Chairman of the Elgar Society andPresident of the Royal College of Organists. In 1992 the Queen bestowed on himthe honour of Commander of the Victorian Order for his services at WindsorCastle, and in the summer of 2002, the Archbishop of Canterbury made him aLambeth DMus. He became an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of ChurchMusicians in Autumn 2003 and received a CBE in the 2004 New Year’s HonoursList.

Is now at the foot of the tree;All that could be is said;Is it . . . what? . . . Nothing.

5 As Torrents in Summer, from Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, Op. 30Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

As torrents in summer,Half dried in their channels,Suddenly rise, tho’ theSky is still cloudless,For rain has been fallingFar off at their fountains;

So hearts that are faintingGrow full to o’erflowing,And they that behold itMarvel, and know notThat God at their fountainsFar off has been raining!

6 The Prince of Sleep (1925)Walter de la Mare (1873–1956)

I met at eve the Prince of Sleep,His was a still and lovely face;He wander’d through a valley steep,Lovely in a lonely place.

His garb was grey of lavender,About his head a poppy wreathBurned like dim coals, and everywhereThe air was sweeter for his breath.

His twilight feet no sandals wore,His eyes shone faint in their own flame,Fair moths that gloomed his steps beforeSeemed letters of his lovely name.

His house is in the mountain ways,A phantom house of misty walls,Whose golden flocks at evening graze,And witch the moon with muffled calls.Upwelling from his shadowy springsSweet waters shake a trembling sound,There flit the hoot-owl’s silent wings,There hath his web the silkworm wound.

Dark in his pools clear visions lurk,And rosy, as with morning buds,Along his dales of broom and birkDreams haunt his solitary woods.

TWO CHORAL SONGS, OP. 71

7 The Shower, Op. 71, No. 1Henry Vaughan (1622–95)

Cloud, if as thou dost melt, and with thy trainOf drops make soft the earth, my eyes could weepO’er my hard heart, that’s bound up and asleep;Perhaps at last,Some such showers past,My God would give a sunshine after rain.

8 The Fountain, Op. 71, No. 2Henry VaughanThe unthrift sun shot vital gold,A thousand, thousand pieces;And heav’n its azure did unfoldChequer’d with snowy fleeces;The air was all in spice,And ev’ry bushA garland wore:Thus fed my eyes,But all the earth lay hush.Only a little fountain lentSome use for ears,And on the dumb shades language spentThe music of her tears.

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Eine der vielen und verschiedenartigen musikalischenErfahrungen, deren sich der junge Elgar in Worcestererfreute, war der Glee Club, der sich in den Winter-monaten allwöchentlich im Crown Hotel traf. Denmusikalischen Kern bildeten Laienangestellte derKathedrale; insgesamt hatte der Club rund hundertMitglieder. Einmal im Monat fand eine Instrumental-nacht statt, in der ein kleines Ensemble Arrangementsvon Ouvertüren und anderen kurzen Orchesterstückenspielte. Elgars Vater spielte Violine, und Edward selbstbegann in den späten 1860er Jahren mitzuspielen, als eretwa zwölf Jahre alt war. Er brachte es schließlich biszum Leiter der Gruppe und war auch deren Begleiter.Später sagte er einem Interviewer: „Es war eine erfreu-liche und künstlerische Versammlung, die Programmeentstammten vornehmlich den großartigen englischenKompositionen für Männerstimmen. Die jüngereGeneration schien gewöhnliche Part-Songs zu bevor-zugen ... und so änderte sich der Ton des Ganzen.“ Baldschon erschien Elgars Name auf den Programmen alsKomponist. Sein erster Biograph schrieb: „SeineKompositionen zeigten eine entschiedene Vielseitigkeit.Er schrieb für die Glee Party, für das Ensemble, für dieSolosänger, für alle und alles.“

Am 1. März 1881 führte der Club einen Part-Songvon Elgar auf: Why so pale and wan?, der nicht erhaltenist. Erst rund zwanzig Jahre später schrieb er einenweiteren – inzwischen hatte sich ein Markt für diesesGenre etabliert: die Chorwettbewerbs-Bewegung. Dieenorme Zahl von Chorgründungen ließ solche Wett-bewerbe populär werden, besonders im NordenEnglands. My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land 9 nachWorten von Andrew Lang erschien 1890 bei Novello.Damit begann Elgars Zusammenarbeit mit diesemVerlag, die nahezu seine gesamten kreativen Jahreumspannt. Später sagte er seinem Freund Jaeger – dem„Nimrod“ der Enigma Variations: „... man hielt es fürkrude und ungeeignet für die Stimmen, geschriebenohne Kenntnis der Möglichkeiten der menschlichenStimme ...“. Michael Hurd kam der Sache gewiss näher,

wenn er das Stück beschreibt als „prachtvoll undgroßartig – als sei Parry [gemeint ist der Komponist SirHubert Parry (1848–1918)] plötzlich befreit von allervornehmen Zurückhaltung“. Es handelt sich um ein beiSängern beliebtes Chorstück, das schlicht vierstimmigbeginnt. Im dritten Vers teilt Elgar die Männerstimmen:Die Melodie wird den Sopranen und ersten Tenörenübertragen, während der Rest des Chores die Worte aufein wiederholtes rhythmisches Motiv singt. DiesesGestaltungsmittel verwendet Elgar später auch in Deathon the Hills 0 und Serenade @. Vielfach wurdehervorgehoben, dass sich Elgars musikalisches Denkenstets in orchestralen Kategorien vollzog – in seinenbesten Part-Songs erreichte er Klangfülle dadurch, dasser für mehr als die üblichen vier Stimmen schrieb.

In den 1890er Jahren verbrachten die Elgarsmehrere Ferien in Bayern: Elgar liebte die Landschaft,die entspannte Atmosphäre und die Tatsache, dass derKatholizismus die vorherrschende Konfession war.Besonders angetan waren sie von den Schuhplattler-Tänzen; 1895 schrieb Elgar eine Suite aus sechs„Chorliedern“ auf Worte seiner Frau, die den Geistdieser Tänze einzufangen versuchen. Das Werk erhieltden Titel Scene from the Bavarian Highlands %-). Eswurde später orchestriert, darüber hinaus arrangierte derKomponist drei der Lieder zur Orchestersuite ThreeBavarian Dances. Seine Liebe zu Bayern wird offen-kundig in der freudigen Ausgelassenheit des Werkes,besonders der Außensätze. Fünf der Sätze sind im Drei-ertakt, und nur einer, False Love ^, hat einen traurigenTon. Der harmonische Gewicht ist häufig in dieBegleitung gelegt, besonders beim berühmten Lullaby& und im Schlusssatz The Marksmen ).

Das folgende Jahr 1896 war für Elgar ein beson-deres – zwei Chorwerke erlebten ihre erfolgreiche Pre-miere: The Light of Life auf dem Worcester Festival undKing Olaf auf dem North Staffordshire Festival. In denEpilog des letzteren ist ein Part-Song integriert, AsTorrents in Summer 5, der zu Elgars bekanntestemWerk in diesem Genre wurde. Rosa Burley, Lehrerin in

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)Chorlieder

FOUR CHORAL SONGS, OP. 53

1 There is Sweet Music, Op. 53, No. 1Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92)

There is sweet music here that softer fallsThan petals from blown roses on the grass,Or night-dews on still waters between wallsOf shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,Than tir’d eyelids upon tir’d eyes;Music that brings sweet sleep down

from the blissful skies.Here are cool mosses deep,And thro’ the moss the ivies creep,And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,And from the craggy ledge

the poppy hangs in sleep.

2 Deep in my Soul, Op. 53, No. 2George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron (1788–1824)

Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells, Lonely and lost to light for evermore, Save when to thine my heart responsive swells, Then trembles into silence as before.

There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp Burns the slow flame, eternal – but unseen; Which not the darkness of Despair can damp, Though vain its ray as it had never been.

3 O Wild West Wind!, Op. 53, No. 3Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)

O wild West Wind!Make me thy lyre, ev’n as the forest is:What if my leaves are falling like its own.The tumult of thy mighty harmoniesWill take from both a deep, autumnal tone,

Sweet tho’ in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe,Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth,And, by the incantation of this verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearthAshes and sparks, my words among mankind!Be through my lips to unawakened earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

4 Owls (An Epitaph), Op. 53, No. 4Edward Elgar

What is that? . . . Nothing;The leaves must fall, and falling, rustle;That is all;They are deadAs they fall, –Dead at the foot of the tree;All that can be is said.What is it? . . . Nothing.

What is that? . . . Nothing;A wild thing hurt but mourns in the night,And it criesIn its dread,Till it liesDead at the foot of the tree;All that can be is said.What is it? . . . Nothing.

What is that? . . . Ah!A marching slow of unseen feet,That is all:But a bier, spreadWith a pall,

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)Part-Songs

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Malvern, ahnte dies, als er ihr das Stück zum ersten Malvorspielte: „Mir war klar, dass er für diese Kantateeinen Schluss geschrieben hatte, der ... sein Publikummit einer Melodie entlassen würde, die nicht aus demOhr geht.“

Im Jahre 1902, als Elgar durch den Erfolg derEnigma Variations, von The Dream of Gerontius undder ersten beiden Märsche Pomp and Circumstance einenationale Größe geworden war, trat das MorecambeMusical Festival an ihn heran mit dem Auftrag, einStück für den Chorwettbewerb zu schreiben und alsJuror an dem Treffen teilzunehmen. Er schrieb WearyWind of the West für das Festival 1903 und zwei Jahrespäter Evening Scene #. Letzteres erlebte im Mai 1906seine Premiere und ist Robert Howson gewidmet, demDirigenten des Morecombe Choir, den Elgar als „diemusikalische Seele von Morecombe“ bezeichnete.Samuel Langford nannte es im Manchester Guardian„ein höchst originelles Stück, eine einzigartig getreueÜbertragung der schläfrig-verträumten Atmosphäre desAbends auf den Feldern mit seinen gedämpften Klängenin Musik“.

Im Spätjahr 1907 gingen die Elgars nach Rom, umdort den Winter zu verbringen. Edward versuchte sichan einer Symphonie, doch über Weihnachten schrieb erfünf seiner besten Part-Songs: The Reveille für Männer-stimmen und die vier Part-Songs op. 53 für gemischteStimmen. Es sind keine Auftragswerke – erstaunlich,dass er sie in jener Zeit schrieb. Vielleicht suchte erAbwechslung von der Orchesterkomposition. Für dieersten drei wählte er Text aus, für den vierten schrieb erselbst einen. Das erste Lied, There is Sweet Music 1, istCanon Charles Gorton gewidmet, Rektor von More-combe sowie Gründer und Präsident des dortigenFestivals. Elgar nannte es „das Beste, was ich gemachthabe“. Er beschreitet hier neue Wege, indem das Lied inzwei Tonarten gleichzeitig geschrieben ist: die Männer-stimmen in G und die Frauenstimmen in As. Es erwiessich als so schwierig, dass bei seiner Aufführung aufdem Morecombe Festival 1909 in der höchsten Klassestatt der sonst vielleicht zwanzig Chöre nur fünf teil-nahmen.

Das zweite Lied, Deep in my soul 2, ist eine tief

empfundene Vertonung von Worten Byrons. Da dasLied einer amerikanischen Dame, Julia Worthington,gewidmet ist – in Elgars Kreis als „Pippa“ bekannt –,haben manche eine tiefere Bedeutung in den Wortensehen wollen. Und zwar besonders deshalb, weil Mrs.Worthington als die „Seele“ des zwei Jahre später ent-standenen Violinkonzerts angesehen wurde. O wild WestWind 3 ist Dr. W. G. McNaught gewidmet, Doyen derWettbewerbsjuroren, die mit Elgar in Morecombegewirkt hatten. Obwohl mit dem bei Elgar gängigennobilmente bezeichnet, hat der Komponist hinzugefügt:„mit größter Lebhaftigkeit, jedoch ohne Eile“. Es istleidenschaftliche Musik, wie sie Worten geziemt, indenen der Poet den Wind anfleht, seine Bemühungen zuunterstützen, der Welt seine Botschaft zu bringen: „Bethrough my lips to unawakened earth / The trumpet of aprophecy“. Für Elgar, der in seine lang erwartete Sym-phonie vertieft war, müssen diese Worte ein spezifischeKraft gehabt haben. Das Schlusslied des Opus, Owls 4,ist das vielleicht seltsamste, das Elgar je vertont hat. Esist sehr chromatisch, und es gibt einige eigenartige Har-monien. Jaeger sagte, dass es sich der Analyse wider-setzt und dass er nichts kenne, „was diesem gleichkommt. Die Worte ... sind ebenso seltsam und vage wiedie Musik ... Es ist offen nihilistisch ... und die Musikverstärkt die Düsternis.“ Gleichwohl sei es „vollerGenie, wie alles, was Elgar gemacht hat“. Der Kompo-nist sagte zu Jaeger: „Es ist nur eine Fantasie & bedeutetnichts. Es ist offensichtlich in einem nächtlichen Wald& und das wiederholte ‚Nothing’ ist nicht mehr als eineulenartiger Ruf.“ Dennoch ist der Geist der Ver-zweiflung, den Jaeger herausgehört hat, vorhanden undlässt vermuten, das Elgars „Es ... bedeutet nichts“ derVersuch ist, etwas sehr Persönliches zu verbergen, daser nicht erklären wollte.

Im April 1909 weilten die Elgars wieder in Italien:in Careggi nahe Florenz in einer von Julia Worthingtongemieteten Villa. Hier komponierte er den sechs-stimmigen Part-Song Go, Song of Mine $, den manchefür seinen besten halten. Die Worte – die Übersetzungeines mittelalterlichen italienischen Gedichts durchRossetti – haben wiederum einen klaren autobiogra-phischen Beiklang: Das „Lied“ des Autors geht hinaus,

„um die Härte des menschlichen Herzens zu brechen“.In welchem Maße Elgar diese Worte auf sich selbstbezog, lässt sich nur spekulieren, immerhin lieferte er„eine große Vertonung“, wie er an Gorton schrieb. DiePremiere erfolgte auf dem Three Choirs Festival inHereford 1909 – schnell übernahmen es die wichtigenChorfestivals als ein weiteres exzellentes und an-spruchsvolles Wettbewerbsstück.

Diana McVeagh schrieb: „Von nun an [1907] sindElgars Chorlieder kunstvoll, verfeinert und großartig alsschierer Klang ... In der experimentierfreudigenVerwendung von Textur, Farbe und dem Wechselspielder Klänge sind diese Lieder bemerkenswert originell.“In der Contemporary Review schrieb Gerald Cum-berland 1911: „Die kreative Energie vieler europäischerKomponisten ist in Kanäle geleitet, wo sie am schnell-sten große Menschenmassen erreichen kann – sieerforscht die Möglichkeiten der menschlichen Stimmeund kreiert Musik, die stark experimentell ist in ihremBestreben, bislang ungeahnte Effekte in Klang-farbe,dramatischer Beschreibung und lyrischer Aus-drucks-kraft zu erreichen.“ Cumberland erwähnt Elgar,Bantock und Brian unter den englischen Komponistensowie Richard Strauss, Debussy und Sibelius auf demKontinent. Er hätte ebenso Sir Alexander CampbellMackenzie (1847–1935) nennen können, dessen Part-Songs op. 71 von 1911 leider vernachlässigt werden,und Schönberg, dessen höllisch schwieriges acht-stimmiges Friede auf Erden 1907 entstand, im selbenJahr wie Elgars op. 53.

1914 hatte sich Elgar formell vom Verlag Novellogetrennt, der trotzdem weiterhin bestrebt war, sovielGeld als möglich aus seinen Werken zu machen. Part-Songs waren finanziell einträglich, und so schrieb derFirmenvorstand Alfred Littleton: „Ich möchte keineweiteren Symphonien oder Konzerte von Elgar, doch binich bereit, soviel Part-Songs zu übernehmen, wie er nurproduzieren kann.“ In jenem Jahr „produzierte“ Elgarfünf weitere. Die zwei Part-Songs op. 71 auf Worte vonHenry Vaughan sind exquisit geschrieben – trügerisch inihrer vermeintlichen Einfachheit. In The Shower 7

setzen Alt und Tenor an einigen Stellen prasselndeSechzehntel gegen die Achtel der Melodie und vergegen-

wärtigen so die „Kette der Tropfen“ aus dem Titel. Daszweite Lied, The Fountain 8, bezieht sich auf die Stillein der Natur (“all the earth lay hush”). Doch dann: „Onlya little fountain lent some use for ears“. Die Klänge derNatur waren stets eine reiche Quelle für Elgar: Als Jungefand man ihn am Fluss Severn liegend bei dem Versuch,„die Klänge zu erfassen“, wie er viele Jahre späterschrieb. Das größte der Lieder von 1914 ist Death on theHills op. 72 0. Es handelt sich um die Übersetzungeiniger drastischer Worte des russischen DichtersApollon Nikolajewitsch Maikow (1821-1897) über denTod, der einem Dorf nachstellt, um Opfer zu finden. Inder zweiten Hälfte des Liedes singen die drei höherenStimmen „with a thin and somewhat veiled tone“ („mitdünnem und etwas verschleiertem Ton“) einigerepetitive Verse, welche die Dörfler repräsentieren,während der Bass die grässlichen Worte des Todesintoniert. Weitere Übersetzungen des Russen liegen op.73 zugrunde. Jeder Vers von Love’s Tempest ! beginntruhig und langsam, worauf ein plötzliches allegro confuoco zuerst einen Meeressturm und dann einen Tumultim Herzen des Dichters, hervorgerufen durch eingeistiges Bild seiner einzig Geliebten, repräsentiert. DasPendant, Serenade @, hat einen Refrain „Dream all toobrief, dreams without grief, once they are broken, comenot again“, der sehr gut zu einem Komponisten passt, dervon Träumen beherrscht und dessen labiles emotionalesGleichgewicht stets bedroht war.

Das Jahrzehnt nach Alice Elgars Tod 1920 brachtenur wenige neue Werke. Es gab jedoch eine Reihe vonPart-Songs, deren beste The Wanderer für Män-nerstimmen von 1923 und The Prince of Sleep 6 fürge-mischte Stimmen von 1925 sind, die DianaMcVeagh zutreffend als „schön und geheimnisvoll“beschrieb. Die träge Vertonung trifft meisterhaft dieSentimentalitäten der Worte. Die Metaphorik derTräume und die natürliche Welt – besonders dasWaldland – scheinen Elgar erneut inspiriert zu haben.Dieses vernachlässigte Lied hält jedem Vergleich mitden besten des Genres stand.

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Malvern, ahnte dies, als er ihr das Stück zum ersten Malvorspielte: „Mir war klar, dass er für diese Kantateeinen Schluss geschrieben hatte, der ... sein Publikummit einer Melodie entlassen würde, die nicht aus demOhr geht.“

Im Jahre 1902, als Elgar durch den Erfolg derEnigma Variations, von The Dream of Gerontius undder ersten beiden Märsche Pomp and Circumstance einenationale Größe geworden war, trat das MorecambeMusical Festival an ihn heran mit dem Auftrag, einStück für den Chorwettbewerb zu schreiben und alsJuror an dem Treffen teilzunehmen. Er schrieb WearyWind of the West für das Festival 1903 und zwei Jahrespäter Evening Scene #. Letzteres erlebte im Mai 1906seine Premiere und ist Robert Howson gewidmet, demDirigenten des Morecombe Choir, den Elgar als „diemusikalische Seele von Morecombe“ bezeichnete.Samuel Langford nannte es im Manchester Guardian„ein höchst originelles Stück, eine einzigartig getreueÜbertragung der schläfrig-verträumten Atmosphäre desAbends auf den Feldern mit seinen gedämpften Klängenin Musik“.

Im Spätjahr 1907 gingen die Elgars nach Rom, umdort den Winter zu verbringen. Edward versuchte sichan einer Symphonie, doch über Weihnachten schrieb erfünf seiner besten Part-Songs: The Reveille für Männer-stimmen und die vier Part-Songs op. 53 für gemischteStimmen. Es sind keine Auftragswerke – erstaunlich,dass er sie in jener Zeit schrieb. Vielleicht suchte erAbwechslung von der Orchesterkomposition. Für dieersten drei wählte er Text aus, für den vierten schrieb erselbst einen. Das erste Lied, There is Sweet Music 1, istCanon Charles Gorton gewidmet, Rektor von More-combe sowie Gründer und Präsident des dortigenFestivals. Elgar nannte es „das Beste, was ich gemachthabe“. Er beschreitet hier neue Wege, indem das Lied inzwei Tonarten gleichzeitig geschrieben ist: die Männer-stimmen in G und die Frauenstimmen in As. Es erwiessich als so schwierig, dass bei seiner Aufführung aufdem Morecombe Festival 1909 in der höchsten Klassestatt der sonst vielleicht zwanzig Chöre nur fünf teil-nahmen.

Das zweite Lied, Deep in my soul 2, ist eine tief

empfundene Vertonung von Worten Byrons. Da dasLied einer amerikanischen Dame, Julia Worthington,gewidmet ist – in Elgars Kreis als „Pippa“ bekannt –,haben manche eine tiefere Bedeutung in den Wortensehen wollen. Und zwar besonders deshalb, weil Mrs.Worthington als die „Seele“ des zwei Jahre später ent-standenen Violinkonzerts angesehen wurde. O wild WestWind 3 ist Dr. W. G. McNaught gewidmet, Doyen derWettbewerbsjuroren, die mit Elgar in Morecombegewirkt hatten. Obwohl mit dem bei Elgar gängigennobilmente bezeichnet, hat der Komponist hinzugefügt:„mit größter Lebhaftigkeit, jedoch ohne Eile“. Es istleidenschaftliche Musik, wie sie Worten geziemt, indenen der Poet den Wind anfleht, seine Bemühungen zuunterstützen, der Welt seine Botschaft zu bringen: „Bethrough my lips to unawakened earth / The trumpet of aprophecy“. Für Elgar, der in seine lang erwartete Sym-phonie vertieft war, müssen diese Worte ein spezifischeKraft gehabt haben. Das Schlusslied des Opus, Owls 4,ist das vielleicht seltsamste, das Elgar je vertont hat. Esist sehr chromatisch, und es gibt einige eigenartige Har-monien. Jaeger sagte, dass es sich der Analyse wider-setzt und dass er nichts kenne, „was diesem gleichkommt. Die Worte ... sind ebenso seltsam und vage wiedie Musik ... Es ist offen nihilistisch ... und die Musikverstärkt die Düsternis.“ Gleichwohl sei es „vollerGenie, wie alles, was Elgar gemacht hat“. Der Kompo-nist sagte zu Jaeger: „Es ist nur eine Fantasie & bedeutetnichts. Es ist offensichtlich in einem nächtlichen Wald& und das wiederholte ‚Nothing’ ist nicht mehr als eineulenartiger Ruf.“ Dennoch ist der Geist der Ver-zweiflung, den Jaeger herausgehört hat, vorhanden undlässt vermuten, das Elgars „Es ... bedeutet nichts“ derVersuch ist, etwas sehr Persönliches zu verbergen, daser nicht erklären wollte.

Im April 1909 weilten die Elgars wieder in Italien:in Careggi nahe Florenz in einer von Julia Worthingtongemieteten Villa. Hier komponierte er den sechs-stimmigen Part-Song Go, Song of Mine $, den manchefür seinen besten halten. Die Worte – die Übersetzungeines mittelalterlichen italienischen Gedichts durchRossetti – haben wiederum einen klaren autobiogra-phischen Beiklang: Das „Lied“ des Autors geht hinaus,

„um die Härte des menschlichen Herzens zu brechen“.In welchem Maße Elgar diese Worte auf sich selbstbezog, lässt sich nur spekulieren, immerhin lieferte er„eine große Vertonung“, wie er an Gorton schrieb. DiePremiere erfolgte auf dem Three Choirs Festival inHereford 1909 – schnell übernahmen es die wichtigenChorfestivals als ein weiteres exzellentes und an-spruchsvolles Wettbewerbsstück.

Diana McVeagh schrieb: „Von nun an [1907] sindElgars Chorlieder kunstvoll, verfeinert und großartig alsschierer Klang ... In der experimentierfreudigenVerwendung von Textur, Farbe und dem Wechselspielder Klänge sind diese Lieder bemerkenswert originell.“In der Contemporary Review schrieb Gerald Cum-berland 1911: „Die kreative Energie vieler europäischerKomponisten ist in Kanäle geleitet, wo sie am schnell-sten große Menschenmassen erreichen kann – sieerforscht die Möglichkeiten der menschlichen Stimmeund kreiert Musik, die stark experimentell ist in ihremBestreben, bislang ungeahnte Effekte in Klang-farbe,dramatischer Beschreibung und lyrischer Aus-drucks-kraft zu erreichen.“ Cumberland erwähnt Elgar,Bantock und Brian unter den englischen Komponistensowie Richard Strauss, Debussy und Sibelius auf demKontinent. Er hätte ebenso Sir Alexander CampbellMackenzie (1847–1935) nennen können, dessen Part-Songs op. 71 von 1911 leider vernachlässigt werden,und Schönberg, dessen höllisch schwieriges acht-stimmiges Friede auf Erden 1907 entstand, im selbenJahr wie Elgars op. 53.

1914 hatte sich Elgar formell vom Verlag Novellogetrennt, der trotzdem weiterhin bestrebt war, sovielGeld als möglich aus seinen Werken zu machen. Part-Songs waren finanziell einträglich, und so schrieb derFirmenvorstand Alfred Littleton: „Ich möchte keineweiteren Symphonien oder Konzerte von Elgar, doch binich bereit, soviel Part-Songs zu übernehmen, wie er nurproduzieren kann.“ In jenem Jahr „produzierte“ Elgarfünf weitere. Die zwei Part-Songs op. 71 auf Worte vonHenry Vaughan sind exquisit geschrieben – trügerisch inihrer vermeintlichen Einfachheit. In The Shower 7

setzen Alt und Tenor an einigen Stellen prasselndeSechzehntel gegen die Achtel der Melodie und vergegen-

wärtigen so die „Kette der Tropfen“ aus dem Titel. Daszweite Lied, The Fountain 8, bezieht sich auf die Stillein der Natur (“all the earth lay hush”). Doch dann: „Onlya little fountain lent some use for ears“. Die Klänge derNatur waren stets eine reiche Quelle für Elgar: Als Jungefand man ihn am Fluss Severn liegend bei dem Versuch,„die Klänge zu erfassen“, wie er viele Jahre späterschrieb. Das größte der Lieder von 1914 ist Death on theHills op. 72 0. Es handelt sich um die Übersetzungeiniger drastischer Worte des russischen DichtersApollon Nikolajewitsch Maikow (1821-1897) über denTod, der einem Dorf nachstellt, um Opfer zu finden. Inder zweiten Hälfte des Liedes singen die drei höherenStimmen „with a thin and somewhat veiled tone“ („mitdünnem und etwas verschleiertem Ton“) einigerepetitive Verse, welche die Dörfler repräsentieren,während der Bass die grässlichen Worte des Todesintoniert. Weitere Übersetzungen des Russen liegen op.73 zugrunde. Jeder Vers von Love’s Tempest ! beginntruhig und langsam, worauf ein plötzliches allegro confuoco zuerst einen Meeressturm und dann einen Tumultim Herzen des Dichters, hervorgerufen durch eingeistiges Bild seiner einzig Geliebten, repräsentiert. DasPendant, Serenade @, hat einen Refrain „Dream all toobrief, dreams without grief, once they are broken, comenot again“, der sehr gut zu einem Komponisten passt, dervon Träumen beherrscht und dessen labiles emotionalesGleichgewicht stets bedroht war.

Das Jahrzehnt nach Alice Elgars Tod 1920 brachtenur wenige neue Werke. Es gab jedoch eine Reihe vonPart-Songs, deren beste The Wanderer für Män-nerstimmen von 1923 und The Prince of Sleep 6 fürge-mischte Stimmen von 1925 sind, die DianaMcVeagh zutreffend als „schön und geheimnisvoll“beschrieb. Die träge Vertonung trifft meisterhaft dieSentimentalitäten der Worte. Die Metaphorik derTräume und die natürliche Welt – besonders dasWaldland – scheinen Elgar erneut inspiriert zu haben.Dieses vernachlässigte Lied hält jedem Vergleich mitden besten des Genres stand.

© 2008 Geoffrey HodgkinsDeutsche Fassung: Thomas Theise

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Eine der vielen und verschiedenartigen musikalischenErfahrungen, deren sich der junge Elgar in Worcestererfreute, war der Glee Club, der sich in den Winter-monaten allwöchentlich im Crown Hotel traf. Denmusikalischen Kern bildeten Laienangestellte derKathedrale; insgesamt hatte der Club rund hundertMitglieder. Einmal im Monat fand eine Instrumental-nacht statt, in der ein kleines Ensemble Arrangementsvon Ouvertüren und anderen kurzen Orchesterstückenspielte. Elgars Vater spielte Violine, und Edward selbstbegann in den späten 1860er Jahren mitzuspielen, als eretwa zwölf Jahre alt war. Er brachte es schließlich biszum Leiter der Gruppe und war auch deren Begleiter.Später sagte er einem Interviewer: „Es war eine erfreu-liche und künstlerische Versammlung, die Programmeentstammten vornehmlich den großartigen englischenKompositionen für Männerstimmen. Die jüngereGeneration schien gewöhnliche Part-Songs zu bevor-zugen ... und so änderte sich der Ton des Ganzen.“ Baldschon erschien Elgars Name auf den Programmen alsKomponist. Sein erster Biograph schrieb: „SeineKompositionen zeigten eine entschiedene Vielseitigkeit.Er schrieb für die Glee Party, für das Ensemble, für dieSolosänger, für alle und alles.“

Am 1. März 1881 führte der Club einen Part-Songvon Elgar auf: Why so pale and wan?, der nicht erhaltenist. Erst rund zwanzig Jahre später schrieb er einenweiteren – inzwischen hatte sich ein Markt für diesesGenre etabliert: die Chorwettbewerbs-Bewegung. Dieenorme Zahl von Chorgründungen ließ solche Wett-bewerbe populär werden, besonders im NordenEnglands. My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land 9 nachWorten von Andrew Lang erschien 1890 bei Novello.Damit begann Elgars Zusammenarbeit mit diesemVerlag, die nahezu seine gesamten kreativen Jahreumspannt. Später sagte er seinem Freund Jaeger – dem„Nimrod“ der Enigma Variations: „... man hielt es fürkrude und ungeeignet für die Stimmen, geschriebenohne Kenntnis der Möglichkeiten der menschlichenStimme ...“. Michael Hurd kam der Sache gewiss näher,

wenn er das Stück beschreibt als „prachtvoll undgroßartig – als sei Parry [gemeint ist der Komponist SirHubert Parry (1848–1918)] plötzlich befreit von allervornehmen Zurückhaltung“. Es handelt sich um ein beiSängern beliebtes Chorstück, das schlicht vierstimmigbeginnt. Im dritten Vers teilt Elgar die Männerstimmen:Die Melodie wird den Sopranen und ersten Tenörenübertragen, während der Rest des Chores die Worte aufein wiederholtes rhythmisches Motiv singt. DiesesGestaltungsmittel verwendet Elgar später auch in Deathon the Hills 0 und Serenade @. Vielfach wurdehervorgehoben, dass sich Elgars musikalisches Denkenstets in orchestralen Kategorien vollzog – in seinenbesten Part-Songs erreichte er Klangfülle dadurch, dasser für mehr als die üblichen vier Stimmen schrieb.

In den 1890er Jahren verbrachten die Elgarsmehrere Ferien in Bayern: Elgar liebte die Landschaft,die entspannte Atmosphäre und die Tatsache, dass derKatholizismus die vorherrschende Konfession war.Besonders angetan waren sie von den Schuhplattler-Tänzen; 1895 schrieb Elgar eine Suite aus sechs„Chorliedern“ auf Worte seiner Frau, die den Geistdieser Tänze einzufangen versuchen. Das Werk erhieltden Titel Scene from the Bavarian Highlands %-). Eswurde später orchestriert, darüber hinaus arrangierte derKomponist drei der Lieder zur Orchestersuite ThreeBavarian Dances. Seine Liebe zu Bayern wird offen-kundig in der freudigen Ausgelassenheit des Werkes,besonders der Außensätze. Fünf der Sätze sind im Drei-ertakt, und nur einer, False Love ^, hat einen traurigenTon. Der harmonische Gewicht ist häufig in dieBegleitung gelegt, besonders beim berühmten Lullaby& und im Schlusssatz The Marksmen ).

Das folgende Jahr 1896 war für Elgar ein beson-deres – zwei Chorwerke erlebten ihre erfolgreiche Pre-miere: The Light of Life auf dem Worcester Festival undKing Olaf auf dem North Staffordshire Festival. In denEpilog des letzteren ist ein Part-Song integriert, AsTorrents in Summer 5, der zu Elgars bekanntestemWerk in diesem Genre wurde. Rosa Burley, Lehrerin in

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)Chorlieder

FOUR CHORAL SONGS, OP. 53

1 There is Sweet Music, Op. 53, No. 1Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92)

There is sweet music here that softer fallsThan petals from blown roses on the grass,Or night-dews on still waters between wallsOf shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,Than tir’d eyelids upon tir’d eyes;Music that brings sweet sleep down

from the blissful skies.Here are cool mosses deep,And thro’ the moss the ivies creep,And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,And from the craggy ledge

the poppy hangs in sleep.

2 Deep in my Soul, Op. 53, No. 2George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron (1788–1824)

Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells, Lonely and lost to light for evermore, Save when to thine my heart responsive swells, Then trembles into silence as before.

There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp Burns the slow flame, eternal – but unseen; Which not the darkness of Despair can damp, Though vain its ray as it had never been.

3 O Wild West Wind!, Op. 53, No. 3Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)

O wild West Wind!Make me thy lyre, ev’n as the forest is:What if my leaves are falling like its own.The tumult of thy mighty harmoniesWill take from both a deep, autumnal tone,

Sweet tho’ in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe,Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth,And, by the incantation of this verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearthAshes and sparks, my words among mankind!Be through my lips to unawakened earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

4 Owls (An Epitaph), Op. 53, No. 4Edward Elgar

What is that? . . . Nothing;The leaves must fall, and falling, rustle;That is all;They are deadAs they fall, –Dead at the foot of the tree;All that can be is said.What is it? . . . Nothing.

What is that? . . . Nothing;A wild thing hurt but mourns in the night,And it criesIn its dread,Till it liesDead at the foot of the tree;All that can be is said.What is it? . . . Nothing.

What is that? . . . Ah!A marching slow of unseen feet,That is all:But a bier, spreadWith a pall,

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)Part-Songs

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Iain FarringtonIain Farrington has an exceptionally busy and diverse career as a pianist, organist,composer, and arranger. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and atCambridge University. He has also participated in master-classes with MalcolmMartineau at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh. As a solo pianist, accompanist,chamber musician and organist, he has performed at all the major United Kingdomvenues, including the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, the Proms 2005 and 2004, theRoyal Opera House, the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, andBirmingham Symphony Hall. Abroad, he has given concerts in Japan, South Africa,Jordan, Malaysia, Iceland, and all across Europe. He works with many of the country’sleading musicians, including John Mark Ainsley, Lesley Garrett, the Royal Ballet, SirSimon Rattle, and Sir Colin Davis. He regularly gives broadcasts on BBC Radio Threewith the BBC Singers. Iain Farrington was Organ Scholar at St John’s College, CambridgeUniversity, and with the College Choir he toured extensively, and recorded four CDs onthe Naxos and Nimbus labels. He was also Organ Scholar at St George’s Chapel, WindsorCastle, where he played for numerous Royal occasions. He is also a prolific composer and arranger; his solo pianoarrangement of Elgar/Payne Symphony No. 3 is published by Boosey and Hawkes, and his transcription of Elgar’sFive Piano Improvisations is published by Novello. As a composer, his works have been performed in New Zealand,Canada, Sweden, France, Germany and recorded on the Hyperion label.

Christopher RobinsonChristopher Robinson was educated at Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford, wherehe was Organ Scholar. After a period as Organist and Master of the Choristers atWorcester Cathedral, where he was also conductor of several Three ChoirsFestivals, Christopher Robinson moved to St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle,where he was Organist and Choirmaster until 1991. He was conductor of theOxford Bach Choir from 1976 to 1997 and of the City of Birmingham Choir from1964 to 2002. He recently retired from the prestigious post of Organist andDirector of Music at St John’s College, Cambridge, a choir with an internationalreputation for excellence. He holds honorary degrees from BirminghamUniversity and the University of Central England and is an honorary member ofthe Royal Academy of Music. He has been Chairman of the Elgar Society andPresident of the Royal College of Organists. In 1992 the Queen bestowed on himthe honour of Commander of the Victorian Order for his services at WindsorCastle, and in the summer of 2002, the Archbishop of Canterbury made him aLambeth DMus. He became an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of ChurchMusicians in Autumn 2003 and received a CBE in the 2004 New Year’s HonoursList.

Is now at the foot of the tree;All that could be is said;Is it . . . what? . . . Nothing.

5 As Torrents in Summer, from Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, Op. 30Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82)

As torrents in summer,Half dried in their channels,Suddenly rise, tho’ theSky is still cloudless,For rain has been fallingFar off at their fountains;

So hearts that are faintingGrow full to o’erflowing,And they that behold itMarvel, and know notThat God at their fountainsFar off has been raining!

6 The Prince of Sleep (1925)Walter de la Mare (1873–1956)

I met at eve the Prince of Sleep,His was a still and lovely face;He wander’d through a valley steep,Lovely in a lonely place.

His garb was grey of lavender,About his head a poppy wreathBurned like dim coals, and everywhereThe air was sweeter for his breath.

His twilight feet no sandals wore,His eyes shone faint in their own flame,Fair moths that gloomed his steps beforeSeemed letters of his lovely name.

His house is in the mountain ways,A phantom house of misty walls,Whose golden flocks at evening graze,And witch the moon with muffled calls.Upwelling from his shadowy springsSweet waters shake a trembling sound,There flit the hoot-owl’s silent wings,There hath his web the silkworm wound.

Dark in his pools clear visions lurk,And rosy, as with morning buds,Along his dales of broom and birkDreams haunt his solitary woods.

TWO CHORAL SONGS, OP. 71

7 The Shower, Op. 71, No. 1Henry Vaughan (1622–95)

Cloud, if as thou dost melt, and with thy trainOf drops make soft the earth, my eyes could weepO’er my hard heart, that’s bound up and asleep;Perhaps at last,Some such showers past,My God would give a sunshine after rain.

8 The Fountain, Op. 71, No. 2Henry VaughanThe unthrift sun shot vital gold,A thousand, thousand pieces;And heav’n its azure did unfoldChequer’d with snowy fleeces;The air was all in spice,And ev’ry bushA garland wore:Thus fed my eyes,But all the earth lay hush.Only a little fountain lentSome use for ears,And on the dumb shades language spentThe music of her tears.

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Cambridge University Chamber Choir Cambridge University Chamber Choir was founded in its current form in 1986 by Timothy Brown, and is nowdirected by David Lowe and Daniel Hyde. Its members are drawn from the graduate and undergraduate communitiesof the University. The chief purpose of the choir is to explore the secular and non-liturgical choral repertoire that isoften untouched by College Chapel Choirs. The Chamber Choir works frequently with professional soloists andinstrumental ensembles; performances have been undertaken with orchestras such as the Academy of AncientMusic, the King’s Consort, His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts, London Sinfonietta, and City of London Sinfonia.The choir has broadcast on Radio 3 and has made a number of recordings. In November 2006 the Choir performedMozart’s Requiem under Timothy Brown in a sell-out concert as part of the Cambridge Music Festival, and inJanuary 2007 the choir performed Bach’s Mass in B minor in King’s College Chapel, under the direction of DanielHyde. In May 2007 the Choir gave a concert which included many of the Part-Songs recorded on this CD, conductedby Christopher Robinson CBE.

SOPRANOAmy DaldorphKatherine HambridgeElizabeth HeighwayCerian HollandMegan Housley Emilia HughesClare LloydGina OwensTessie PrakasEmma Walshe

ALTORachel BeaumontCathy BellFrances BurnElisabeth FlemingLucy GoddardChristopher LowreyKate Symonds-JoyLeo Tomita

TENORGerald BeattyAlastair BennettRhys BowdenPierre DechantJonathan LangridgePeter Morton

BASSEdward BallardThomas FaulknerMatthew FlinnCharley HendersonTom KeenChris Law Benjamin Lewis Jonathan MidgleyTimothy ScottGreg Swinford

9 My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land,Op. 18, No. 3Andrew Lang (1844–1912)My love dwelt in a Northern land.A dim tower in a forest greenWas his, and far away the sandAnd gray wash of the waves were seenThe woven forest-boughs between:And through the Northern summer nightThe sunset slowly died away,And herds of strange deer, silver-white,Came gleaming through the forest gray,And fled like ghosts before the day.

And oft, that month, we watch’d the moonWax great and white o’er wood and lawn,And wane, with waning of the June,Till, like a brand for battle drawn,She fell and flamed in a wild dawn.

I know not if the forest greenStill girdles round that castle gray,I know not if the boughs betweenThe white deer vanish ere the day:The grass above my love is green,His heart is colder than the clay.

0 Death on the Hills, Op. 72Rosa Newmarch (1857–1940) adapted from a Russian text by Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov (1821–97)

Why o’er the dark’ning hill-slopesDo dusky shadows creep?Because the wind blows keenly there,Or rainstorms lash and leap?

No wind blows chill upon them,Nor are they lash’d by rain:’Tis Death who rides across the hillsWith all his shadowy train.

The old bring up the cortège,In front the young folk ride,And on Death’s saddle in a rowThe babes sit side by side.

The young folk lift their voices,The old folk plead with Death:“O let us take the village-road,Or by the brook draw breath.“There let the old drink water,There let the young folk play,And let the little childrenRun and pluck the blossoms gay”.

“I must not pass the villageNor halt beside the rill,For there the wives and mothers allTheir buckets take to fill.

“The wife might see her husband,The mother see her son;So close they’d cling – their claspingsCould never be undone”.

TWO CHORAL SONGS, OP. 73

! Love’s Tempest, Op. 73, No. 1Rosa Newmarch adapted from a Russian text by Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov

Silent lay the sapphire ocean,Till a tempest came to wakeAll its roaring, seething billowsThat upon earth’s ramparts break.

Quiet was my heart within me,Till your image, suddenlyRising there, awoke a tumult,Wilder than the storm at sea.

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said: “The creative energy of many Europeancomposers is being directed into channels where it maymost quickly reach large masses of the people – that isto say, it is exploring the possibilities of the humanvoice and creating music which is largely experimentalin its attempt to arrive at hitherto undreamt-of effects intone colour, dramatic description and lyricalexpressiveness”. Cumberland mentions Elgar, Bantock,and Brian among English composers, and RichardStrauss, Debussy, and Sibelius in Europe. He couldhave also added Mackenzie, whose Op. 71 part-songsof 1911 are sadly neglected, and Schoenberg, whosefiendishly difficult eight-part Friede auf Erden datesfrom 1907, the same year as Elgar’s Opus 53 set.

By 1914 Elgar had formally split from Novello,who nevertheless were still anxious to make moneyfrom his works where they could. They knew that part-songs were financially rewarding, and the firm’schairman, Alfred Littleton, wrote to the secretary: “Idon’t want any more Elgar symphonies or concertos,but am ready to take as many part-songs as he canproduce”. That year the composer “produced” fivemore. The two Op. 71 songs, to words by HenryVaughan, are exquisitely written, deceptive in their(relative) simplicity. In The Shower 7, the altos andtenors have pattering semiquavers against the tune’squavers in a couple of places, suggesting the “train ofdrops” of the title. The second song, The Fountain 8,refers to a stillness in nature (“all the earth lay hush”);but then, “Only a little fountain lent some use for ears”.The music of nature was always a potent force forElgar: as a boy he had been found lying by the RiverSevern, “trying to fix the sounds”, as he wrote manyyears later. The largest of these 1914 songs is Op. 72,

Death on the Hills 0, a translation of some grim wordsby the Russian poet Maikov, concerning Death stalkinga village looking for victims. In the second half of thesong, the three upper parts sing “with a thin andsomewhat veiled tone” some repetitive linesrepresenting the villagers, while beneath them thebasses intone Death’s grisly words. More translationsfrom the Russian make up Op. 73. Each verse of Love’sTempest ! begins quietly and slowly before a greatoutburst allegro con fuoco, representing first a storm atsea, and then a “tumult” in the poet’s heart created by amental image of his loved one. The song’s companion,Serenade @, has a repeated refrain, “Dreams all toobrief, dreams without grief, once they are broken, comenot again”; ideal for a composer preoccupied withdreams, and whose precarious emotional equilibriumwas being constantly threatened.

The decade after Alice Elgar’s death in 1920 sawfew new works from Elgar, although there were anumber of part-songs, the best of them being TheWanderer (1923) for men’s voices, and the mixed-voice part-song The Prince of Sleep 6, from 1925,which Diana McVeagh has rightly described as“beautiful and mysterious”. The languid settingcaptures masterfully the Lethean sentiments of thewords; imagery of dreams and the natural world(especially woodland) again seemed to inspire Elgar,and this neglected song can stand comparison with hisfinest in the genre. The closing words of de la Mare’spoem strike once more an autobiographical note: “Androsy, as with morning buds, Along his dales of broomand birk [birch] Dreams haunt his solitary woods”.

© 2008 Geoffrey Hodgkins

@ Serenade, Op. 73, No. 2Rosa Newmarch adapted from a Russian text by Apollon Nikolayevich Maikov

Dreams all too brief,Dreams without grief,Once they are broken, come not again.

Across the sky the dark clouds sweep,And all is dark and drear above;The bare trees toss their arms and weep,Rest on, and do not wake, dear Love.Since glad dreams haunt your slumbers deep,Why should you scatter them in vain?

Happy is he, when Autumn falls,Who feels the dream-kiss of the Spring;And happy he in prison wallsWho dreams of freedom’s rescuing;

But woe to him who vainly callsThrough sleepless nights for ease from pain!

# Evening Scene (1905)Coventry Patmore (1823–96), from The River

The sheep-bell tolleth curfew-time;The gnats, a busy rout,Fleck the warm air; the dismal owlShouteth a sleepy shout;The voiceless bat, more felt than seen,Is flitting round about.

The aspen leaflets scarcely stir:The river seems to think:Athwart the dusk, broad primrosesLook coldly from the brink,Where, list’ning to the freshet’s noise,The quiet cattle drink.

The bees boom past, the white moths riseLike spirits from the ground;The gray flies hum their weary tune,A distant, dream-like sound;And far, far off to the slumb’rous eve,Bayeth an old guard-hound.

$ Go, Song of Mine, Op. 57Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–82) adapted from an Italian text by Guido Cavalcanti (c. 1250–1300)

Dishevell’d and in tears, go, song of mine,To break the hardness of the heart of man:Say how his life beganFrom dust, and in that dust doth sink supine:Yet, say, the unerring spirit of grief shall guideHis soul, being purified,To seek its Maker at the heav’nly shrine.

SCENES FROM THE BAVARIAN HIGHLANDS, OP. 27From Bavarian Volkslieder & Schnadahüpfleradapted by Caroline Alice Elgar (1848–1920)

% The DanceCome and hasten to the dancing,Merry eyes will soon be glancing,Ha! my heart upbounds!Come and dance a merry measureQuaff the bright brown ale, my treasure,Hark! what joyous sounds!

Sweet-heart come, on let us haste,On, on, no time let us waste,With my heart I love thee!Dance, dance, for rest we disdain,Turn, twirl and spin round again,With my arm I hold thee!

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Variations, The Dream of Gerontius and the first twoPomp and Circumstance marches, he was approachedby the Morecambe Musical Festival to write a test pieceand attend the meeting as an adjudicator. He wroteWeary Wind of the West for the 1903 festival and twoyears later followed it with Evening Scene #. This hadits première in May 1906 and was dedicated to RobertHowson, conductor of the Morecambe Choir, whomElgar described as “the musical soul of the Morecambeaffair”. Samuel Langford in The Manchester Guardiancalled it “. . . a highly original bit of writing, asingularly faithful translation into tone of the drowsy,dreamy atmosphere of evening in the fields and itssubdued sounds”.

In late 1907 the Elgars went to Rome for thewinter. Edward was trying to write a symphony, butover the Christmas period he wrote five of his finestpart-songs – The Reveille for men’s voices, and the fourmixed-voice part-songs Opus 53. These were notcommissions and it is strange that he wrote them at thistime: maybe he wanted a change from writing for theorchestra. He selected the words to the first three, andwrote the fourth himself. The first song, There is SweetMusic 1, is dedicated to Canon Charles Gorton, Rectorof Morecambe and founder and President of the festivalthere. Elgar called it “. . . a clinker and the best I havedone”. It broke new ground by being written in twokeys at once, the tenor and bass parts in G, the sopranoand alto in A flat. Its difficulty meant that when it wasperformed in the highest class at the 1909 MorecambeFestival, only five choirs entered (instead of the usualtwenty or so).

The second song, Deep in my soul 2, is a heartfeltsetting of words by Byron; and as the song is dedicatedto an American lady, Julia Worthington, known as‘Pippa’ to Elgar’s circle, some have sought for a deepermeaning in the words, especially as Mrs Worthingtonhas been suggested as the ‘soul’ “enshrined” in theViolin Concerto, written two years later. O Wild WestWind 3 is dedicated to Dr W. G. McNaught, doyen ofcompetition adjudicators, who had served with Elgar atMorecambe. Though marked with the familiar Elgarian

nobilmente, the composer added the note “with thegreatest animation but without hurry”. It is impassionedmusic, as befits words in which the poet begs the windto inspire his efforts in order to bring his message to theworld: “Be through my lips to unawakened earth/ Thetrumpet of a prophecy”. For Elgar, deep into writing hislong-awaited symphony, the words must have had aparticular potency. The final song of the opus, Owls 4,is probably the strangest that Elgar ever set. It is verychromatic and there are some weird harmonies. Jaegersaid that it baffled analysis and he knew “. . . nothinglike it. The words . . . are as strange and vague as themusic . . . It is frankly nihilistic . . . and the musicdeepens the gloom”. However he found it “as full ofgenius as anything Elgar has done”. The composer hadtold Jaeger: “It is only a fantasy and means nothing. Itis in [a] wood at night evidently and the recurring‘Nothing’ is only an owlish sound”. The sense ofdespair heard by Jaeger is surely correct, however, andmakes one imagine that Elgar’s “It . . . means nothing”is an attempt to cover up something deeply personalwhich he was unwilling to explain.

In April 1909 the Elgars were in Italy again,staying at Careggi near Florence in a villa rented byJulia Worthington. Here he composed what is felt bymany to be his greatest part-song, Go, Song of Mine $,written in six parts. The words, a translation by Rossettiof a medieval Italian poem, again have a distinctlyautobiographical ring: the author’s “song” is sent out“to break the hardness of the heart of man”. To whatextent Elgar applied them to himself we can onlyspeculate, but he certainly gave it “a big setting”, as hewrote to Gorton. It had its première at the 1909 ThreeChoirs Festival at Hereford, and was soon taken up bythe major competition festivals as another excellent andtaxing test piece.

Diana McVeagh has written: “From now on[1907], Elgar’s choral songs are elaborate, expansive,and gorgeous as sheer sound . . . In the adventurous useof texture, colour and interplay of sonorities thesesongs are markedly original”. Writing in theContemporary Review in 1911 Gerald Cumberland

Down the path the lights are gleaming,Friendly faces gladly beaming,Welcome us with song.Dancing makes the heart grow lighter,Makes the world and life grow brighterAs we dance along!

^ False LoveNow we hear the Spring’s sweet voiceSinging gladly through the world;Bidding all the earth rejoice.

All is merry in the field,Flowers grow amidst the grass,Blossoms blue, red, white they yield.

As I seek my maiden true,Sings the little lark on highFain to send her praises due.As I climb and reach her door,Ah! I see a rival there,So farewell for evermore!

Ever true was I to thee,Never grieved or vexed thee, love,False, oh! false, art thou to me.

Now amid the forest green,Far from cruel eyes that mockWill I dwell unloved, unseen.

& LullabySleep, my son, oh! slumber softly,While thy mother watches o’er thee,Nothing can affright or harm theeSleep, oh! sleep, my son.

Far-awayZithers play,Dancing gayCalls to-day.

Vainly playZithers gay!Here I stayAll the day.HappilyGuarding thee,PeacefullyWatching thee.

Sleep, my son, oh! slumber softly,While thy mother watches o’er thee,Sleep, oh! sleep, my son.

* AspirationOver the heights the snow lies deep,Sunk is the land in peaceful sleep;Here by the house of God we pray,Lead, Lord, our souls today.

Shielding, like the silent snow,Fall His mercies here below.

Calmly then, like the snow-bound land,Rest we in His protecting hand;Bowing, we wait His mighty will:Lead, Lord, and guide us still.

( On the AlmA mellow bell peals near,It has so sweet a sound;I know a maiden dearWith voice as full and round.

A sunlit alm shines clear,With clover blossoms sweet;There dwells my maiden dear,And there my love I meet.

There flying with no fearThe swallows pass all day;And fast, my maiden dear,Sees chamois haste away.

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One of the many and varied musical experiences theyoung Elgar enjoyed in Worcester was the Glee Clubwhich met weekly at the Crown Hotel during the wintermonths. Its musical core was made up of the Cathedrallay clerks, and the total membership was around ahundred. Once a month there was an instrumental night,when a small band played arrangements of overtures andother short orchestral pieces. Elgar’s father played theviolin and Edward himself joined in the late 1860s whenhe was about twelve years old. He progressed tobecoming leader of the band, and also its accompanist,later telling an interviewer: “It was an enjoyable andartistic gathering, and the programmes were principallydrawn from the splendid English compositions formen’s voices. The younger generation seemed to preferordinary part-songs, . . . and the tone of the thingchanged”. Elgar’s name soon appeared on theprogramme as a composer: his first biographer R. J.Buckley wrote: “His compositions showed a decidedversatility. He wrote for the glee party, for the band, forthe solo singers, for anything and everything . . .”

On 1st March 1881 the Club performed a part-songby Elgar: Why so pale and wan? It has not survived, andit was almost twenty years before he wrote another, bywhich time a ready market for such pieces wasestablished: the competition festival movement. Theenormous growth in the number of choirs led to thepopularity of these contests, particularly in the north ofEngland. My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land 9, towords by Andrew Lang, was published by Novello in1890, thus beginning a relationship with the publisherswhich spanned Elgar’s most creative years. He later toldhis friend Jaeger – the ‘Nimrod’ of the EnigmaVariations – that when the song first appeared: “. . . itwas said to be crude, ill-written for the voices, laid outwithout knowledge of the capabilities of the humanvoice!!” Michael Hurd was surely nearer the mark whenhe described it as “. . . magnificently grand andpassionate – as if a Parry had suddenly been releasedfrom gentlemanly reticence”. It is a fine song, much

loved by singers, beginning simply in four parts. In thethird verse, however, Elgar divides the men’s parts, andthe melody is given to the sopranos and first tenors,while the rest of the choir sing the words to a repetitive,rhythmic motif – an accompanimental device whichElgar later used in Death on the Hills 0 and Serenade@. The point has often been made that Elgar’s musicalthinking was always in orchestral terms, and in hisgreatest songs he loved to fill out the sound by writingfor more than the usual four parts.

During the 1890s the Elgars enjoyed severalholidays in Bavaria: Edward loved the countryside, therelaxed atmosphere, and the fact that Catholicism wasthe predominant religion. They were particularly fond ofthe local Schuhplattler dancing, and in 1895 Elgar wrotea suite of six ‘choral songs’ to his wife’s words, whichtried to imitate the spirit of these dances. The work wasentitled Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands %-). Itwas later orchestrated, and Elgar also arranged three ofthe songs as the orchestral suite Three Bavarian Dances.His love of Bavaria is evident in the joyful exuberanceof the work, particularly the outer movements. Five ofthe movements are in triple time, and only one, FalseLove ^, strikes a sad note. The harmonic interest isoften in the accompaniment, especially in the famousLullaby &, and in the final movement, The Marksmen).

The following year, 1896, was a significant one forElgar with the successful premières of two choral works:The Light of Life at the Worcester Festival, and KingOlaf at the North Staffordshire Festival. Included in theEpilogue of the latter work was an unaccompanied part-song, As Torrents in Summer 5, which has become thecomposer’s best known work in this genre, as RosaBurley, the Malvern schoolmistress realised when hefirst played it to her: “I knew that he had written anending to his cantata which . . . would send his audienceaway with a memorable tune ringing in their ears”.

In 1902, by which time Elgar was becoming anational figure through the success of the Enigma

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)Part-Songs

I cannot linger here,I cannot wait below;To seek my maiden dear,I, to the alm must go.The mountain’s call I hearAnd up the height I bound;I know my maiden dearWill mark my Juchhé sound.

Rejoicing come I hereMy flaxen-haired sweet-heart;I love thee, maiden dear,Nay! bid me not depart!

) The MarksmenCome from the mountain side,Come from the valleys wide,See, how we muster strong,Tramping along!

Rifle on shoulder sling,Powder and bullets bring,Manly in mind and heart,Play we our part.

Sure be each eye today,Steady each hand must stayIf in the trial weVictors would be!

Sharp is the crack! ’tis done!Lost is the chance, or won;Right in the gold is it?Huzza! the hit!

The sun will sink and light the westAnd touch the peaks with crimson glow;Then shadows fill the vale with restWhile stars look peace on all below.

In triumph then we take our way,And with our prizes homeward wend;Through meadows sweet with new-mown hay,A song exultant will we send.

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8.570541 16

Also available

8.557288

English Choral Music

ELGARPart-Songs

My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land • Evening SceneThe Shower • The Fountain • Death on the Hills

Cambridge University Chamber ChoirChristopher Robinson

DDD8.570541

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Playing Time75:42

When Elgar’s popular part-song My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land was published in 1890,a ready market for such pieces had been established by the competition festival movement,itself fuelled by the enormous growth in the number of choirs. This wide-ranging selectionfeatures several of Elgar’s finest songs, including his best-known work in the genre AsTorrents in Summer, which boasts a memorable tune, the highly original and chromaticOwls, probably the strangest that Elgar ever set, and the ambitious and bitonal There isSweet Music which the composer himself described as ‘a clinker, and the best I have done’.

Edward

ELGAR(1857–1934)

Part-Songs

Recorded in Jesus College Chapel, Cambridge, UK, from 29th to 30th July, 2007Producer: John Rutter • Booklet Notes: Geoffrey Hodgkins

A more detailed track list may be found with the sung texts on pages 10-15Cover Picture: Backlit Tree (Dreamstime)

1 There is Sweet Music, Op. 53 4:452 Deep in my Soul 4:073 O Wild West Wind 3:304 Owls (An Epitaph) 3:175 As Torrents in Summer 2:186 The Prince of Sleep 4:557 The Shower 2:398 The Fountain 3:369 My Love Dwelt in a 4:31

Northern Land0 Death on the Hills 4:07

! Love’s Tempest 3:01@ Serenade 2:03# Evening Scene 3:33$ Go, Song of Mine 4:56

Scenes from the Bavarian 24:23Highlands

% The Dance 4:03^ False Love 3:55& Lullaby 3:33* Aspiration 3:02( On the Alm 3:44) The Marksmen 6:06

Cambridge University Chamber ChoirIain Farrington, PianoChristopher Robinson

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