issue one - Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Sir Edward Elgar
b. Broadheath, England / June 2, 1857
d. Worcester, England / February 23, 1934
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85
Several musical movements sprang up
or came to full flood in the wake of the
First World War. Elgar represented those
composers who longed for the comfortable
optimism of the past, but sensed that the
horrific conflict which had engulfed Europe
for the preceding four years had banished
it forever. He gave voice to his world’s
saddening, to its growing inwardness and
pessimism. In the warm, noble voice of
the cello, he found the perfect medium to
express his brooding, nostalgic emotions.
He composed the Cello Concerto, his final
instrumental masterwork, at his home in the
rural county of Sussex. The premiere took
place in London on October 27, 1919. Elgar
himself conducted, and Felix Salmond – the
performer who had given him technical
advice on it, and to whom it is dedicated –
played the solo part.
It is a restrained piece, at least in comparison
with the more outgoing virtuoso concertos
of the nineteenth century. After a brief
introduction, the first movement is founded
on two themes, both melancholy in character.
The scherzo-like second movement follows
without a pause. For all its brilliance, it is
far from carefree. The succeeding section
is an interlude of searching meditation. The
concerto then concludes with an energetic, if
hardly exuberant, final rondo. A heartfelt coda
recalls earlier material, before the concerto
ends with a final statement of the rondo’s
main subject.
Antonín Dvořák
b. Nelahozeves, Bohemia / September 8, 1841
d. Prague, Bohemia / May 1, 1904
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
For Dvořák, music’s primary function was to
praise the many aspects of life which gave
him joy. As he put it in a letter he wrote to a
friend during the composition of his Seventh
Symphony, “Today I have just finished the
second movement of my new symphony, and
am again as happy and contented in my work
as I always have been and, God grant, may
always be, for my slogan is and always shall
be: God, love and country! And that alone can
lead to a happy goal.”
By the mid-1880s, the Slavonic Dances and
other works inspired by the folk music of
his native country had won him a following
throughout Europe. A token of this renown
came in June 1884, when the Philharmonic
Society of London bestowed an honorary
membership upon him. In return, he agreed to
write them a new symphony.
He decided to take the opportunity to satisfy a
goal which had been occupying his thoughts
for some time: a desire to expand his creative
range. This wish sprang from his realization
that the folkbased style he had been
cultivating had its limitations. In order to win
recognition as a great composer, regardless
of origin, he knew he would have to write
music which, like the works of his friend and
mentor, Brahms, communicated universal
sentiments through international musical
language.
He completed Symphony No. 7 on March
17, 1885. He traveled to London to conduct
the first performance, and to accept his
Philharmonic membership. Emotionally
powerful and richly scored, the symphony is a
work of which any composer might be proud.
The folk-like elements which play such an
important role in much of his output are here
displayed less prominently.
After the emotional tempests of the opening
movement, the second begins in a mood
of tranquil reverie. Solace proves elusive,
however. Troubling emotions intrude upon
this idyll at regular intervals. The scherzo is
driven by bracing dance rhythms, but here it
wears what is for Dvořák an unusually stern
expression. The dark mood in which the finale
opens recalls the first movement. After much
dramatic energy is expended, it eventually
ends on a note of triumph, one snatched at
the last possible moment from the jaws of
defeat. ■
Programme Notes © 2010 Don Anderson
allegro 17