The words for Elgar's songs "The Torch" and "The River" are supposedly by Pietro d'Alba (his daughter's pet rabbit Peter) but are actually by Elgar himself.
Composition History
Elgar's song "The Wind at Dawn" (1888), his first setting of words by his future wife Caroline Alice Roberts, won him £5 in a competition.
Compositional Technique
Elgar created an enigma around "The Torch" and "The River" by claiming they were based on 'East European Folk Songs' and appending 'Leyrisch-Turasp 1909' as the place of composition, though no such place exists.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Elgar, a widely-read composer, believed first-rate poetry needed no help from music, while second-rate verse could be enhanced by it.
Historical Context
Elgar's incidental music for Grania and Diarmid was composed for a play by Irish writers George Moore and William Butler Yeats, based on a Celtic legend.
Composer Biography
Elgar was ambivalent about the piano but a master of the orchestra, which is why his song-cycle Sea Pictures (1899) is his most-loved example in this genre.
Performer Biography
Barry Collett, the pianist on the bonus disc, founded the Rutland Sinfonia in 1975 and conducted all of Elgar's orchestral music during his 26 years as Musical Director.
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