IDAGIO | Elgar: Violin Concerto - Interlude from The Crown of India

Featuring

Sir Andrew Davis
Tasmin Little
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Edward Elgar

Did you know?

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Recording & Production

Early acoustic recording technology had a small aural and dynamic range, with male voices reproducing better than female voices, and the violin more successfully than the piano.

Historical Context

Elgar's work Polonia, dedicated to Ignacy Paderewski, was written in 1915 for the Polish Victims Relief Fund, at a time when Poland was partitioned by Austro-Hungary, Prussia, and Russia.

Composition History

Elgar had started a violin concerto in the 1890s but destroyed the sketches, only reconsidering the idea after meeting the great Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler in 1904.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Elgar often advised, "if you have a good idea, don't waste it: make the most of it."

Composition History

The Violin Concerto is dedicated to Fritz Kreisler, a great Austrian violinist, and on its title page, Elgar included a quote from Gil Blas by Alain-René Lesage: "Aquí está encerrada el alma de . . . . ." (Herein is enshrined the soul of . . . . .).

Recording & Production

Before microphones were used in 1925, recordings were made by the acoustic process, where performers played into a cone-shaped funnel connected to a needle that engraved sound onto a disc.

Compositional Technique

In the accompanied cadenza of the Violin Concerto, Elgar innovatively asked the orchestral string players to "thrum" their instruments with the soft part of three or four fingers across the strings.