Symphony No. 1
The first time I heard this piece – with John Barbirolli conducting – it made a huge impression on me. I loved the way that it conjured up the British countryside. Not warm and comforting as people tend to imagine it, but more like the sheep-grazing country that Elgar came from – cold, windswept and bleak. But it’s also a brilliantly constructed work – just think of the way that Elgar ingeniously and imperceptibly transforms those rustling semiquavers of the second movement into a beautiful theme. There’s a brilliance to this music that is worn very lightly
Cello Concerto
When I was a teenager, my godfather, the composer Herbert Howells, gave me a score of the Cello Concerto inscribed: ‘To Julian from HH, to whom EE described this piece as “just an old man’s darling”.’ And I do believe that Elgar’s soul was in this extraordinary work. We seldom associate anger with Elgar, but there is plenty here – especially when the opening’s two slashing chords return near the end. I think he was angry that his era had ended and his world had changed. The final pages of this music are almost desperate in mood, and the result is heart-wrenching.
Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47
This is a piece that displays Elgar’s total mastery of his material, showcasing every facet of the strings’ sonority, from the bass to the highest extremities; from the virtuosity of the fast semiquaver section to that beautiful ‘Welsh’ theme, which Elgar apparently heard coming over the cliffs in west Wales. It’s a piece that’s full of detail, and one that really benefits from following all the markings because they provide such a range of character. And what a great idea to end the work with a single pizzicato chord!
Sospiri, Op. 70
Dedicated to the violinist William Reed, who was probably Elgar’s best friend, this short piece is the composer’s equivalent of Mahler’s Adagietto – a work in which he bares his soul. When asked what it was about, Elgar said, ‘I don’t know.’ But what is clear is that this piece finds him in total despair. You won’t hear it very often; for a four-minute piece, it takes a lot of rehearsal. But it’s an extraordinary work that reveals the depth of this composer who, at times, had to be shaken out of depression.
Enigma Variations
This piece has everything – great orchestration, great tunes, incredible portrayals of characters, executed with so much affection and humour. Even if you have no idea who these people are, the music allows you to picture them, while at the same time summoning up the essence of the English countryside that was so familiar to this composer, with all its undulations; had Elgar been born in Texas, I don’t think his music would have sounded the way it did. And what an original, fresh concept – to portray one’s friends in music. It’s just a brilliant, brilliant work.
The salon works
Some say that the shorter pieces, such as Salut d’amour, Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit, are full of mawkish sentiment and clichéd harmonies, but I think that’s completely wrong because these works are very much part of Elgar. Ok, some of them have been done to death, but they are still beautiful pieces. And actually, I don’t think they are mawkish. Chanson de Matin, for example, is so free and open. The fact that it is singable and that it obviously came so naturally to the composer doesn’t make it any less distinguished or inspired as a piece of music.
Serenade for Strings, Op. 20
This was the first piece to bring Elgar any attention, and it’s a miniature masterpiece – so beautifully written, with that wonderful sense of the rise and fall of the Malvern hills. The slow movement is gorgeous, and to those who would accuse it of sentimentality, I ask what’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with showing emotion? The world today is a very hard place; I think we could do with a bit less hardness and a bit more human understanding. So, if Elgar’s music is sentimental, I say bring it on!
Who is Julian Lloyd Webber?
The son of composer William Lloyd Webber and brother of Andrew Lloyd Webber, the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber studied at the Royal College of Music before completing training under Pierre Fournier in Geneva. Since then, he has performed with orchestras ranging from the Berlin Philharmonic to London Symphony Orchestra and has premiered over 50 cello works by composers including Philip Glass and Malcolm Arnold. Yet it is the music of Edward Elgar that arguably holds the most significant place in his career – a lifelong devotion explored in his new biography, Bows and Arrows. Released earlier this year, the book coincides with both his 75th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his landmark recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
