Elgar: The Music Makers & The Spirit of England / Connolly, Staples, Davis, BBC Symphony

$16.99
Label
Chandos
Release Date
November 16, 2018
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      SIR EDWARD ELGAR
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Bbc Symphony Orchestra, Bbc Symphony C
    • PERFORMER
      Sarah Connolly, Andrew Staples, Sir Andrew Davis (Conductor)
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      November 16, 2018
    • UPC
      095115521526
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      CHSA 5215
    • LABEL
      Chandos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. Introduction

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    2. We are the music makers

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    3. With wonderful deathless ditties

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    4. We, in the ages lying

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    5. A breath of our inspiration

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    6. They had no vision amazing

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Sarah Connolly

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    7. And therefore today is thrilling

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Sarah Connolly

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    8. But we, with our dreaming and singing - For we are afar with the dawning

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    9. Great hail! We cry to the comers

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Sarah Connolly

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    10. No. 1. The Fourth of August

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Andrew Staples

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    11. No. 2. To Women

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Andrew Staples

      Conductor: Andrew Davis

    12. No. 3. For the Fallen

      Composer: Edward Elgar

      Ensemble: BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra

      Performer: Andrew Staples

      Conductor: Andrew Davis




Distinguished British music interpreter Sir Andrew Davis joins forces with the BBCSO once again, this time with acclaimed soloists Dame Sarah Connolly and Andrew Staples, in this thoughtful presentation of the last two substantial choral works of Sir Edward Elgar. The matury of Elgar as an orchestrator is obvious in both works on this album, notably, in ‘The Music Makers’ (1912), during passages in which he quotes from ‘Sea Pictures’ and the Violin Concerto, and in representing the sound of aircraft in ‘The Spirit of England’ (1917). Elgar uses self-quotation to reflect: ‘The Music Makers’ is a canvas of self-reflection, written quickly following a period of illness. The orchestral introduction is introspective, melancholic, and noble, before the words of Arthur O’Shaughanessy’s poem and much self-quotation within the music offer an insight into the sense of nostalgia and awareness of the loneliness of the creative artist felt by the composer. ‘The Spirit of England’ reflects on the sadness and desolation of war felt by a nation, with the inclusion of quotations from ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ in some of the more negative stanzas that Elgar found harder to set. Specified in the score for tenor or soprano, all three movements are sung here by a tenor in a recording first.