Symphony No.3 in C minor - Edward Elgar/Anthony Payne

BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Richard Hickox. [completed by Anthony Payne from Elgar's sketches].

I - Allegro molto maestoso: 0:00
II - Scherzo. Allegretto: 15:28
III - Adagio solenne: 25:18
IV - Allegro: 40:24

Elgar's third symphony is his last, which he could not finish due to his death in 1934. The composer and musicologist Anthony Payne discovers these fragments at the beginning of the 1970s. He proposes to reconstruct the work, being helped by the BBC from 1993. Payne studies the 130 sheets written by Elgar and once ordered, he could quickly finish the Scherzo, the part that was more complete. He could aslo write the complete Adagio exposure. Write the development section and finish it on February 23, 1994. From then on it was more difficult to continue, because there were not enough notes in the manuscripts left by Elgar.

The descendants of Elgar would not let interpret the reconstruction. But in 2004, the fragments would become public domain and the heirs considered that it was not worth the wait to release the work. the Elgar Foundation entrusted Payne with a complete reconstruction of the work. He started to orchestrate the first three movements and the beginning of the last. But he had the most difficult part, the final part. Elgar had not left any notes. Payne composes the parts that were missing inspired by the context of the same and incorporating other themes that Elgar had written in his last years, among them the one of Wagon Passes of his "Nursery Suite". The work was premiered on February 15, 1998 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis.

The first movement was quite advanced, with a fully orchestrated part. Payne especially completed the development section. The first theme advances in a natural way, undulating like the waves of the sea, contrasting perfectly with the melodic and tender second theme, presented by the first violins. After repeating the exhibition, Payne bases the development on the previous themes, using some of the motifs outlined by Elgar, such as the motif in the form of a march. The recapitulation begins with the first theme, continuing in a classical manner and ending with the combination of both themes.

The second movement corresponds to the scherzo of the work. This part also had quite a few fragments written by Elgar and it was easy to finish them. It is written in the form of rondo with two intermediate trios. The main theme that is repeated, has a persistent animated motif played by the first violins, discreetly accompanied by percussion, which Elgar took from the incidental music he wrote in 1923 for "Arthur". The intermediate episodes are lighter and calmer. The return to the main theme is developed and expanded by Payne.

The third movement did not possess sketches of development written by Elgar. Therefore it was thought that it would be a movement is two parts, with the exhibition and a varied recapitulation. It begins by presenting the first theme in a somber way that soon becomes dramatic. After a transition, the second theme presented by the strings appears, which is warmer and more expansive. Payne adds a larger passage of Elgarian type, in the form of fantasy. After a pause, the recapitulation begins, which elaborates the themes in a transformed form, adding a variation of the fantasy at the end of the second theme. The movement ends with a desolate coda, with a final sentence of the viola, slightly accompanied.

The last movement was the most difficult, as Elgar did not leave any details about the end of the work. From the notes left by Elgar it can be deduced that it must be in sonata form and be full of fierceness. The first bars contain a loud call in the form of fanfare, this being the last fragment that Elgar left completely finished. Combined with an arpeggio motif, this gives way to the vigorous first theme. Elgar's sketches contained various motifs for the elaboration of a second theme, with material also taken from his work "Arthur". Payne chose several themes for the development of the theme and its re-exposure. We do not know the structure that Elgar had thought for the development and its end. Payne takes the liberty and introduces a section in the form of fantasy, based on the repeated notes of The Wagon Passes of his Nursery Suite. For the coda there was no annotation either. After allusions to previous themes of the symphony, it ends with a quiet cadence of fagots and basses of the string, which are finally silent with a note of the tam-tam resonating in space. It is a tribute to the treatment of percussion by Elgar, who had always fascinated Payne.

Picture: "The Lady of Shalott" (1888) by the English painter John William Waterhouse.

Sources from this website on Elgar symphonism: http://www.historiadelasinfonia.es/historia-2/siglo-xx/elgar/

Видео Symphony No.3 in C minor - Edward Elgar/Anthony Payne канала Sergio Cánovas