Cello Concerto (Elgar)

Sir Edward Elgar

Edward Elgar (trans. Douglas McLain)

This work bears the designation Opus 85.

General Info

Year: 1919 / 2013
Duration: c. 30:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Cello and orchestra
Publisher: Baton Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - €260.00   |   Score Only (print) - €64.00

Movements

1. Adagio – Moderato – c. 8:00
2. Lento – Allegro molto c. 4:30
3. Adagio – c. 4:50
4. Allegro – Moderato – Allegro, ma non-troppo – Poco più lento – Adagio c. 11:30

Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo Cello
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Solo Clarinet A I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani

Violincello

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, his last notable work, is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. Elgar composed it in the aftermath of the First World War, when his music had already gone out of fashion with the concert-going public. In contrast with Elgar's earlier Violin Concerto, which is lyrical and passionate, the Cello Concerto is for the most part contemplative and elegiac.

The October 1919 premiere was a debacle because Elgar and the performers had been deprived of adequate rehearsal time. The work did not achieve wide popularity until the 1960s, when a recording by Jacqueline du Pré caught the public imagination and became a classical best-seller. Elgar made two recordings of the work with Beatrice Harrison as soloist. Since then, leading cellists from Pablo Casals onward have performed the work in concert and in the studio.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

None discovered thus far.

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Seattle Symphony / University of Washington Wind Ensemble (Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Lynn Harrell, cello) – 26 March 2011 (CBDNA 2011 National Conference, Seattle, Wash.)

Works for Winds by this Composer

Adaptable Music

• Land of Hope and Glory (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brand) (1907/2007)
• Nimrod (Flex Instrumentation) (arr. Bocook) (1899/2011)
• Pomp and Circumstance (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1907/2011)

All Wind Works

• As Torrents in Summer (tr. Davis) (1896/1968)
• As Torrents in Summer (arr. Rager) (1896/2018)
• Cello Concerto (arr. McLain) (1919/2013)
• Chanson de Matin (arr. de Meij) (c. 1890/1988)
• The Crown of India March (arr. Winterbottom) (1912)
• The Crown of India Suite (arr. Winterbottom) (1912/1913)
• The Empire March (arr. Noble) (1924/2020)
• Enigma Variations (tr Patterson). See: Variations on an Original Theme: "Enigma"
• Enigma Variations (tr. Slocum) (1899/)
• Enigma Variations (arr. Thompson)
• Graduation Suite (with Mouret; arr. Story) (2002)
• March of the Mogul Emperors (arr. Longfield)
• Land of Hope and Glory (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Brand) (1907/2007)
• Nimrod (Flex Instrumentation) (arr. Bocook) (1899/2011)
• Nimrod (arr. Borsvold) (1899/2005)
• Nimrod (Clarinet Choir) (arr. Hautvast) (1899/2008)
• Nimrod (Saxophone Choir) (arr. Hautvast) (1899/2008)
• Nimrod (Woodwind Ensemble) (arr. Hautvast) (1899/2010)
• Nimrod (arr. Glover) (1899/2018)
• Nimrod (arr. Moerenhout) (1899/1954)
• Nimrod (tr. D. Patterson) (1899/)
• Nimrod (arr. Reed) (1899/1965)
• Pomp and Circumstance (arr. Kinyon) (1907/1969)
• Pomp and Circumstance (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1907/2011)
• Pomp and Circumstance Marches (arr. Caron)
• Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 1 (tr. Retford; ed. Reed) (1901/1902/2000)
• Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 2 (tr. Retford; ed. Reed) (1901/2000)
• Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 3 (tr. Retford; ed. Reed) (1904/2000)
• Pomp and Circumstance Military March No. 4 (tr. Retford; ed. Reed) (1907/2000)
• Salut d'Amour (arr. Hautvast) (1888/2007)
• Salut d'Amour (arr. Molenaar) (1888/2018)
• Sérénade Lyrique (arr. Hautvast) (/2011)
• The Severn Suite (tr. Reed) (1930/1973)
• Sursum Corda (arr. Houseknecht) (1894/1967)
• Triumphal March (arr. Pollen)
• Variations on an Original Theme: "Enigma" (tr. Patterson) (1899/)

Resources

• Cello Concerto (Elgar). Wikipedia. Accessed 23 August 2022
• Perusal score