2nd symphony (Elgar)
The Symphony in E flat major , Opus 63 is the second of Edward Elgar's two completed symphonies . The work was composed from 1909 to 1911, but using sketches for a symphony in honor of General Gordon, which were postponed in favor of composing the First Symphony . The composer finished his work on February 28, 1911 and conducted the world premiere in London's Queen’s Hall on May 24 of the same year.
The symphony in E flat major consists of four movements with a total duration of about fifty to sixty minutes; Elgar's own recordings from 1924 and 1927 are 45 and 47 min. Played much faster than is usually the case today.
- Allegro vivace e nobilmente - about seventeen minutes
- Larghetto - about fifteen minutes
- Rondo (Presto) - about eight minutes
- Moderato e maestoso - about thirteen minutes
Elgar described the symphony as one of his most personal works, alongside his violin concerto and the ode The Music Makers . This trait is particularly evident in the pathetic-tragic slow movement and the sometimes furious Scherzo with its repeatedly repeated chords. In spite of the difference in structure and harmony, both movements were brought closer to the music of contemporary Gustav Mahler .
A striking difference to the first symphony is that it begins with ecstatic exuberance and fades away in "serene" calm at the end of the last movement, while the first is introduced with an initially cautious theme, which at the end of the finale turns into a grandiose " Fireworks ”increases.
source
Accompanying text by Michael Kennedy on the recording of Adrian Boult with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1976)