richard penrose arnold was also an amateur pianist and the son of a poet. elgar wrote that his playing had a way of "evading difficulties but suggesting in a mysterious way the real feeling. his serious conversation was continually broken up by whimsical and witty remarks."
this actually makes complete sense if you listen to the movement, which suggests a darkness that could easily be soupy and anguished but moves a bit too easily for that. then of course the major section brings in the "whimsical" insertions by winds and violins.
VI. Ysobel - andantino
the variation is attacca from the previous, and begins right at 2:19. isabel fitton was a viola student of elgar's. the variation is played mostly by a solo viola, and the opening viola (section) statement includes a sort of exercise in string crossing, reportedly one of elgar's jokes, in which the viola has to cross from the C string to the D string without hitting the G string in between (the interval is a tenth - from the open C to an E above that). so i can imagine that for a performer/conductor aware of this, it would be important to resist the temptation to use a less awkward fingering of just putting the E up on the G string in third position.
the moment when the strings melt away to reveal the solo viola is particularly lovely.
VII. Troyte - presto
arthur troyte griffiths was an architect and amateur pianist who was apparently quite terrible at playing the piano. this apparently represents elgar's abortive attempt to teach him, and his "enthusiastic incompetence." wiki, though, reports that the almost unplayably fast movement depicts a day when they both got caught in the rain and had to make a mad dash for shelter. i like to think that elgar wrote those ridiculous fifths in hopes that violinists wouldn't be able to play it that fast and it would more effectively represent troyte's fail on the piano.
(i find the images that accompany this movement in the above recording hilarious.)
VIII. W.N. - allegretto
winifred norbury was a friend of elgar's who was fairly easygoing, but most accounts agree that the variation is as much about the house she lived in as the woman herself. the house itself was a classic 18th century house which was the site of many chamber performances and musical gatherings. one writer suggests that her laugh is hinted at in the central section (the oboe + trills).
IX. Nimrod - Adagio
this is far and away the most celebrated of the entire set of variations, and gets played often independently. it's slow and chorale like, and depicts an episode in elgar's life in which his friend augustus jaeger convinced him to continue composing even after elgar had decided to stop. nimrod, the "mighty hunter" in the Book of Genesis, is a reference to the german meaning of jaeger's name, hunter. jaeger provided support and constructive criticism throughout elgar's composing career, and was his closest musical friend.
the opening bars carry a small hint of beethoven's work (according to elgar himself, it is just a shadow of the opening of the second movement of beethoven's pathetique sonata). this was, apparently, what jaeger himself hummed when he reminded elgar that beethoven had had to go through great difficulties but continued to compose greater and greater music.
No comments:
Post a Comment