Elgar’s EnigmaVariations (1899) propelled him to international fame. Richard Straussrecognized him and the great Wagnerian conductor Hans Richter championed hiswork. Acclaim in Germanyhelped him finally attain recognition in his own landa fact that gainedpainful irony when a family spat between Queen Victoria’sgrandchildren turned Europe into theslaughterhouse of World War I.
In 1901 he wrote his famous Pomp and CircumstanceMarch, invariably played at graduationceremonies in America butregarded as a national anthem in England. The title was taken from aline in Othello: “Pride, pomp, andcircumstance of glorious war!" In 1902 a lyricist added chauvinistic wordsso that the tune could be used at the coronation of Edward VII. It then becamea popular song.
The vast carnage of World War I made Elgarhate Pomp and Circumstance and thejingoistic lyrics attached to it. So many millions marched to their deaths tosuch grandiloquent anthems. But his two symphonies, concertos and so much ofhis other music stand free of official co-option. Of his First Symphony,written in 1908, Elgar said: “There is no program beyond a wide experience ofhuman life with a great charity (love) and a massive hope in the future.”
A thrilling work, brilliantly scored, itbegins with a calm and noble andante that builds in volume and intensity beforelaunching into faster, wilder territory. The bustling second movementalternates a dark Mahlerian march with lilting carefree passages and magicallytransitions without pause into the heavenly adagio slow movement. The fourthmovement finale excitingly works its way toward a climactic triumphantrestatement of the symphony’s noble opening theme against surging waves oforchestral sound.
National pride can be beautiful when itdoesn’t morph dangerously into international arrogance. The spirit of Poland isstrong in the music of Frederic Chopin (1810-49) and permeates not only hispolonaises and mazurkas but all the music he wrote during his short life. Thisyear marks the 200th anniversary of his birth. This weekend his Concerto No. 2will be played by Garrick Ohlsson, the only American to ever win first prize inthe Chopin International Piano Competition. The exquisite slow movement is anexcellent example of why Chopin is known as “the poet of the piano.”
Edo de Waart will lead the MSO in UihleinHall at the Marcus Center at 8 p.m. Fridayand Saturday, April 2-3.
