Elgar and the First World War: Barry Collett, Simon Baggs: Elgar in Performance, 18th April 2015 March 7th 2015 At the Society’s North West Branch meeting on 18 April we were privileged to sit at the feet of an orchestral leader and conductor, an arranger, a talented violinist, and an Elgar enthusiast – For many years, there seemed to be a tacit assumption that Elgar, arguably at the height of his but in the form of one man, Simon Baggs. Not only did he provide us with fresh insights into powers and fame in 1914, wrote little of real value between Falstaff and the‘Cello Concerto. some of Elgar’s music from a performer’s perspective but, with piano accompaniment ably That may well have been because this music was so rarely performed but perhaps that was both provided by Nick Patrick, he treated us to extracts to illustrate his text – and gave us examples the cause and the effect. Indeed, when Barry Collett, the speaker at the March meeting, tried to of some of the bits in orchestral scores that we often miss. remedy this in the 1980s he found, to his surprise, that for a number of the works, the publishers no longer had sets of orchestral parts and they were presumed to have been lost. The story of how some of these came to light from the far flung edges of the Empire was a fascinating introduction to Barry Collett’s bird’s-eye view of this period of Elgar’s compositional life so often overlooked but now readily accessible through modern recordings. photo downloaded from Internet The opening musical extract came from an age as different from WW1 as that era is from today - ‘A War Song’ written for the Worcester Glee Club in 1884. Next on the turntable was ‘Follow the Colours’, produced in 1914 following a request from Boosey’s for a patriotic song, described by the speaker as a case of the composer’s genius “burning at a lower level”! That may well have matched the spirit of the early days of the War as did Carillon with its unusual juxtaposition of reciter and full orchestra but, as the conflict went on, Elgar’s inspiration matched much darker emotions with Une voix dans le desert and supremely The Spirit of England, not forgetting The Starlight Express with its magic stardust that would change the world, something much needed in 1915. Simon Baggs (violin) and Nick Patrick (piano) performing Elgar’s Violin Sonata in E minor Photograph taken in the RNCM Lecture Theatre - by Darren Niman That most of the recorded extracts were from recordings conducted by Barry Collett and that many of these were the first recordings of the pieces, showed us how much in debt we are to him Our speaker was well qualified to talk about the respective concert hall roles and appreciation of for his perseverance in mounting performances when he did and it was therefore particularly the performers and of the listeners. He suggested the conductor is not a separate entity from the valuable to have an overview of this period of Elgar’s music from someone who quite clearly orchestra but “another person with a different set of responsibilities”, whereas the leader acts knows it from the inside. As a coda, we were treated to Big Steamers, commissioned by the “in a supporting role, helping ensure the preparation of the orchestra” and occasionally “but Ministry of Food in 1918 so that children would appreciate the importance of Merchant Ships (hopefully not often!) taking over when the orchestra might be drifting into unstable territory.” – Yes - that certainly was a period piece! John Knowles [continued on page eleven] 9 10 th Simon Baggs: Elgar in Performance (continued) A Visit to Skipton, Giggleswick & Settle: 9 May 2015 Our annual day out, organised as usual by John Mawbey, started off with a visit to Skipton. [continued from page ten] Despite some early rain, we visited this lovely market town and stayed on for an early lunch. Appreciation of Elgar’s music had developed for Simon in his early teens, particularly from his first understanding of the Enigma Variations. Some of us (your scribe for one) may have been surprised to realise the brisk tempo used by Elgar himself for Nimrod which Simon demonstrated. He saw Elgar as, in a sense, “several composers rolled into one”, and much of his music was capable of many instrumental adaptations – Sospiri for example, which might in different guises involve strings, or harp, or organ rather than the original violin and piano arrangement, and which was performed for us. And for Baggs the arranger the later piano pieces were “a dream to orchestrate”. From the performer’s perspective the Introduction and Allegro was “a delight for the strings”. He considered Elgar’s music “no more belonged to England than did Beethoven’s to Germany”. Which of Elgar’s works were the most “profound”? - the slow movement of the Violin Sonata perhaps? The Second Symphony? - “a masterpiece being programmed more and more”, in After lunch we went to Giggleswick where we visited the school’s splendid Morrison Chapel. which the opening of the second movement was a particular challenge to the orchestra? How There we were given an excellent account of the history and features of the chapel by Barbara could one possibly discount Gerontius, so rewarding of a detailed knowledge (but not forgetting Gent, school librarian and archivist. This was followed by an organ recital of pieces by Elgar the challenge of the Demons’ Chorus to the leader)? In the opening bars of Gerontius and of played by the chapel organist, Jason Lowe. There was also some time to explore the building. Elgar’s other choral works “you had a feeling of being about to climb Everest”. After revealing the contents of a second music case and treating us to the viola solo from In the South, Simon and Nick ended with a spirited performance of the last movement of the Violin Sonata. It had all felt more like a soiree than an afternoon in a lecture theatre! Ken Swallow Skipton: photographs taken by John Mawbey Buildings facing on to the marketplace in Settle - photo David Jones [see page thirteen] Giggleswick: photographs taken by David Jones 11 12.