Copyright by Andrew Stephen Luchkow 2005 The Treatise Committee for Andrew Stephen Luchkow Certifies that this is the approved version of the following treatise: Elgar Conducting His Cello Concerto: Audio and Documentary Evidence of Style Beyond the Score Committee: Elliott Antokoletz, Supervisor Phyllis Young, Co-Supervisor Eugene Gratovich B. David Neubert Marianne Wheeldon Dewayne E. Perry ELGAR CONDUCTING HIS CELLO CONCERTO: AUDIO AND DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OF STYLE BEYOND THE SCORE by Andrew Stephen Luchkow B.Mus.; M.M. Treatise Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts The University of Texas at Austin December 2005 Acknowledgements Acknowledgement is gratefully made to the publisher Novello and the trustees of the Harrison Sisters Trust Loan for use of the musical figures. Credit is given as follows: Cello Concerto [public domain]. First edition of the Solo Cello score published 1919 by Novello, London. Beatrice Harrison’s copy of the First edition of the Cello Concerto, Solo Cello score, housed in the Harrison Sisters Trust Loan, Library of the Royal College of Music, London. I would like to thank several people for their help and encouragement: Dr. Elliott Antokoletz, my supervisor, who gave me the opportunity to engage in wonderful discussions. His endless knowledge and experience has catalyzed this treatise. Phyllis Young, my cello professor and mentor for the past four and a half years. Her world-renowned knowledge has shown me a world of possibility in playing and teaching the cello. My committee members: Dr. Eugene Gratovich, Dr. David Neubert, Dr. Marianne Wheeldon, and Dr. Dewayne Perry for their suggestions and encouragement. Dr. David Hunter, the chief librarian at the University of Texas Fine Arts Library, who went out of his way to order and then urgently expedite several items for me. Thank you also to: Claude Kenneson, the cello teacher of my youth. Your inspiring musicality and your gift of storytelling personalized music for me and influenced who I am. iv My siblings, and their spouses, Paul, Glenys, Angela, James, Mark, and Cyrena, as well as my two nieces, Ingrid and Sadie, for growing up with me and sharing your love of life and music with me. My parents Marshall and Leona for loving me more than I can imagine. My friend Miranda Wilson, not only for this computer, but for coming from New Zealand to take care of Janelle and I before the wedding. And thank you to my wife Janelle. You are a God-send and my best friend. Thank you for sharing your life with me, for consistently helping me lose all sense of time at the dinner table during our endless talking, for assuming my responsibilities countless times when I thought I could do it myself and ran out of time, and finally for sharing your love, your honesty, and your faith with me. v Elgar Conducting His Cello Concerto: Audio and Documentary Evidence of Style Beyond the Score Publication No._____________ Andrew Stephen Luchkow, D.M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2005 Supervisors: Elliott Antokoletz and Phyllis Young Edward Elgar conducted his Cello Concerto Op.85 twice in the recording studio in 1919 and 1928, both times with solo cellist Beatrice Harrison. These audio recordings differ greatly from more recent interpretations. The recordings reveal unique phrasing and tempo flexibility, as well as regular use of string portamento – audibly sliding between notes – throughout the whole work. This treatise analyzes the Elgar-Harrison recordings identifying those stylistic performance traits beyond the score: that strongly correlate with evidence of Elgar’s comments on performance style; that strongly correlate with the markings in Harrison’s copy of the solo cello part; and that are clearly present in the recordings, but not commented on by Elgar or Harrison. There is much conjecture written about Elgar and his musical style beyond the score. For this reason, the internal view of what Elgar said and did is separated from the external view of witness accounts and secondary evidence. The consistencies and inconsistencies within and between these internal and external views are then tested for accuracy and integrity. vi Table of Contents List of Tables ......................................................................................................... ix List of Figures..........................................................................................................x INTRODUCTION 1 ELGAR THE MUSICIAN: THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VIEWS 4 The Internal View: Elgar on Performance...............................................................4 The External View: Witnesses of Elgar’s Conducting ............................................8 ELGAR AND THE INTERPRETERS: THE INTERNAL VIEW 15 The Manuscript Development................................................................................16 The Concerto in Elgar’s Letters.............................................................................17 ELGAR AND THE INTERPRETERS: THE EXTERNAL VIEW 19 Elgar and Salmond’s Collaboration.......................................................................20 Elgar and Harrison’s Collaboration .......................................................................21 Harrison’s Print Copies of the First Edition Solo Part...........................................24 THE HARRISON-ELGAR RECORDINGS: THE INTERNAL VIEW 25 Portamento: Audible Sliding Between Notes ........................................................25 General Tempos.....................................................................................................27 Tempo, Phrasing, and Nuance in the Harrison – Elgar Recordings and Harrison’s Markings .......................................................................................................31 Movement I: Tempo, Phrasing, and Nuance in the 1928 Recording and Harrison’s Markings ......................................................................................................32 Movement II: Tempo, Phrasing, and Nuance in the 1928 Recording and Harrison’s Markings ......................................................................................................44 Movement III: Tempo, Phrasing, and Nuance in the 1919 and 1928 Recordings and Harrison’s Markings ...................................................................................60 vii Movement IV: Tempo, Phrasing, and Nuance in the 1928 Recording and Harrison’s Markings ......................................................................................................72 THE HARRISON-ELGAR RECORDINGS: THE EXTERNAL VIEW 85 The Recording Process Before 1925......................................................................85 Musical Implications of the Pre-1925 Recording Process.....................................87 Recordings After 1925...........................................................................................88 Limited Rehearsals and the Deputy Substitute System .........................................89 Comparisons with Thoroughly Rehearsed Orchestras...........................................91 Portamento Style or Crutch?..................................................................................92 CONCLUSION 94 Appendix A: List of Harrison’s Markings in Her Complete Copy........................96 Appendix B: Approximate Tempos of Recordings ...............................................99 Bibliography ........................................................................................................104 Discography .........................................................................................................106 Vita .....................................................................................................................107 viii List of Tables Table 1, Harrison’s portamento markings and result in the recordings........................... 26 Table 2, Movement timings in minutes and seconds....................................................... 29 Table 3, Mov. I, Approximate tempos of recordings....................................................... 99 Table 4, Mov. II, Approximate tempos of recordings ................................................... 100 Table 5, Mov. III, Approximate tempos of recordings.................................................. 101 Table 6, Mov. IV, Approximate tempos of recordings.................................................. 102 Table 7, Mov. IV (Continued), Approximate tempos of recordings ............................. 103 ix List of Figures Figure 1, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. I, m.1-18.................................... 32 Figure 2, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. II, m.4-6 .................................... 46 Figure 3, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. II, m.11-12 ................................ 48 Figure 4, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. II, m.39-42 ................................ 53 Figure 5, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. II, m.43-48 ................................ 54 Figure 6, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. II, m.77-87 ................................ 57 Figure 7, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. III, m.1-7................................... 61 Figure 8, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. III, m.29-42............................... 67 Figure 9, Harrison’s copy of the Cello Concerto, Mov. IV, m.9-13................................