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Elgar's Third Completed - 60 Years After He Died!
By James Campbell | _allegro_@yahoo.com | Vienna/Strasse/6701 | |
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Edward Elgar died over 60 years ago, leaving 130 pages of sketches for his Third Symphony. Sadly, he was diagnosed as having cancer, and lost interest in them. He even asked for them to be burned. But they survived, and so did Elgar, at least for a few weeks more. He had big plans for the sketches.
The Elgar Will Trust realised that they would lose copyright to the sketches in the future, and anyone could then complete the piece. They decided to let the BBC choose a composer to complete the work. The BBC chose Anthony Payne, a man who was a great fan of Elgar's music, but who had struggled to get his music noticed. He agreed, and set about piecing together the fragments. It was no easy task. At many points, Payne thought he could go no further, and at one point said that the final movement was impossible to complete. But he found a new sketch; one which Elgar had written as a metaphorical adhesive, to bring the movement together. So Payne eventually completed his task, and the result was amazing. If you were to listen to this piece, you would immediately see it was an Elgar. The characteristics are there; after all, it is his piece. All but one of the main themes in the symphony are Elgar's, showing that Payne didn't have to compose as much as fit the pieces together like a musical jigsaw. The BBC Symphony Orchestra played the piece for the first time in February, and it was hugely successful. The finished work is available to buy. along with a companion disc, on which Payne explains his huge task, and a violinist and pianist play the sketches. Worth investing in.
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