Elgar: Spirit of England

 

Truth be told, I came to this recording for Sir Hubert Parry's Chivalry of the Sea, as I already have a perfectly fine recording of Sir Edward Elgar's The Spirit of England. I am glad I stopped by this performance though, for David Lloyd-Jones on Dutton does an outstanding job with Elgar as well.

The hallmarks of Elgar are all over this 27-minute choral/orchestral piece, particularly the first celebratory movement The Fourth of August. I am not sure what makes this particular sound 'his', but Elgar has a singularly recognizable voice in his music. I said particularly the first movement, because that is when the composer is at his most outgoing, with a musical celebratory pomp featuring at Britain's entrance into The Great War.

I was worried the attitude of the first movement, showcasing the The Spirit of England, would continue to the end of the work, which would have been a poor remembrance of those who fought in WWI. Luckily, Elgar is more inward looking in the last two movements, the second movement, To Women, recognizing those who have to stay behind, fret and worry, and make life work without those who left for war. The last movement, For the Fallen, honors those who never return for war, done so with a lovely peacefulness which is lyrically melancholic, but not heavy or dark, a tough line to walk in a piece such as this.

I do enjoy the singing of both Susan Gritton and Andrew Kennedy here. Kennedy sounds the most emotionally tied to the story, while Gritton is a thrilling voice soaring above the chorus. I love both the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra as well, who are compelling in this music under the direction of David Lloyd-Jones. The Dutton Laboratories balance these forces well too.

The only other work on this WWI tribute program with chorus is Hubert Parry's The Chivalry of the Sea, a sort-of maritime ode, more fitting perhaps as Parry himself was an amateur sailor. As is usually the case with Parry, their is a certain grandness to the music, not too far removed from Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, honoring the sea as much those who lose their lives upon it. 

If I have found the choral/orchestral music of Parry a tad-bit stilted in the past, I don't sense such a starched academic nature to his music here. Instead, The Chivalry of the Sea is genuinely heartfelt and honorific, if not containing a certain overenthusiastic sense of awe at the subject and poetry he sets.

Two orchestral elegies are programmed as well, one by Frederick Septimus Kelly and another from Ivor Gurney. Of the composers represented, Kelly is the only one who actually did not make it out of WWI with his life, making his Elegy for Strings In Memoriam Rupert Brooke all the more poignant. His music for string orchestra, plus harp, is highly modal, reminding me of Ralph Vaughan Williams at many turns, bearing many curious harmonic colors and twists during its runtime.

Gurney's War Elegy is set in a march style, albeit one which is heavy, trudging, and downcast. The piece's middle portion is actually the most lyrical section of its 11 minutes, leaving the outer sections to set a rather heavy mood for the listener.

Lilian Elkington's Out of the Mist is a symphonic poem depicting battle vessels emerging out of a sea mist, returning home. Highly atmospheric, there is a subtle majesty alongside the ambiguousness of waiting while trying to glimpse and observe in foggy circumstances. I don't know Elkington's music, but this is solid orchestral writing and effective listening.

While I wouldn't call this program of WWI orchestral music dreary, the general state of the works are intimately commemorative, with Elgar and Parry offering the most significant musical contrasts to the program, although even they get wrapped up in deep, heartfelt textures. That said, all of the music featured is worthwhile, some coming from composers who have been pushed out along the fringes of musical knowledge since their lifetime. In this regard, the recording at hand is a treasure, and exceptionally played by the BBC forces with David Lloyd-Jones. Song texts are included in the physical media as well.

 

 

Works

Edward Elgar
    The Spirit of Britain, op. 80 (27.17)

Hubert Parry
    The Chivalry of the Sea (13.59)

Frederick Septimus Kelly
    Elegy for Strings (8:16)

Ivor Gurney
    War Elegy (11.06)

Lilian Elkington
    Out of the Mist (7.50)

Soloists
Susan Gritton, soprano (Elgar)
Andrew Kennedy, tenor (Elgar)

Ensembles
BBC Symphony Chorus (Elgar & Parry)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
David Lloyd-Jones, conductor

Year: 2006
Label: Dutton Epoch
Total Timing: 69.00

 

I am a bit of an Anglophile when it comes to symphonic, orchestral, and choral music. Thus, to have a collection of British choral/orchestral music surrounding WWI, some of it quite rare on record, is a treasure.

David Lloyd-Jones and the BBC SO make a solid case of Elgar's The Spirit of England, a work which has multiple recordings to its name.

 

Find more Parry recordings HERE!