Solo songs with piano (1901–1934) by Edward Elgar Piano Accompaniment - Sheet Music

SKU: ST.EWE16

ISBN 9781904856160.

Elgar’s solo songs are not among his best known works and there is a tendency to dismiss them as second-rate. It is true that he composed them with a variety of motives: some seemed to serve as a form of relaxation from the labours of his major compositions; others were written in support of the worthy cause of the day; and then there are the pot-boilers, mainly militaristic in style, aimed at the masses as a means of generating much-needed income for himself and his publishers. And yet the latter include what is today his best-known work, Land of Hope and Glory, for which he provided only a piano accompaniment; and his publishers were wise enough to allow him the freedom to publish, alongside the more rugged songs, a number of delightfully delicate and intriguing art songs – songs such as Speak Music, which trips off the tongue in 15/8 time; A Child Asleep, a lullaby written for the infant son of his favourite mezzo, Muriel Foster; and It Isnae Me, premièred by and dedicated to his latest inamorata, Joan Elwes.nnThe Elgar Complete Edition does not distinguish on the grounds of quality of composition: all 22 solo songs completed by Elgar after 1900 and 21 fragments believed also to date from this period are included in the volume. As ever with Elgar, in several of the songs there is the intertwining of personal and professional life, the mysteries and intrigues, captured where appropriate in a brief introductory paragraph or two giving the background to the composition of each song. And the volume comes complete with the customary apparatus of detailed source descriptions, commentaries and an introductory foreword. All in all, a fascinating volume for the academic, the performer and for those who simply enjoy Elgar’s music.