In the South (Alassio)
Encyclopedia
In the South, Op. 50, is a concert overture composed by Edward Elgar
during a family holiday in Italy in the winter of 1903 to 1904.
The work is dedicated "To my friend Leo F. Schuster
".
" is a town on the Italian Riviera where Elgar and his family stayed. He strolled around during the visit, while buildings, landscape and history of the town provided him the sources of inspiration. He later recalled:
The première of the work was by the Hallé
orchestra on 16 March 1904, the third day of an "Elgar Festival" at the Royal Opera House
in Covent Garden
. It was to have been conducted by Hans Richter
, but as Elgar did not have the score ready in time for Richter to study it before the performance, Elgar conducted the orchestra himself. Frank Schuster was with the Elgars at the première.
. In July of the same year, Elgar took this section from the piece and fitted it to a poem by Shelley
as a song under the title In Moonlight
. Later he made several instrumental versions titled "Canto Popolare
".
The piece is about 20 minutes long and does not have separate movements. The main descending theme is echoed throughout the sections of the orchestra all through the piece. The viola solo is of particular note due partly to its length, being on such an underused instrument, but also because of the contrast it creates with the rest of the piece which is very bold. There are large legato passages between the strings and french horns, and the rest of the brass add tremendous excitement in the middle of the piece with loud chords separated by large intervals.
s (3rd doubling piccolo
), 2 oboe
s, cor anglais
, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet
, 2 bassoon
s, contrabassoon
, 4 horns, 3 trumpet
s, 3 trombone
s, tuba
, 3 timpani
, percussion (bass drum
, cymbal
s, side drum
, triangle
and glockenspiel
) and the string section
.
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
during a family holiday in Italy in the winter of 1903 to 1904.
The work is dedicated "To my friend Leo F. Schuster
Leo Frank Schuster
Leo Frank Schuster , was a patron of the arts in the United Kingdom, normally known to his friends as "Frankie". His home at 22 Old Queen Street, London, became a meeting-place for artists, writers and musicians, including Siegfried Sassoon, John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert, Sir Edward Elgar...
".
History
The subtitle "AlassioAlassio
Alassio is a town and "comune" of 11.312 inhabitants in the province of Savona situated in the North West of Italy and approximately 80 km from the French border.Alassio is known for its natural beauty and scenic views...
" is a town on the Italian Riviera where Elgar and his family stayed. He strolled around during the visit, while buildings, landscape and history of the town provided him the sources of inspiration. He later recalled:
- Then in a flash, it all came to me - streams, flowers, hills; the distant snow mountains in one direction and the blue Mediterranean in the other; the conflict of the armies on that very spot long ago, where I now stood - the contrast of the ruin and the shepherd - and then, all of a sudden, I came back to reality. In that time I had composed the overture - the rest was merely writing it down.
The première of the work was by the Hallé
Halle
Halle is a noun that means hall in the German language. It may also refer to:-In Germany:* Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, official name Halle , also called Halle or Halle an der Saale...
orchestra on 16 March 1904, the third day of an "Elgar Festival" at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
. It was to have been conducted by Hans Richter
Hans Richter (conductor)
Hans Richter was an Austrian orchestral and operatic conductor.-Biography:Richter was born in Raab , Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother was opera-singer Jozsefa Csazenszky. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory...
, but as Elgar did not have the score ready in time for Richter to study it before the performance, Elgar conducted the orchestra himself. Frank Schuster was with the Elgars at the première.
Description
Perhaps the best known part of the piece is the central serenade played by a solo violaViola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
. In July of the same year, Elgar took this section from the piece and fitted it to a poem by Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
as a song under the title In Moonlight
In Moonlight
"In Moonlight" is a song with music written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1904 to words from the poem "An Ariette for Music. To a Lady singing to her Accompaniment on the Guitar", by Percy Bysshe Shelley and published in 1832....
. Later he made several instrumental versions titled "Canto Popolare
Canto Popolare (Elgar)
Canto Popolare is an arrangement for viola with piano accompaniment, made by the English composer Edward Elgar. It is from the viola solo in the central section of his concert-overture In the South , written in 1904....
".
The piece is about 20 minutes long and does not have separate movements. The main descending theme is echoed throughout the sections of the orchestra all through the piece. The viola solo is of particular note due partly to its length, being on such an underused instrument, but also because of the contrast it creates with the rest of the piece which is very bold. There are large legato passages between the strings and french horns, and the rest of the brass add tremendous excitement in the middle of the piece with loud chords separated by large intervals.
Instrumentation
The work is written for a full symphony orchestra consisting of 3 fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (3rd doubling piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, cor anglais
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
, 4 horns, 3 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, 3 timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, percussion (bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, side drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
and glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
) and the string section
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
Recordings
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Constantin Silvestri (196?)
- London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Georg Solti (1979)
- BBC Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Andrew Davis (1992)
- Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor George Hurst (1995)
- Wiener Philharmoniker. Conductor John Eliot Gardiner (1998)
- Hallé Orchestra. Conductor Mark Elder (2002)
Videos
- Faith Court Orchestra Subiaco, Perth, Australia, 2009