With a masterful symphony to his name, Elgar could stand comparison with any of his continental competition. Fortunately, the symphony was a resounding success from its premiere in Manchester on December 3, 1908, and was performed over 80 times around the world within the first year of its existence. The reception of Elgar’s First Symphony reflected not merely on himself, but on his nation, which had long been mocked by Germans as “das Land ohne Musik” (“the land without music”). Bach took up residence in London, and Haydn, Mendelssohn and Dvořák had all made significant visits (a young Elgar actually played violin in an orchestra conducted by Dvořák at a choral festival in 1884). Despite Britain’s poets, novelists, painters, scientists, playwrights and sprawling empire, for nearly two centuries British musical life had been dominated by foreigners: Handel and J. In addition to the “giants” behind him, Elgar faced pressure as the first British composer of orchestral music to ever win widespread international acclaim. Anxious about comparisons with the older master, Brahms did not complete his First Symphony until he was 43 years old, famously saying “You have no idea how it feels to one of us when he continually hears behind him such a giant!” The English composer Edward Elgar would not complete his First Symphony until he was 51, after first attempting this most prestigious of musical genres ten years earlier. The Footsteps of GiantsĪfter Beethoven, composing a symphony became a serious business. Learn more about this masterpiece and the context that inspired it in this post. On November 29 and December 1 and 2, the Houston Symphony welcomes renowned conductor Edo de Waart to Jones Hall for a performance of Elgar’s noble and passionate Symphony No. Above: Detail from Monet’s The Houses of Parliament, Sunset.
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