Elgar

LGAR.

€R«eST NEWMAN

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THE MUSIC OF "THE MASTERS

SBITED 'BY JVAKELING "DRY

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

MUSICAL STUDIES
WAGNER

A MUSICAL MOTLEY
STRAUSS

THE BODLEY HEAD

Reproduced by kindpe

SIR EDWARD ELGAR

szo}tJrot)i an original pJiotografh by Mr. Max MosselJ

THE MmiC OF THE MASTERS

ELGAR

BY ERNEST NEWMAN

JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LTD j

LONDON MCMXXII ]

THIRD EDITION

\ 0 8033
Hio

Printedin Grt&i Britmift

ij> Tumbuilif* Spt»rs, Edinbmf^

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGB

I. Early Works: Op. i to Op. 24 . , i

II. Cantatas 10

III. Oratorios •••••• 50

IV. Songs and Miscellaneous Works . 115

V. Larger Instrumental Works:

Marches, Overtures, etc. . .127

Appendix — Elgar and Programme

Music 177

List of Elgar's Published Works , 186

/ have to thank Messrs. Novello &> Co. Ltd. , and Messrs.

Boosey b' Co. , for courteously lending me several of Elgar's

full scores for the purpose of this book.

E, N.

THE
MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

CHAPTER I

EARLY WORKS : OP. I TO OP. 24

The great bulk of Elgar's early work is
slight in quality until we come to the
cantata The Black Knight (Op. 25). Of the
first twenty-four opus numbers, two alone
are of prime significance in the record of
his music — the Serenade for Strings (Op. 20),
and the Froissart overture (Op. 19). The
former will be considered later on in the
present chapter ; the latter, as the be-
ginning of the series of large instrumental
works that includes the Enigma Variations
and the Cockaigne and In the South over-
tures, will find its natural place in
Chapter V.

The remaining works of the early period,
as will be seen by a glance at the list of
Elgar's works given at the end of this

VOL. IV. A

2 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

volume, are experiments in various smaller
forms — songs, pieces for piano and violin,
part songs, slight pieces for small or-
chestra, &c.

Elgar was in his early days a violinist,
which accounts for so much of his youthful
work being written for the violin. Op. i
is a Romance for violin and orchestra (or
piano), melodious and refined, and already
exhibiting, in its seventh bar, a type of
phrase that has run through his work from
first to last.

Op. 2 is a short motet, Ave Verum, for
soprani, chorus and organ. The expression
is sincere if not very profound ; the deepest
note of feeling is struck in the concluding
bars.

Op. 3 is a duo for violin and piano, in-
scribed to " The Misses Gedge," and based
on the theme made by the G,E,D,G,E of
the ladies' name. It is a pleasant and
fluent little piece, exhibiting considerable
ingenuity in its dealing with the problem
of always keeping these five notes to the
front. This is well done both in the first
and final sections (in C major) and in the
middle section (in C minor) ; the theme
crops up in all kinds of places — piano and
violin, treble and bass — and in all kinds of

EARLY WORKS 3

rhythms. The only objection to the prin-
ciple in which the little piece is written is
that one finds oneself involuntarily spell-
ing all the notes, to see if any other words
are lurking under the musical surface.

Op. 7, Sevillana (" Scene Espagnole ") for
orchestra, is popular in its phraseology and
its ideas, and only here and there in it
can we catch a glimpse of the later Elgar.

Op. 10 consists of three short pieces :
(i) Mazurka, (2) Serenade Mauresque, (3)
Contrasts : The Gavotte, a.d. lyoo and. igoo.
The Mazurka is pleasing, but sounds no
distinctive note ; the first section is the
best, the remainder being somewhat negative
in cast. The Serenade Mauresqne repro-
duces sufficiently well on the whole the
grace and the languor we are accustomed
to associate with the south and east of
the world. In this respect the first and
last sections are more successful than the
middle one, where the music has hardly
any suggestion of the oriental. The Con-
trasts is a thoroughly delightful little piece
of work, more particularly the GavoUe of
1700. Elgar has rarely written anything
with more perfect old-world charm than
this ; the musician, too, will recognise some
ingenuity of device in the handling of it.

4 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The Sursmn Corda (adagio solenne) is
scored for strings, brass, and organ, the
wood-wind division of the orchestra being
dispensed with. Structural' y it is com-
posed of three sections — (i) a solemn open-
ing, followed by a broad melody rising to
a climax of intensity ; (2) a middle section
in quicker tempo and more agitated mood ;
and (3) a return to the devotional eleva-
tion of No. I. Here and there in the
music one perceives a foreshadowing, how-
ever shght, of Gerontius. The first section
begins and ends with a phrase —

that suggests a theme in Tannhauser's
Pilgrimage, to the words " And thousands
he forgave that day." The main melody
of the work —

is expressive and deeply felt.

Op. 12 is the famous Salut d^ Amour that
has probably spread Elgar's name further

EARLY WORKS 5

than any of his other compositions. The
horny-handed proletarian who never enters
a concert-room has it sung or played to
him every day by his little daughter ; it is
in the repertoire of every restaurant band ;
it assails us in every form of combination
known to the ingenuity of the arranger —
piano, violin and piano, two violins and
piano, flute and piano, clarinet and piano,
oboe and piano, mandoline and piano, two
mandolines and piano, two mandolines and
guitar (which must be appalling), and half-
a-dozen other styles : it has even been
published as a song with two distinct sets
of words. The little piece, however, is not
really half so bad as its popularity would
suggest. Its vein of sentiment is pretty
obvious, but it is not the obviousness of
the ordinary musical hireling ; and if we
can forgive the early Wagner the Bank-
Holiday-'Arry vulgarity of part of the
Rienzi overture, we can surely forgive
Elgar the bib-and-pinafore psychology of
the Salut d* Amour,

The Chanson, de Nuit and Chanson de
Matin (Op. 15), originally written for violin
and piano, have also been popular enough
to be issued in various arrangements. The
Chanson de Matin is sprightly and charming ;

b THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the Chanson de Nuit is of a higher order,
a night-piece of genuine feehng and rich
colour.

Op. 17, for violin and piano, is entitled
La Capricieuse ; it answers moderately well
to that title, but is in Elgar's weaker salon
manner.

The little Minuet (Op. 21) is of exquisite
quality. It was originally arranged for a
small orchestra (strings, flute, oboe, two
clarinets, bassoon, two horns and timpani),
or, as an alternative, for strings alone ; but
it makes an effective and charming piano
piece. It is one of the daintiest minuets
ever penned.

Op. 22 is " Six very easy melodious
exercises in the first position for violin,"
of pleasant and innocuous sentiment.

Op. 23, the Spanish Serenade, is a part-
song with orchestral accompaniment, set to
the verses " Stars of the summer night,"
from Longfellow's " Spanish Student." The
writing is pleasant and effective, and with
a strong effort of the imagination the
atmosphere may easily be taken to be
Spanish.

Op. 24 consists of five Etudes Carac-
terisiiques for violin — inventive and very
interesting.

EARLY WORKS 7

The most important of all Elgar's early
work, with the exception of the Froissarl
overture, is the String Serenade (Op. 20).
This is in three movements. The first
(allegro piacevole) opens with a little figure
in the violas —

that is put to plenty of use, both in this
and in the last movement. The main theme
is heard at th3 third bar —

The middle portion of the movement is
based on two phrases which are here shown
in connection —

5 A

P

— , -T' f^-

¥=W~

(No. 5x\ is first heard in the major, not in
the minor, as in this quotaton ; and it is
handled for a few bars before No. 5B enters.

8 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

This form of the phrases is selected partly
because it shows them in combination, and
partly because they reappear in the same
way in the finale.) The little figure No. 3
serves to re-introduce the first theme
(No. 4), which, treated on much the same
lines as before, ends the movement. It is
all very delicate and attractive in feeling
and felicitous in treatment ; it has much
ease and variety of phrasing, and each
fragment of the material is made to play
its part in the total effect in a very happy
way. Neither here nor in the other sections
of the Serenade, moreover, do we find the
composer falling into those mannerisms
of vocabulary and rhythm that so often
enable us to mark a tune of his as being
typicall}/ Elgarian.

The gem of the piece is the little larghetto
that forms the second movement — a pure
song- without- words. A brief prelude, in
which a fine effect is made by the successive
appearances of the same phrase in one
part after another, leads to the main sub-
ject— a long and flexible melody sung by
the first violins —

EARLY WORKS

-;^^^^^^^:^.c.

Upon its completion a few bars of con-
trasting matter are employed ; then No. 6
is repeated with great fulness and richness
of colour, an effect obtained by the broad
spacing-out of the melody in octaves and
the thickening of the harmony. The pre-
lude to the movement comes in at the
end, making a noble peroration. The whole
thing is extremely beautiful. The main
melody is one of the finest and most sus-
tained that ever came from Elgar's pen;
the expression is very tense and penetrating,
and the underlying emotion really comes
from the depths of the musical nature.

The last movement is an allegretto in 12-8
time, mainly based on the following phrase —

^^^=^^^^

=^^3^^^^^3^^=^^^^

but not reaching the same level of interest
or distinction as the two other movements.
The Serenade is happily rounded off by a
return to the figure No. 3, followed by
Nos. 5 A and 5B. Altogether the work,
though apparently so slight in texture, is
striking and original.

CHAPTER II

CANTATAS

Op. 25. The Black Knight.

Op. 30. King Olaf.

Op. 33. The Banner of St. George.

Op. 35. Caractacus.

Op. 44. Coronation Ode.

The Black Knight — described on the title-
page of the score as a Cantata — is said to
be called by the composer himself a " Sjnn-
phony for Chorus and Orchestra," a title
which it deserves by reason of the close-
ness of its texture and the concision and
economy in the use of its material. It is
set to a ballad of Uhland — " Der Schwarze
Ritter " — that has been translated into
broken-backed, spavined verse by Long-
fellow. An old king is celebrating " Pente-
cost, the Feast of Gladness," among his
children and his knights. His son is every-
where victorious in the tourney until a
sable knight rides to the barrier and dis-
comfits him in the first encounter. The
Scene then changes to the hall where the

CANTATAS

tl

guests are dancing. The black figure again
enters and dances with the king's daughter ;
at his chiUing touch the flowers in her
hair and breast fall faded to the ground.
At the banquet that follows, the old king,
" all distraught," gazes at his son and
daughter, lost in mournful reflection upon
their paleness. The black guest hands them
a beaker of wine, telling them it will make
them whole ; their faces grow colourless
when they have drained it, and they die
before the eyes of their " fear-struck father."
He appeals to the Black Knight to take
him too ; but the " grim guest " only re-
plies, " Roses in the spring I gather."

The English verse, as already hinted, is
not of a very high order, but its deficiencies
are hardly noticeable through the music ;
while the ballad as a whole, with its quick
dramatic narrative and its broad contrasts
of mood, is admirably adapted to a musical
setting. The first Scene, describing the
rejoicings and the tournament, is mainly
based on a sv/inging theme that is typical
Elgar —

12 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The choral writing is uncommonly spirited
and attractive, and the picture as a whole
ver}^ vividly drawn. Especially striking is
the section descriptive of the tournament,
with its vigorous vocal phrases and its fine
orchestral colouring.

In the second Scene the Black Knight
rides up to the barrier, accompanied by
stately, portentous music. The theme com-
mences quietty and rather mysteriously in
the clarinets and bassoons, and gradually
works up until it takes possession of the
whole orchestra. The crowd demands his
name and scutcheon. To their clamorous
cry there succeeds a very effective silence,
that is ultimately broken by a quiet echo
of the choral phrase in the orchestra.

"Should I speak it here
Ye would stand aghast with fear," —

replies the Knight in sombre tones. The
sinister colour of the Scene is greatly
heightened by two extremely effective chords
in bass clarinet and horn. Fragments of
the opening theme of this Scene are cleverly
used to keep before us the picture of the
Knight slowly and impressively advancing ;
the handling is already beginning to answer
to the epithet " symphonic." The dreadful

CANTATAS

rs

nature of the grim visitor is always more
and more definitely suggested as the theme
develops. His announcement, " I am a
Prince of mighty sway," is accompanied by
a motive none the less striking because
of its faint suggestion of a theme in The
Flying Dutchman —

'^^^^^m

The succeeding passage, descriptive of the
Knight riding into the lists and vanquishing
the king's son, is based on a frequently
recurring passage of rather undistinguished
mould; but the whole Scene is redeemed
by the dramatic strength of the music to
the words —

" The arch of heaven grew black with mist^
And the castle 'gan to rock," —

where the conception is extremely powerful.
In the description of the overthrowing of
the king's son by the Black Knight the
sinister phrase No. 9 is very suggestively
used, as well as another —
10

A

that is also much employed in the sequel

14 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

to represent the maleficent character of the
Knight ; and the Scene ends in a quiet way
that gives us a curious sensation of awe.

The third Scene — that of the dance —
opens wdth another melody that is wholly
characteristic of Elgar —

The whole Scene is charmingly fresh and
gracious, and orchestrated in the lightest
of colours, till the " mighty shadow "
enters ; here, while the chorus keep up
much the same movement as before, the
sinister No. 9 is heard surging up in the
dark tones of the basses, bassoons, and
bass clarinet. When the Knight dances
with the king's daughter—

" Danced in sable iron sark,
Danced a measure weird and dark," —

the new dance is set in an appropriate
atmosphere of trouble and foreboding ; one
can literally see the scared courtiers huddling
together and whispering their fears to each
other. There is some particularly expressive
WTiting at the words —

" From breast and hair
Down fall from her the fair

Flowerets, faded, to the ground,"—

CANTATAS 15

where No. lo is heard winding its way in
and out on a solo horn.

The fourth Scene — the banquet — opens
with another of those broad and pleasant
melodies, to which one can find no valid
objection, except that they have a slight
air of fluent obviousness and do not cut
quite deeply enough. The Scene as a whole,
however, is dramatic and veracious, and
good use is made of theme No. 9 in the
'cellos and bass clarinet, combined with
No. 10 in violins and clarinet, when the son
and daughter take the deadly beaker from
the Knight. The unaccompanied chorus
describing the fainting children embracing
their father is musically expressive, but is
slightly marred by occasional clumsiness in
the vocal phrasing — as when the composer
runs *' son and daughter ; and their faces "
into one unbroken musical sentence, sepa-
rated from what comes before and after.
No. 10 is prominent throughout. When the
old king speaks of his children being taken
away " in the joy of youth " there is a
brief choral and orchestral reference to the
joyous strains of the opening of the work
(No. 8). The king's cry " Take me too, the
joyless father," is exceedingly poignant.
When the " grim guest " speaks " from his

l6 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

hollow, cavernous breast," we have a modi-
fication in the orchestra of No. 9 and No. 10
in combination, and a repetition of the
hollow, sinister chords in horn and bass
clarinet to which reference has already
been made as accompanying him on his
entry into the tournament. The words of
the Black Knight — " Roses in the spring I
gather " — are appropriately succeeded by
an outburst of Nos. 9 and 10 fortissimo in
the full orchestra. The work is rounded off
with tender reminiscences of the buoyant
theme (No. 8) with which it opened.

Altogether The Black Knight is a very
striking little work. In 1893 it must have
made every thoughtful hearer realise that
its composer was a man of exceptional
latent strength : and even now, after
Gerontius and other later compositions of
Elgar, one still listens to it with alert
interest. It is for the most part decidedly
personal to Elgar, showing few traces of
other men's influence. It is all quite
sincere and real, exhibiting in embryo those
qualities of dramatic sympathy that later
on, when expended upon a theme that
caught up Elgar's whole nature into itself,
was to result in the unerring psychological
characterisation of The Dream of Gerontius ;

CANTATAS I7

and there is the germ of the now familiar
mastery of the orchestra, making the score
always a delight for its mingling of sensuous
beauty and graphic truth.

It was to the tepid muse of Longfellow,
again, that Elgar had recourse for the next
of his cantatas, Scenes from the Saga of King
Olaf, based upon the " Heimskringla," a col-
lection of sagas of the Kings of Norway
written by the Icelander Snorre Sturlesson,
about 1 150. Longfellow's poem not fitting
in at every point with the musical scheme,
Elgar has interpolated here and there a
number of pedestrian verses by Mr. H. A.
Acworth ; they are poor but honest.

The composer has prefixed to his score this
note : "In the following Scenes it is in-
tended that the performers should be looked
upon as a gathering of skalds (bards) ; all,
in turn, take part in the narration of the
saga, and occasionally, at the more dramatic
points, personif}/ for the moment some im-
portant character." There is no overture
or prelude, but the orchestra gives out five
bars of a m3^steriously melancholy theme
that is always used in the work to represent
the old book of sagas. At the sixth bar
the chorus enter quietly, and tell of this
book of wonderful old legends, in which may

VOL. IV. 5

l8 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

be found " the story that we now begin."
This brief introduction is extremely im-
pressive, bringing us at once into the right
atmosphere — heroic, sad, and romantic — of
the sagas.

A bass soloist, in a short recitative,
summons Thor, the god of thunder. In
this we hear, in a modified form, the phrase
shown in example No. 13, which later on
becomes characteristic of the forceful pagan
god. The chorus follows with the long
Challenge of Thor. The god of thunder,
the son of Odin, speaks of his might and
the power of his hammer ; the crimson light
streaming from the heavens is his red beard ;
his eyes are the lightning, the wheels of his
chariot the thunder, the blows of his hammer
the earthquake. He is the embodiment of
brute force : —

" Force rules the world still,
Has ruled it, shall rule it ;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant ;
Over the whole earth
Still is it Thor's-Day."

The chorus is very dramatic, and particu-
larly fine use is made of a hasso ostinato.
The typical Thor motive is heard at the
commencement —

CANTATAS

19

I am the God Thor, I am the War God,

At the words, " This is my hammer, Miolner
the mighty," we have the theme already
referred to as S3miboHcal of Thor's rude
energy—

This is my hammer, Mi-61-ner the mighty.

At the words —

" The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard,
Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations," —

the viohns play round theme No. 12 with
sharp tongues of flame. When Thor ad-
dresses the Galilean God, the chorus sing
No. 12 softly in unison, while the violas
and clarinets accompany with No. 13. The
defiance of the Galilean, and the challenge
to single combat, are delivered to a vigorous
version of No. 13.

20 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Olaf hears the challenge and sails north-
ward into Drontheim fiord to accept it.
The hasso ostinato keeps the cry of Thor in
our ears, and the sparkling violin figure
reminds us again of " the red light in the
sky " that Olaf sees. From a long and
beautiful tenor solo we dimly learn the
history and the motives of Olaf, for the
clear realisation of which, however, we must
go to the Saga itself. King Tryggve had
been killed by Queen Gunhild. His wife,
Astrid, took to flight, and in exile gave
birth to Olaf. The boy had many adven-
tures, proving himself at the age of ten to
be of heroic texture. He sailed many seas
and raided many lands ; was converted to
Christianity by a hermit in the SciUy
Islands and baptized, but still kept up a
healthy pagan interest in piracy and blood-
letting. Ultimately he is recalled to Nor-
way, whither he goes, urged by a complica-
tion of motives — the desires to win back
his kingdom, to avenge his father, and to
promote the new faith. The libretto of
Elgar's work is a very imperfect thing, and
in this Scene we come upon the first of a
series of flaws in the structure. After the
heathen outcry of Thor, the challenge to
the Galilean God, and the acceptance of

CANTATAS 21

the challenge by Olaf, we naturally expect
the action here to hinge upon the strife
between the two religions. But in the
story of Olaf's return there is barely the
shadow of a hint of this. What we are
told is that —

" To avenge his father slain^
And reconquer realm and reign
Came the youthful Olaf home."

The motivation of the story is thus already
approaching chaos.

Whatever faults there may be in the
libretto at this point, however, one almost
forgets them under the spell of the music.
The solo tells how Olaf, sailing through the
midnight, muses upon the memory of his
mother, the tales she had told him of her
flight, his contests with grim Vikings, his
" cruisings o'er the seas," his baptism by
the hermit — all to music that still remains
among the finest Elgar has written, music
of a singularly lucid, limpid beauty, full of
magical suggestion, and flowing with an
ease that Elgar's vocal writing does not
always exhibit.

One or two musical motives here require
quotation. The " Sailing " motive is used
to accompany the recital of Olaf's voyage —

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

As he flings out defiance of Thor, the
theme representative of Olaf's heroic char-
acter comes out —

15 - A

When he thinks of his mother A^strid, her
theme — one of the most beautiful in the
whole work — is heard in the softest and
tenderest of orchestral colour —

The description of his personal beauty and
grace — Carlyle calls him " the wildly beauti-
fulest man, in body and soul, that one has
ever heard ot in the North " — is based on
a theme of picturesque charm, that need
not, however, be quoted here.

In a unison chorus, accompanied by
fugitive suggestions of the " Sailing " motive
(No. 14), we are told how Olaf and his men

CANTATAS 23

come to land. They are met by the pagans,
led by one Ironbeard ; he has a typical
theme of his own, upon which is constructed
the chorus that tells of their assembling to
meet Olaf . The king blows his bugle-call —

a stirring phrase given to trumpets and
trombones, and combined with the heroic
theme No. 15. Olaf invites the pagans to
become Christians. Ironbeard refuses ; pro-
minent in his solo is the theme of "Thor"
shown in No. 13. Olaf raises his axe and
shatters the golden image of Thor. Iron-
beard springs forward murderously, but is
shot by a retainer of Olaf, and dies affirm-
ing his faith in his old gods. The music as
a whole is somewhat characterless, except
in Ironbeard's monologue, where we get
the poignant accents of reality. A fine
chorus describes how the men of Drontheim
were converted : Olaf exhorts them to
*' pass the gods of the Gothland," ^ and
aU join in a solemn chorale-like prayer.

1 "Pass the gods of the Gothland ; your serfdom shall cease
For the sacrifice bloody I offer you peace :
The peace of the Christian " —
he says in Mr. Acworth's verses. This is the marauding

24 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Olaf weds Ironbeard's daughter, Gudrun,
thus hoping to pay his wergild for the
slaying of her father. On the bridal night
she means to kill Olaf ; but he wakens and
catches the gleam of the dagger in the moon-
light. She tries to make him believe it is
the bodkin used to bind her hair, but the
king sees through her purpose, and at dawn
of day she rides away from him for ever.
The Scene opens with the violins shimmering
gently in octaves in the higher register,
while the flutes slowly give out the typical
"Gudrun" theme, that has been already
heard in the preceding Scene, when her name
was mentioned with that of her father Iron-
beard. The theme is also much used during
the ensuing recital, by the soprano, of
Gudrun' s resolve to avenge her father, and
again in the comments of the chorus. The
orchestral colour becomes appropriately
tenuous and mysterious as Gudrun ap-
proaches the couch of the sleeping king.
Her explanation when he wakens, and the
ensuing duet with Olaf, are rather lacking
in dramatic character.

gentleman whose object — avowed a few pages earlier — in
returning to Norway has been " to avenge his father slain.''
The character is a mere muddle throughout ; at one moment
he is a bluff pirate-chieftain, at another a pious Sunday-
school teacher.

CANTATAS 25

At the end of the dialogue Olaf's bugle
call is heard in the veiled tone of a muted
trumpet — the impression of darkness and
of nervous human tension being thus ad-
mirably preserved — and in a few lines the
chorus tell of the departure of Gudrun.

The religious side of the picture comes
forward again in the next Scene — "The
Wraith of Odin." A skald, to the accom-
paniment of the "Saga" motive, bids the
bards sing the story of how the wraith of
Odin appeared. This is done in a long
choral ballad. Olaf and his guests are
feasting ; the door swings open, and a one-
eyed man, with cloak and hood, enters the
hall. The orchestra, by giving out the
motive previously allotted to Odin, make
us aware who the visitor is. He accepts a
draught of ale from the king, and then, seat-
ing himself at the table, tells old sagas.
Here the " Saga " themes of the introduction
are woven into the orchestral tissue with
fine effect. There is, indeed, some par-
ticularly good choral writing at this point,
some of the thematic reminiscences being
very striking. The king falls asleep ; when
he awakes next morning, the strange guest
has gone, though all the doors are barred,
and none — not even the watch-dogs — had

26 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

seen him pass. This is told in awed mono-
tone by the chorus, their phrases being
interspersed with mysterious and suggestive
phrases in the bassoons and clarinets. Olaf
now realises that Odin, the old pagan god,
is indeed dead, and that the mysterious
stranger was his wraith. Before he comes
to this conclusion it is again made clear to
us by the "Odin" theme recurring in the
orchestra as the passing of "the stranger"
is referred to. When Olaf speaks of Odin
being dead, and of the visit of his wraith
being a symbol of the triumph of the
Christian faith, we have a repetition of
the music of the hjrmn that was sung at
the end of the Scene of the conversion at
Drontheim. The Scene just ended is mostly
very graphic in its characterisation, and a
curiously impressive effect is produced by
the repetition every now and then of the
monotonous ballad-burden " Dead rides Sir
Morten of Fogelsang."

The greatest fault of the libretto is its
patchiness. As its title indicates, it is not
an organic piece of work, but merely 5c^w^s
from the Saga of King Olaf. It is like
watching the cinematograph ; one set of
characters is whisked off the sheet, and
another set whisked on, without any con-

CANTATAS 27

nection between them. A certain Sigrid
now appears. She is the ruler of Svithiod,
and Olaf desires to marry her. He comes
with his spearmen, and exhorts the queen
to give up her old gods and- become a
Christian. When she refuses, he becomes
grossly rude —

" I will give my body and soul to flame
Ere I take to my heart a heathen dame :
Thou hast not beauty^ thou hast not youth;
Shall I buy thy lajtd at the cost of truth f " —

from which it appears that, however zealous
for the faith he may have been, he had a
keen eye for the material side of the
bargain ; and presumably he would have
been willing to marry Sigrid and put up
with her plainness of person and her ad-
vanced years, if he could only have had the
land and her conversion. He smites the
lady on the cheek with his glove and de-
parts— altogether he is a sweet specimen
of the convert. The characterisation is all
quite congruous if we take the man as a
product of his times ; but it is a mistake
for a modern composer to wrap this raw
being in religious music and make him pose
as a kind of bulwark of the faith.

In the brief preliminary recitative of the

28 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

skald we get the representative motive of
Sigrid's hate —

grid wrought for his . . uu - do-iug.

(This becomes of further importance to-
wards the end of the work, for it is through
the machinations of Sigrid that Olaf ulti-
mately meets his doom.) The chorus that
tells the story of Sigrid is for female voices
only ; the music is fluent and spirited.
There is a certain amount of courtly charm
in the opening of the dialogue between Olaf
and Sigrid, but as a whole it lacks point.
There is distinct character, however, in the
spitfire music that is set to Sigrid's angry
championship of her old gods. Very fine,
too, are the brief excited chorus that
narrates the smiting of Sigrid with Olaf's
glove, and the final soliloquy of the queen,
trembling with suppressed passion, after the
king has ridden away. Her last words,
" Sigrid yet shall be Olaf's death," are sung
to theme No. i8.

Another lady now appears — one Thyri,
who, to avoid marrying old King Burislaf
of Wenland, flies for protection to the court
of Olaf. He weds the maiden, though this

CANTATAS 29

act means war with Svend the Dane (her
brother) and King Burislaf. All this is
told in a superb choral ballad — supposed
to be a recapitulation of the gossip of the
town, brought by " a little bird in the air."
The long movement is one of the very finest
things ever done by Elgar. The narrative
is consummately easy and fluent ; the
music has all the fragrant romance and at
the same time all the iron strength of the
old saga ; at the passage —

" For surely, if here she remain,
It is war with King Svend the Dane,
And King Burislaf the Vend,"—

there is a huge, full-throated outburst that
is magnificently suggestive of letting loose
the dogs of war. Another fine effect is in
the final repetition of the refrain of the
ballad " Hoist up your sails of silk " (vocal
score, p. 120), where the tenors sharply
catch up the refrain from the basses in an
unexpected key. The whole thing is a
masterpiece.

Thyri next sings that although everything
else is happy in the spring, she is miserable,
brooding over the loss of her lands. Olaf
enters ; she confides her troubles to him,
and he promises to fight for the recovery

3Q THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

of her lands. Thyri's opening solo is some-
what characterless, only very faintly con-
veying an impression of the queen's sorrow ;
nor does Elgar greatly shine in love-music.
The Scene as a whole, indeed, is rather
tepid, and Thyri a colourless figure ; while
Olaf trips it like an Edwin Long young
man in a Dendy Sadler garden.

The outraged Sigrid becomes the bride of
King Svend, whom she goads into war with
Olaf. At the end of the Skald's introduc-
tion to the Sigrid episode there was a short
phrase heard in the cor anglais, accompany-
ing the words " the insult and the wrong."
This is now employed again to recall the
passionate figure of Sigrid to us. The
verbal references to her are of course ac-
companied by the t3rpical " Sigrid" motive.
When the chorus speak of Svend sailing to
seek Olaf, we hear in the orchestra the
" Sailing " motive (No. 14), in counterpoint
with the theme just mentioned of Sigrid's
insult. A fragment of the previous love-
duet with Thyri also recurs, as if to suggest
the happiness that is soon to be so rudely
disturbed ; while a further foreshadowing
of the coming tragedy is had when the
trombones give out fortissimo the theme
of Sigrid's revenge (No. 18).

CANTATAS 31

The sailing of Olaf and his fleet is graphi-
cally depicted in a spirited chorus, in which
a number of the previous motives are heard
again. The picture of the king on the deck
" with war-axe grasped in both his hands "
is accompanied by the theme representative
of his personal beauty, from the Scene in
which he first appeared. The words, " First
of his fleet he leads the van," are sung
fortissimo by tenors and basses to the theme
of Olaf's bugle-call (No. 17), reinforced by
oboes and horns ; while during the follow-
ing words, " And seeks the battle, man to
man," the same theme is reiterated with
fine defiance by horns and trumpets. The
recital of the enemy swarming to the en-
counter is accompanied by the spiteful
figure already referred to in connection with
Sigrid's championship of her gods. The
** Sailing" motive is used at "King Olafs
galley sweeps along," and at the words,
" Woe, woe for Norroway," the typical
theme of "Sigrid" is heard.

The defeat of Olaf is finely painted, much
use again being made of themes associated
with him in the beautiful Scene of his first
appearance. At the words, " Thy latest
fight is fought in vain," we have the motive
of Sigrid's vengeance (No. 18) in chorus and

32 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

orchestra, accompanied by the deep tolhng
of a bell ; and at the words —

" No more the glittering crest
Shall victory pluck from ruin's verge," —

there is a last reminiscence of the theme
of Olaf's beauty. In a final orchestral
passage we have a melancholy version of the
great " Olaf " theme (No. 15). The Scene as
a whole is extremely impressive, and the in-
terweaving and blending of typical themes
are remarkably ingenious.

The Scene changes to the convent at
Drontheim, where Astrid, the mother of
Olaf, is praying at midnight ; the pre-
liminary narrative is of course accompanied
by " Astrid's" theme (No. 16). Outside in
the darkness she hears a voice — that of St.
John — speaking of the final triumph of
Christ, the God of Love. The chorus sing
St. John's words, accepting the pagan chal-
lenge of battle and predicting the victory
of love, to a reminiscence of the music of
the challenge of Thor (No. 12) and other
of the pagan themes, including No. 13.
Their character, however, is now greatly
softened. There is a falling-off of interest
in the remainder ol the work until just
before the end, when a return to the " Saga "

CANTATAS 33

motive of the opening serves to make a
quiet and impressive finish.

The Ubretto of King Olaf is exceedingly
defective, and its scrappiness and dis-
join tedness must be held answerable for
much of the failure of the music to compose
itself into an organic whole. Any real con-
tinuity of expression or of psychology is
impossible with a succession of disconnected
scenes, in which various people come up
for a moment and then disappear to be
heard of no more. Nor can music delineate
character consistently when there is no
consistent character given it to delineate
by the librettist. The climax of absurdity
is reached at the end, where Olaf, who has
been drawn as a quarrelsome, high-spirited,
land-grabbing, bad-mannered, courageous
viking — a real creature of his day — is made
to figure as a saint in whose life and death
are symbolised the struggle and triumph
of the Christian faith. When the chorus
sing, in the last scene —

" Cross against Corslet,
Love against hatred,
Peace-cry for War-cry," —

and the rest of it, one wonders what all
this has to do with the sturdy pirate who

VOL. IV. C

34 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

has gone into his last fight for the express
purpose of wresting territory from his
enemies — inspired thereto by the Hght of
his lady's " radiant eyes." All through the
cantata there is the same alternate pre-
sentation of Olaf as the pirate and the
saint. With a book so fundamentally poor
it is astonishing that Elgar should have
been able to do so much ; when a clear
issue is presented to him, and both the
situation and the verse lend themselves to
musical treatment, he rises to great heights.
There is rare beauty and consummate power
in much of the writing.

The Banner of St. George is a slight work
that does not bulk very largely in the total
output of its composer. The verses, by
Mr. Shapcott Wensley, deal with the old
story of the dragon that devastates Sylene
until the maiden Sabra offers herself to
him as a sacrifice to save the town. St.
George of Cappadocia appears, liberates the
maiden, and slays the dragon. An epilogue
rhapsodises upon the English flag in the
customary patriotic drum- thumping vein.
There is some expressive writing in the
cantata, though the general level reached
by the music is not a remarkably high one.
It is conceived in a somewhat obvious vein

CANTATAS 35

of sentiment, and the patriotic chorus at
the end touches no deeper springs than is
generally done by this class of composition.

With Caractacus, Elgar makes a bolder
flight than any he had hitherto attempted ;
here, on page after page of the score, we
have a foretaste of the deeper thinker and
more expert craftsman of the Variations
and Gerontius.

The libretto is by Mr. H. A. Acworth,
who, as we saw, had a hand in King Olaf ;
the verse is respectable, but jog-trot and
square-toed, and not exactly an ideal basis
for music. The first Scene represents the
British camp on the Malverns, at night ;
Caractacus and the British host are enter-
ing the camp. A brief orchestral prelude,
in which we hear the typical motive
of Caractacus —

paints the subdued commotion of the camp ;
this works up to a spirited chorus, in which
the Britons (male and female), tell of the
Roman invasion, and exhort each other to
a heroic resistance. There is a theme char-
acteristic of the British soldiers, and one

36

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

relating to the Romans, which latter is of
importance later on —

^.^^m

Caractacus addresses them ; then he goes
to the foot of a mound by the spring of
Taranis, and soliloquises upon the past con-
flicts and the issue the future may bring ;
his references to Rome are accompanied by
some fine modifications of No. 20. For a
moment he wavers and believes the end
has come ; then hi nerves himself up to
one last great struggle with Rome ; here
his own theme (No. 19), is naturally
prominent.

He is accosted by his daughter Eigen,
who has come attended by her lover Orbin,
a minstrel. " Eigen' s " theme comes out
suavely in the violin —

and " Orbin's " in the 'ceUos—

CANTATAS 37

She tells her father of her meeting with a
Druid maiden, who has declared that the
Britons, if they wish to be victorious, must
encounter the Romans in the depth of the
forest. Her narration is set to pleasant,
fluent music. The three join in a trio in
which they hope that the omens, which are
to be taken next day, will be favourable to
the British ; then they descend the hill. The
mention of the meeting of the Druids in the
sacred oak-grove, in order to take the omens,
is accompanied by the " Druids " motive,
which becomes of importance later on —

^^

The Spirits of the Hill sing softly over the
sleeping monarch, and the Scene closes
with the sentries, in the distance, again
uttering their call of " Watchmen alert ! "
that has been appearing at intervals since
the opening of the work.

The second Scene is the sacred oak grove
by the tomb of the kings, where the Druids,
Druidesses, and Bards are assembled, to-
gether with the Arch-Druid and Orbin.
The " Druids " theme (No. 23) is of course
prominent — the orchestral prelude being

38 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

founded on it — and there are many refer-
ences to motives that have already ap-
peared in the previous Scene when the
mistletoe and the Druidesses were mentioned.
A mystic dance round the sacred oak is in
progress ; then Taranis is invoked to de-
scend and announce what is to be. The
choruses lack the right imaginative quality,
and convey hardly any sense of the scene
and the emotions of the personages con-
cerned in it. Orbin reads the omens, which
are unfavourable to the Britons ; as he says
he sees " an eagle flying with beak and
talons red," the orchestra plays sugges-
tively with the theme of the Roman power
(No. 20) ; the bulk of the texture of the
music at this point, indeed, is made up of
references to themes already heard. The
Arch-Druid resolves to hide the truth from
Caractacus, and when the king enters he
is told that victory has been foretold for
him. The vocal phrases (founded on a
melody previously associated with Britain)
are quite lacking in dignity. He resolves
to take the offensive ; his aria and the
succeeding chorus are based on a " sword"
motive of spirited character. Orbin makes
a protest, but is cursed and cast out by
the Arch-Druid and the rest. Throwing

CANTATAS 39

down his harp, he rushes off, determined
to exchange the minstrel's role for that of
the warrior. The final chorus of curses is
based on some very fine metamorphoses
of various themes, chiefly those of the
"Druids" and "Orbin" (Nos. 23 and 22).
The third Scene is at morning in the
forest of the Severn. A pleasant orchestra]
prelude introduces a chorus of youths and
maidens, who sing as they weave sacred
garlands. The chorus is not a success ; it
achieves simplicity at the cost of dis-
tinction. Eigen enters ; she has appointed
to meet Orbin here. Her solo expresses
her joy and syrapathy with the loving life
of Nature. The music comes perilously
near the trivial, for which the Clifton
Binghamesque quality of the verse must
no doubt be held largely responsible. Orbin
appears, and tells her of the catastrophe
of the previous scene, and of his resolve
to fight for his country. The chorus softly
break in upon his speech with their earlier
strains, and for a little while the dialogue
betv/een the lovers is carried on against
this choral background ; then, in a duet,
they sing of their aspiration for life in a
land where all is peace and love. As usual
in his love-duets, Elgar falls much below

40 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the general level of his music. On occasions
like this his characters become mere marion-
nettes, talking the commonplaces of the
novelette ; his musical idiom degenerates
into a facile but inexpressive 12-8 or 9-8
rhythm, and the personages are as little
like ancient Britons as Mr. Maurice Hew-
lett's lollipop warriors in sugar armour are
like mediaeval knights.

Scene IV. is set in the Malvern Hills.
The maidens are disturbed by rumours of
misfortune to the British arms ; their
chorus is full of troubled, agitated phrases
and figures. Eigen tells them that again
she has met the Druid girl, who once more
has cursed Caractacus and prophesied defeat
for him if he leaves the forest to fight.
The recital is of course accompanied by
references to the themes that appeared in
Eigen's similar narrative in the first Scene.
Caractacus and the remnant of his warriors
enter in disorder ; they narrate the story
of their defeat in a chorus of poignant ex-
pression ; especially noticeable is a wailing
syncopated theme at the words, " And all
day the mighty battle." Then Caractacus
and his soldiers break out into a long
lament in 7-4 time — a powerful and vera-
cious piece of writing.

CANTATAS 4I

The fifth Scene is very short. It opens
with an orchestral reminiscence of the
phrases heard in the first Scene, where
Caractacus, as if foreseeing the tragic end
of his struggle, sings " But it ends. Freedom
ends, and power and glory." The Druid
maidens have a mournful chorus as the
British captives embark in the Roman
galleys ; at the same time the clarinets give
out expressively the theme to which the
Druid maiden previously warned the Britons
of their coming doom. A bard joins in the
lamentation, and a ceaselessly flowing figure
in the strings suggests the Severn lapping
the bars " with sob and cry." The main
motive is that symbolical of the captive
Britons —

When the voices end, the orchestra con-
tinues the strains ; with these there gradu-
ally mingle suggestions of the theme of the
Roman triumph (No. 20), and we enter
without a break into the sixth Scene — in
Rome.

Here the " Roman" theme is developed into
a grand triumphal march of gorgeous colour-
ing ; much use is made of a figure that

42 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

appeared in Caractacus' opening solo at the
words, " Rome has heard my wheel-blades
rattle." Eigen, Orbin, and Caractacus and
the other captives pass along ; there is a
lull in the triumphal clamour, in which we
hear the theme of the captive Britons
(No. 24). Then the march is resumed.
Soon —

" The Emperor fills the curule chair,
The captives halt before."

Claudius bids Caractacus plead for mercy ;
the Briton proudly refuses to bow the knee,
says that they fought only in defence of
liberty, and asks the emperor to do his
worst on him, sparing the others. A theme
to which Caractacus had in the first Scene
invited his soldiers to rest recurs at the
words, "We lived in peace; was that a
crime to thee ? " while at " We dwelt
among our woodlands," there is an allusion
to the forest music heard in the third
Scene. Themes from the chorus of the
soldiers after their defeat are also heard,
and the " Captives" motive (No. 24), at the
words, "Now all is lost." Caractacus' proud
declaration, " My soul alone remains un-
shackled still," is followed by his theme
(No. 19), first in the horns, then in the

CANTATAS 43

trombones. Eigen and Orbin break in with
a short duet of regret for the woodlands
of the Habren (the Severn) ; it is based
on reminiscences of their earher love-duet.
The Roman citizens demand the death of
the captives. Caractacus pleads for mercy
for his daughter and her lover, who in
their turn repudiate the appeal. The
Romans again clamour for their death, but
Claudius declares they shall not die, but
live in peace and safety in Rome. The four
principals join in a quartet of conventional
sentiment about freedom being lost, but
" hope, memory, love, shall hide our golden
chain." The music is largely based on a
theme that has already been heard in the
earlier scene between Caractacus and Eigen
(Vocal Score, p. 28). The work concludes
with a chorus that is a serious blot on
the dramatic scheme. The actors are in-
vited to —

" Brood
On glorious ages coming,
And Kings of British blood."

This passing away of Rome and the rise of
the British Empire are foretold ; and the
cantata ends with much conventional
doggerel about Britain and the slave and

44 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the rest of it and the vision of a time
when —

" The nations all shall stand
And hymn the praise of Britain,

If the Roman populace is supposed to sing
this, the whole thing is flatly nonsensical ;
if it is merely the choral society of the
town that thrusts its head through the
canvas in this way/ it is a lamentably
inept manner of finishing up the work. The
verse is commonplace, and could inspire no
musician ; and the ending of the chorus
is unfortunately based on one of the most
banal themes in the whole work — that to
which the Arch-Druid, in Scene II., sings —

" Go forth, O king, to conquer,
And all the land shall know,
When falls thy charmed sword-edge, .
In thunder on the foe."

The cantata is thus made to end in a sputter
of bathos and rant.

Much of the vocal writing in Caractacus
is awkward, not in the sense that it is
difficult to sing, but that time after time
the union of words and music seems a

^ Though this view seems to be negatived by the words
first quoted above.

CANTATAS 45

forced one — each seems an impediment to
the other instead of a help. It is a feature
that recurs every now and then in all
Elgar's vocal work. Many a phrase is good
orchestral but bad vocal idiom — a point
that may be brought home to the reader
most effectually by recalling to his mind
a typical example, the " Angel's Farewell "
in Gerontius. The melodic line is suave and
well articulated in the orchestra, but is far
less happy when the words are fitted to it ;
and in passages like " Shall aid thee at the
Throne of the Most Highest " (Vocal Score,
p. 169) the effect is positively clumsy.
Elgar's writing for the voice is sometimes
accurate and searching ; but it is often very
infelicitous, and perhaps more examples of
this infelicity occur in Caractacus than any-
where else in his work.

He has been unfortunate, too, in his
libretto. The verse is colourless, and no-
thing like a clearly cut dramatic personage
exists in the whole poem, so that any vital
psychological characterisation is made an
impossibility to the composer of such a
text at the outset. Orbin and Eigen are
like Eric in The Flying Dutchman — lay
figures that can do everything but breathe
and look living. Caractacus comes nearer

4 6 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

realisation, but even he is not a real being
as Gerontius, for example, is real. Yet in
spite of all these defects — which, it must
be rem'^mbered, lie primarily at the door
of the librettist, not at that of the com-
poser— Caractacus is in great part a vigorous
and striking work, glowing with colour,
and, in the choral and orchestral portions,
at any rate, achieving many a fine feat
of expression. A work lying next in
opus number to the great Enigma Variations
could hardly fail to contain many notable
things. It has not the sheer melodic charm
of King Olaf, but on the other hand it is
always striving after a bigger utterance
than we have in that work. It does not
always reach what it strives after ; its
intention is often better than its achieve-
ment ; but none the less it gives us a
strong impression of real power.

In literary quality his next cantata — the
Coronation Ode, the words of which are by
Mr. A. C. Benson — surpassed anything he
had yet set to music. A majestic and im-
posing opening, in Elgar's largest overture-
style, recapitulating leading themes of the
work, leads into a broad chorus, " Crown
the King with life," that is interspersed
with work for the four principals, and

CANTATAS 47

touches upon various moods. The effect is
always imposing and ceremonial, and some-
times reaches real grandeur. At the end,
the well-known theme of one of the Pomp
and Circumstance Marches (Ex. No. 92)
is introduced, the setting being for the four
solo voices and chorus, mostly in unison,
and orchestra.

The following chorus, " Daughter of
ancient kings," is lacking in distinction,
and unworthy of a place in the work. Then
comes a bass solo with chorus of tenors
and basses — " Britain, ask of thyself, and
see that thy sons be strong." It begins in
rather too colloquial terms, but in time
expands into a bluff, big-throated hearti-
ness that captuies us in spite of ourselves.
The movement has a good many analogies
with the better patriotic verse of Mr.
Kipling.

The soprano and tenor soli that follow,
" Hark, upon the hallowed air," contains
much fluent writing of a type that has been
made familiar to us by many pages in the
earlier cantatas, but that does not strike
quite far enough home. The succeeding
quartet, " Only let the heart be pure,"
would be more effective if it were not that
by this time Elgar's peculiarly sinuous use

48 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

of 9-8 and 12-8 time, and of triplets in
ccmmon time, begins to strike us as a
mannerism. Still the part- writing is very
interesting. The next movement — an un-
accompanied quartet and chorus, " Peace,
gentle Peace," written to perhaps the most
poetical words in the Ode — is broad, digni-
fied, and full of beautiful and sincere feeling.
The Finale (contralto solo and tutti) —
*' Land of Hope and Glory " — is a distended
and glorified version of the familiar March-
tune (Ex. No. 92). Its vocal form can
hardly be called a success, either here or
in the song-arrangement that has been
published. In the first place it is married
to the words much against its own will ;
in the second place, in spite of the hearti-
ness of the tune, it reaUy will not bear
the attempt to make it look heroic. It is
dignified in just the right kind of way in
its proper place in the March, but when
it is dressed up in the pompous sentiments
of the Coronation Ode its clothes seem
several sizes too large for it. The crown-
ing of a king in these days is not the stuff
out of which great art can be made ; but
when the Coronation Ode was written Elgar
was at the height of his powers as a musician,
and could hardly fail to turn out a work

CANTATAS 49

pompous in phrase and opulent in colour.
Occasionally it falls below the level of his
average writing, occasionally it rises to some
height above it. Its great defect is that,
as in all his works when he has not a poetic
theme that moves him through and through,
fluency takes the place of genuine inspira-
tion, and all his most familiar mannerisms
of melody, harmony, and rhythm have too
free a play.

VOL. IV.

CHAPTER III

ORATORIOS

Op. 29. Lux Christi (The Light of Life).
Op. 38. The Dream of Gerontius.
Op. 49. The Apostles.

The Light of Life is the second name of an
oratorio that first appeared as Lux Christi.
The text, founded on the story of Jesus
heahng the man bhnd from his birth, is
partly the work of the Rev. E. Capel-Cure,
partly arranged by him from Scripture. It
is a t3^ical English oratorio, with its blend
of narration, dramatic impersonation, and
choral sentiment, and has all the ineradi-
cable faults of this kind of libretto. In the
music the later Elgar is not yet fully re-
vealed, though there are some sections of it
that exhibit great power and beauty.

It is the only work of this kind by Elgar,
with the exception of The Dream of Gerontius,
that has an orchestral prelude. That to
The Light of Life is called a " Meditation,"
and is sometimes played as a separate

ORATORIOS

51

concert piece. It opens with a solemn
meditative theme, that is succeeded by the
motive of the anguish of the bhnd man,
given to the horns —

with a supplementary theme — •

expressive of his longing for light. Worked
up to a climax, it dies down into a theme
that appears in the oratorio as accompani-
ment to Jesus' words, " I must work the
works of Him that sent me," and later to
the words, " I am the Light of the world."

i

i

^^i^^^

T-

-m ^'=^

This, with references to No. 26, leads to an
important theme —

28

i^a

g^gi-^

52 THE IVrUSIC OF THE MASTERS

specially appropriated to Jesus as the light-
giver.^ With this the prelude ends.

A chorus of Levites (tenors and basses)
is at once heard, within the Temple courts,
singing in praise of the Lord. The 'cellos
and bassoons frequently reiterate the solemn
theme with which the prelude opened, and
later on, at the words, " Who hath made
great lights," a modification of No. 28 peals
out in the full orchestra with fine effect.
The blind man (tenor) who is supposed to
be outside the Temple, in a short solo prays
for light ; his music is based on Nos. 25
and 26, with hints of 28 in the orchestra.
Repetitions of these two sections lead into
the scene where, as Jesus passes by, the
disciples ask " Who did sin, this man or
his parents, that he was born blind ? "
Here, as throughout the work, the narrators'
music is perfunctory and uninteresting ; nor
has the speech of the disciples any reality
in it — it is choppy and formal. There is
more sincerity in the ensuing aria, in which
the mother of the blind man (soprano) asks,

^ Elgar later on made effective use of this theme in *' The
Apostles," to the words, "And recovering of sight to the
blind." See Vocal Score, p. 4. The above example shows
it in the form it assumes in the prelude to " The Light of
Life." In the work itself it almost always appears in 3-4
lime, in a much more striking form.

ORATORIOS 53

in agitated accents, the meaning of the
affliction that has been visited upon her
son. When she says of those who attri-
buted his misfortune to her sin, " Bhnder
than my own child are they," there is an
expressive play with motive No. 25 in 'cellos
and bassoons. Prominent in the tissue of
her solo is a strenuous phrase expressive of
the fervour of her appeal for enlightenment
(Vocal Score, pp. 18, 20).

Jesus (baritone) replies proclaiming His
Divine mission, theme No. 27 being used.
He announces that those who follow Him
shall have the light of life, upon which the
chorus comment, No. 28 being illuminat-
ingly employed. Interspersed in the chorus
are some rather curious mystical passages in
thirds, pianissimo, which carry our imagi-
nation on to certain pages in Gerontius
and the Apostles that live in the same
atmosphere. The musical speech here
strikes at once to the very heart of the
subject.

Next comes the performing of the miracle,
and a chorus or duet (soprano and con-
tralto), "Doubt not thy father's care," of
no particular force. In the ensuing Scenes,
where the cured man reappears and tells
his story, there are fleeting suggestions in

54 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the orchestra of the theme of " Jesus as the
bestower of hght" (No. 28), and that of
"Blindness" (No. 25). The following solo
(tenor) " As a spirit didst Thou pass before
mine eyes " — the man's expression of grati-
tude to his healer — is perhaps the finest
number in the whole work : it is thrilling
and convincing. Much use is of course
made of themes No. 25 and No. 28. The
Pharisees and the people, in an effective
and original chorus, contend as to whether
Jesus is a sinner or of God ; after which
there is a superfluous contralto solo, " Thou
only hast the words of life." The mother
of the man testifies " We know that this
is our son, and that he was bom blind,"
to the accompaniment of the phrase that
was so prominent a feature of her earlier
solo. The contest again rages as to the
miracle and its performer, and ends in the
man being cast out ; the mother and a
female chorus invoke woe on " the shepherds
of the flock." Jesus searches out the man,
receives from him a confession of faith, and
then has a solo, " I am the good shepherd."
At one point in it we hear in the orchestra
a reminiscence of the mystical passages in
thirds to which reference has already been
made. The work concludes with a chorus.

ORATORIOS 55

" Light of the world, we know thy praise,"
in which theme No. 28 is employed.

Elgar has done almost all that could be
done with this deadly form of British art,
the day for which has long gone by. It
cannot bring out of any composer the best
that is in him, while it always forces him
to commit a certain amount of music that
is a good deal lower than his best. The
human interest in such works is generally
insufficient to spread itself over the whole
scheme, which has to be padded out with a
number of theological platitudes that almost
inevitably call forth musical platitudes. It
was because in his next oratorio Elgar was
fortunate enough to get a theme alive with
human emotion from first to last that he
succeeded in making of it such a masterpiece.

A fuss was made, before one of the
Festivals of a year or two ago, by some
bishop or other, who demurred to having
The Dream of Gerontius performed in the
cathedral because of the decided Roman
Catholic character of parts of the poem.
The right reverend prelate would presumably
have no objection to the representation in
the cathedral of Handel's and other men'?
oratorios, in which some of the heathen
characters utter decidedly heathen senti-

56 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

ments — but that is by the way. What
short-sighted persons of this kind cannot
see is that an art-work Hke Gerontius is a
much greater and more important thing
than all the theologies that were ever in-
vented, precisely because it is alive with
that humanity that is above and beyond
theology. One need not care two straws
about the sectarian points of the poem
to appreciate the work of art. To the
present writer, for example, a number of
the dogmas about which Gerontius is so
deeply exercised have about as much rational
meaning as the dogmas of a worshipper of
Moloch would have ; but that in no way
affects the power and vividness of Elgar's
presentation of the character to whom they
have a profound meaning. A human being
wrestling in his own way with the problems
of life and death is always a moving figure ;
and if an artist can present him to us in
the lineaments and the colours of truth, if
he can make him alive for us, it really
does not matter whether his way of reading
the universe is or is not ours. We would
surely not refuse a thrill of compassion to
the Hindoo who throws himself under the
wheel of Juggernaut, although our reason
tells us his action is an irrational one ; nor

ORATORIOS 57

should one's artistic sympathy with Geron-
tius be affected in any way by one's
opinions of the tenets he holds. Life will
have new terrors for us if all the art, since
the beginning of history, that presents man
pondering upon the riddle of life, is to be
tried by the standard of its conformity with
the dogmas of this or that theological sect.
The artist, purely as artist, and the hearer,
in so far as he is an artist, has nothing to
do with clerical puerilities of this kind.
The only question for discussion is whether
the artist has had sufficient imagination
to see his man clearly, and to present him
in a way that makes the secret essence of
his soul clear to us. And judged by that
test. The Dream of Gerontius is one of the
master-works of the nineteenth century.

The poem was wTitten by Cardinal New-
man in 1865, under the stress of the emotion
caused him by the death of a dear friend.
Elgar has selected his material from it with
great skill, and with a very good eye for
the most human portions of the Cardinal's
work. The dying Gerontius beholds in a
trance the mysteries of the unseen world.
His soul is accompanied in its passage
through infinite space to the throne of the
Omnipotent by his guardian Angel, who

58

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

expounds to him the meaning of the changes
that have come upon his spirit, and pre-
pares him for the final agony of dehght,
that " keen and subtle pain " that shall
befall him, sick with love and yearning,
when he sees his Judge. At last they come
" into the veiled presence of our God," and
intercession is made for the soul of Gerontius
by the Angel of the Agony. Finally the
soul, admitted into the presence of its
Creator, is " consumed, yet quickened, by
the glance of God," and, after its ecstatic
agony, given again into the enfolding arms
of its Guardian Angel, who sings over it a
tender, consolatory song of farewell.

Following the Wagnerian precedent, the
prelude recapitulates the leading themes of
the work, and tells much of the story in
epitome. A mystic theme is first given out
by clarinets, bassoons, and violas, that is
shortly taken up by other instruments and
harmonised —

ppmisticc,

ORATORIOS

59

This is usually known as the " Judgment "
theme ; ^ it symbolises the reflections of
Gerontius upon the problem of his fate after
death. Then a figure makes its way up
in the muted strings and disappears like
vapour —

to be followed immediately by another —

31 Lento.

m

^i=^

3^

pp\^J^

■^m

rf^

These typify respectively the fear that
possesses the soul of Gerontius, and the
prayer with which he tries to ward the
spectres off. Troubled sleep comes to him,
expressed in a melody that sings out plain-
tively in a solo viola over harmonies that

^ I follow, in the naming of the themes, the precedent of
Mr. A. J. Jaeger, who, with full knowledge ol the com-
poser's intentions, analysed the work most admirably for
the Birmingham Festival of 1900.

6o

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

toss restlessly like the sick man on his
couch of pain.

32 '

^

^^j|.=y*=f

ma

^^

m

pppp

*F^

&C.

It rises to a passionate appeal for mercy-

— the strain to which, later on, Gerontius is
to make his moving appeal, " Miserere, Judex
mens, parce mihi, Domine " — and then sinks
in exhaustion into the mournful melody of
its commencement. The dying man cries
out in his despair —

ORATORIOS

It is the melody of his cry, " O Jesu, help !
pray for me, Mary 1 " It stands out in
poignant tones in cor anglais and 'cellos over
tremulous harmonies in the upper strings
and clarinets. Then everything gathers to a
climax ; the wood- wind and strings give out
the " Prayer " theme (No. 31), fortissimo in
augmentation, while the trumpets and trom-
bones thunder out with inexorable persistence
beneath it. This dies away, to be succeeded
for a moment by a reminiscence of the " De-

spair

motive ; then enters the theme-

62 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

to which the chorus, after the death of
Gerontius, sing " Go forth in the name of
Apostles and Evangehsts." There are two
repetitions of it, each with fuller and more
imposing scoring — the final enunciation of
it being almost overwhelmingly impressive ;
it dies down gradually into a modification
of its final bar, a stroke on the gong — sug-
gestive of the passing of Gerontius' soul —
and a quiet recurrence of the " Sleep,"
"Fear," "Miserere," and "Judgment"
motives.

The prelude ended, there is a brief
orchestral passage of eight bars, in the course
of which we hear the insidious motive of
" Death "—

t^mi^^m^mis

Then Gerontius cries out that he is dying,
every now and then appealing for mercy,
to the strains of the " Prayer " motive
(No. 31). The vocal writing here is abso-
lutely that of a different man from the
Elgar we have met with hitherto ; the
whole passage is the most veracious of
human documents ; just so, one thinks,
must men feel when the dying sweat gathers

ORATORIOS 63

on their brow and the lips grow Hvid ; in
such a horror of revolt as this must they
recoil "from the darkness of the abyss at
their -feet.

The effect of the solo is greatly heightened
by the lovely reply that comes to the re-
quest of the exhausted Gerontius, " So pray
for me, my friends, who have not strength
to pray." A semi-chorus of " Assistants "
breathes out an exquisite " Kyrie eleison,"
of a spirituality so refined that it seems to
be wafted from another world. The full
chorus follows. Singing nothing more than
the Roman Catholic formula, " Holy Mary,
pray for him ; all holy angels pray for
him," they couch their speech in accents
of such naive sincerity that the strain be-
comes symbolical of religion itself.

The semi-chorus breathe their angelic
" Kyrie " again. Gerontius rouses himself to
a new spasm of energy, bidding himself
spend the time that still remains to him on
earth in preparing to meet his God ; and
the chorus once more close in upon his
nervous speech with a prayer that, like its
predecessor, goes to the very heart of the
faith of which it is an expression. The
contrapuntal interlacing of themes in it is
extremely effective. Gerontius breaks in

64 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

on them with another passionate outcr3^
With a pathetic feverishness he confesses
his behef in various dogmas of his Church ;
every now and then he gives out a clam-
orous cry —
37

m

•^=^

^^^

:f^-¥-

^^

:p2=ff:

tUir:

^

Sanctus fortis, SanctusDe-us, Depro-fun-d^'s o - ro te,

followed instantly by the " Miserere "
(No. 33). The last " Sanctus fortis " is
sung in a wail suggestive of complete ex-
haustion ; but once more Gerontius rouses
himself for a loud, despairing cry of
" Miserere, Judex mens." The orchestra
takes up the theme in a swirl and tosses it
hither and thither, the urgency of the theme
being intensified by the quite terrifying
transitions from piano to fortissimo and
back again. Even more terrifying is the
fury with which the theme of " Despair "
(No. 34) is treated.

This cyclonic outburst lasts only a few
moments ; then the voice of Gerontius sobs
a confession of absolute weakness — " that
masterful negation and collapse of all that
makes me man." More than that, his soul
is now filled with " a fierce and restless
fright "—

ORATORIOS

65

" Some bodily form of ill
Floats on the wind, with many a loathsome curse
Tainting the hallowed air, and laughs, and flaps
Its hideous wings,
And makes me wild with horror and dismay."

This is suggested in various graphic ways,
of which space for quotation can be found
only for the following — the figure more
specifically appropriated to the demons —

The orchestral picture is of extraordinary
power and suggestiveness.

Once more Gerontius prays for help (the
" Despair " theme, No. 34) — " Some Angel,
Jesu, such as came to Thee, in Thine own
agony." The agonised cry at the end of
the phrase shakes one to the depths of
one's being. The chorus reply, " Rescue
him, O Lord, in this his evil hour," to a
new version of the " Kyrie " formerly heard.
Then occurs a page of admirable and daring
naivete. The semi-chorus recount the names
of those who have been helped in their

VOL. IV. E

66

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

trouble — " Noe from the waters in a saving
home," " Job from all his multiform and
fell distress," and so on — to an ancient
" tone," while the chorus join in at the end
of each phrase with a curiously beautiful
" Amen." It is in such little episodes as
this, no less than in the larger stretches of
canvas, that the veracity of Elgar's con-
ception of the work is made apparent. In
two or three bars he can plunge us into the
very centre of the atmosphere of mediaeval
Catholicism, with a representative power
that puts the characters before us not
only in their psychology but in their
very flesh and habiliments. The art of
the painter himself is hardly more vitally
graphic.

A return on the part of the chorus to the
original " Kyrie" mATsic, broken at intervals
by the wail of Gerontius, leads to the scene
of his death. " Novissima hora est," he
sings, to a spiritual melody that will be
used again later on —

ORATORIOS 67

The desire for sleep comes over him ; he
gives up his soul into the hands of God —
the orchestra gently murmuring the " Sleep "
motive and that of the " Miserere," the
latter ceasing without being brought to its
proper ending. Then comes a total change
of colour. Over a basis of broad, solemn
chords we hear the bass voice of the Priest
sending the Soul forth upon its last journey.
The page that follows — commencing with
the words, "Go in the name of God the
omnipotent Father, who created thee " —
is one of the most wonderful in the whole
score. The vocal part has in it all the
majesty and dignity of the ideal priesthood ;
all round it, gathering itself up from the
depths and soaring steadily aloft, there
floats a shifting web of tone that admirably
suggests, as Mr. Jaeger has said, " the
waving to and fro of censers." The same
music reappears in the succeeding chorus,
along with an exalted outburst of the
" Go forth " theme (No. 35), and reminis-
cences of the " Kyrie " and other material.
The first Part of the oratorio ends with
the Soul of Gerontius thus being wafted
aloft with all the pathetic pomp of the
Church.
The opening of the second Part shows

68 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the Soul of Gerontius in a kind of blessed
quiescence that is almost without sensa-
tion ; all round it is silence ; time has ceased
to show any divisions that can be marked.
It is this state of ethereal stillness and repose
that Elgar has had to suggest for us in
his prelude. He has done it admirably ;
the strings alone are heard, in the most
tranquil of pianissimi, in a long vague
melody that has no defined rhythmic beat
or pause ; everything is flottant, elusive.
The Soul begins to tell how it went to sleep
and awoke refreshed — " a strange refresh-
ment " — and how it is affected by the silence,
the solitariness, of the place where it now
finds itself. The opening of its recital may
serve to illustrate the magic that has been
wrought in Elgar's style by the fortunate
accident of his having discovered a text
that took complete possession of his being.
The melody is in that 12-8 mould that
has been made so familiar to us in his
earlier work. There, with rare exceptions,
it was perfunctor}^, obvious, and tending to
the commonplace. Here the whole phrase
rings true and natural ; all the dangers of
the lilting 12-8 rhythm are easily avoided.
So again with the orchestral phrase (p. 58
of the Vocal Score) that follows the words

ORATORIOS

69

" SO soothing and so sweet." ^ It is of a
type so frequently used by Elgar as to have
become a mannerism with him ; yet here it
seems just the one inevitable thing that should
be said to bring the situation home to us.
The Soul suddenly becomes conscious of —

" Another marvel ; some one has me fast
Within his ample palm/' —

bearing it on its way ; at the same time
music is heard, " a heart-subduing melody."
*' Yet in sooth," to quote Newman's strangely
penetrating words —

" I cannot of that music rightly say
Whether I hear or touch or taste the tones."

In this we hear foreshadowed two new
themes of great importance, that soon
appear in the fullest form. The voice of
the Angel (mezzo-soprano) enters, telling of
its care of " this child of clay " whose
purified Soul it is now taking home. The
" Angel " theme is one of the most original
in the whole work —

^ It is a variation of the previous phrase that has just
been referred to.

70 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

At the end of each stanza is an extra-
ordinarily beautiful " Alleluia," which the
contrabassi double three octaves lower — a
novel and efiective devicQ.

A dialogue between the Soul and the
Angel follows. The Soul desires enlighten-
ment upon various points. It had always
believed that instantly upon death the soul
of man " fell under the awful Presence of
its God ; " why then, it asks, is it now
hindered from going thither ? The Angel
replies that actually it is hurrying to its
Judge " with extremest speed." Then the
Soul asks why it feels now none of the
fear that made the thought of death and
judgment so terrible to it during life. It
receives the answer that it is because the
agony has been forestalled, the bitterness
of death is passed, and the judgment already
begun. It is impossible, without much
quotation, to make clear the solemn beauty
of the music throughout this colloquy, or
the significant way in which the " Fear,"
" Judgment," and other themes are here
employed. Two new motives that are of
importance in the future appear when the
Angel speaks of a presage falling on the
soul expressive of the happiness of its
fate—

ORATORIOS

71

The Soul, too, sings softly of its serene joy,
the voices blending for the only duet in
the whole work. But the Soul is disturbed
in its peace by a horrid noise, which the
Angel explains to be the sullen howling of
the demons who infest the judgment court,
" hungry and wild to claim their property,
and gather souls for hell." Dark and lurid
colours are gradually piled upon the canvas,
prominence being given to the " Demon "
theme already quoted as No. 38.

Then follows the celebrated "Demon"
chorus. They are the spirits who have been
cast out of heaven, and who vent their
rage by maligning the virtue of the saint.
The chorus cannot be analysed in detail
here. It has considerable pictorial power —
such episodes as the " restless panting " of
the Demons being realistically expressed —
and it is ahvays sure of making an effect
upon an audience. Yet to the present
writer it seems on the whole a failure. It

72 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

exhibits all the devices of theatricalism
turned to excellent uses, yet it never rises
above the theatrical — that is, it lacks the
final and essential touch of conviction.
The spiritual world, one can say of the
rest of the oratorio, is just as Elgar paints
it ; the demon world, one is impelled to say,
is not really like his painting of it. These
demons are only pantomime demons ; their
rage is pantomime rage, their scorn panto-
mime scorn ; they have not been seen from
the inside as Gerontius, the Soul, and the
Angel have been. A hell of this kind could
have no terrors ; one could not take it
seriously enough for that.

The Demons pass out of sight, and a
return is made to the placid music of the
prelude to the second Part. " Shall I see
my dearest Master," asks the Soul, " when
I reach His throne ? " — the words are accom-
panied by a short but significant motive
that may be taken to symbolise some dread
aspect of the Almighty —

-Q &ve higher.

fct=|:

The Angel replies that tor one moment the
Soul shall see its Lord, but that while that

ORATORIOS 73

sight will gladden it will also pierce — use
is made of No. 41 and No. 39. Then the
Angel tells the story of St. Francis of Assisi,
in a quasi recitativo, accompanied by a
tremulous, shimmering enunciation of the
" Judgment " theme (No. 29) ; the meaning
of the use of the theme here is not at first
clear, but Mr. Jaeger is probably right in
the suggestion that the case of the Soul is
parallel with that of St. Francis, who on
being visited by the Angel of God prepared
himself to meet his death and judgment with
patience.

The voices of the Angelicals are now heard
floating down. These are the happier spirits
who live in communion with God. The
burden of their hymn is mainly the sending
of Jesus to be God's " Viceroy in the world
of matter and of sense.'* The piece is de-
signed as a musical counterpoise to the
chorus of the " Demons," and is as ethereal
and spiritual in its atmosphere as the other
was material. A chorus and semi-chorus
are employed, consisting at first of female
voices only : the male voices enter towards
the end, when the colours of the picture
are all becoming deeper and richer. The
movement is at times of exquisite naweU.
The whole thing admirably produces the

74

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

intended effect of heaven being neared and
the gates opened. " But hark ! " says the
Soul as they reach the threshold, " a grand
mysterious harmony ; " and great waves
of noble tone surge up and down in the
orchestra —

44

■^i^d^

A modification of the " Fear " theme, with
a new counterpoint to it, paints the agita-
tion of the Soul as it nears its ordeal. They
traverse the threshold, and the whole chorus
bursts out into a magnificent version of
" Praise to the Hohest in the height," fol-
lowed by a flowing theme to the words " Oh
loving wisdom of our God," with a soaring,
sweeping accompaniment in sixths. Almost
every shade of emotion in the poem is re-
produced with marvellous accuracy. There
is a mystic blending of rapture and pain in
the music as the chorus sing of the incarna-
tion of Jesus and His death on the cross.
An extraordinary effect is produced here by

ORATORIOS 75

the constant reiteration in the strings of
one note, A, in five octaves. The long and
elaborate movement is somewhat unequal,
but on the whole it is splendid in its
emotion and its colour and masterly in
its devices — a hymn of almost apocalyptic
grandeur.

When it has ended there comes another
picture of the utmost solemnity. The
" Fear " theme mounts slowly in the
orchestra, interspersed with the motive re-
presentative of the " grand mysterious
harmony " of heaven (No. 44). Then, as
the Angel warns the Soul that judgment is
near, for they have come " into the veiled
presence of our God," we hear the awe-
inspiring theme (No. 43) associated with
the majesty of the Judge. The Soul hears
voices, which the Angel tells it are those of
friends around his bed, saying the " Sub-
venite " with the Priest ; here we have a
reminiscence of the music heard when the
Priest sent the Soul on its journey, with
the same gentle swinging of censers.

Before the throne stands the Angel of the
Agony, who, having once strengthened Jesus
in the garden, will now plead for " all
tormented souls, the dying and the dead."
This it does in a long passage that for sheer

76

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

poignancy of expression has hardly its
superior in any music, ancient or modern.
After an extraordinary orchestral modula-
tion, the voice enters with its long and
moving appeal, that persistently reiterates
this striking phrase —

^^^^^^^

eol &oa.

At the words —

" Jesu, spare these souls which are so dear to Thee,
Souls who in prison, calm and patient, wait for Thee,"

there is a phrase that should be noted
because of its significant return, later on,
in the last utterance of the Soul —

46

continued 8ve lower.

while at the words, " Hasten, Lord, their
hour, and bid them come to Thee," there
is a heart -moving repetition of the old
" Novissima hora " motive.

ORATORIOS "]"]

With a final impassioned cry the Angel
of the Agony ceases his appeal. The
orchestra twice give out, in the softest
possible tones, the theme (No. 43) of " God
as the Judge " ; at the second time the Soul
faintly murmurs, " I go before my Judge "
— the brief passage — it is only six bars long
— hushing us into awe. Then Elgar pro-
duces in us in an instant, by the simplest
of means, the idea that in the poem has
to be stated in the most obvious of words
— the idea that all these thrilling experiences
of the Soul have been crowded into the
fraction of a second that has elapsed since
the body died. Now, when the climax of
the Soul's adventures has come, at one
stroke we are transported back to earth ;
the semi-chorus sing softly, " Be merciful, be
gracious ; spare him, Lord," to the strains
of the " Kyrie " that has already been
heard at the bedside, blended with echoes
of the Priest's dismissal. The Angel breaks
out into a song of joy over the safety
of the Soul- the old ''Alleluia" that has
already been so beautiful now soars into
a higher octave, welling forth in full-throated
rapture.

A modification of the " Judgment " theme
in the orchestra, over a pedal A, and with

78 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

grand and terrifying harmonies, swells and
swells till the climax comes in one great
chord — the loudest in the whole work —
where the Soul is to be conceived as gazing
for a moment on its Lord. Then the Soul,
after one passionate cry of " Take me away,"
chants its strangely moving song, in which
all the spiritual tremor of Newman's soul
is caught up and alchemised by the music
into something inexpressibly rare and
precious. The Soul prays that it may be
sent to the lowest deep, where, motionless
and happy, it may sing its " sad perpetual
strain," and " throb and pine and languish,
till possest of its Sole Peace." Expressive
use is made of the theme from the solo of the
" Angel of the Agony " (No. 46), the " Sanctus
fortis " theme, and the " Miserere." As the
Soul speaks of its aspiration to " rise and
go above, and see Him in the truth of
everlasting day," we hear in the orchestra
the themes from the " Angel's song " (Nos. 41
and 42) that previously accompanied the
words —

" A presage falls upon thee, as a ray
Straight from the Judge, expressive of thy lot.
That calm and joy uprising in thy soul
Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense,
And heaven begun " —

ORATORIOS

79

an extremely beautiful use of the leit-
motive.

A brief chorus (without soprani) follows,
leading into the Finale of the v/ork, that is
dominated by the Angel. The main theme
of her song is first of all given out by the
orchestra : —

^1=^=^^

then it is taken up by the voice, which soon
blends with the strains of the chorus that
has just been heard. The Angel dips the
Soul in the lake of " the penal waters," and
bids it farewell, promising it a swift passing
of its night of trial and a happy waking on
the morrow. The lustration of the Soul is
accompanied by one of the loveliest phrases
of the work —

So THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

48

The typical "Angel's" theme (No. 40) is
drawn upon ; fragments of the " AngeUcal"
chorus, " Praise to the Holiest in the height,"
are faintly heard, and the work ends with
a long " Amen," solemn and placid.

The Dream of Gerontius is antipathetic to
the temperament of some people, while to
others — among whom is the present writer
— it is one of the most remarkable achieve-
ments in all music, and one that cannot
die so long as men's souls are vexed by
problems of life and death, and keen to see
in what a magic atmosphere genius can
enshrine them. The work is not didactic,
but philosophical — and before all it is art ;
the thought is all embraced by beauty,
warmed and quickened by its touch. To
call it neurotic, as some have done, is only
to misuse that term. Nervous it may be,
—for it is deahng with a theme that must
needs draw out the finest threads of sensa-
tion in our nerves — but not neurotic. Music
like much of that of Debussy may be called

ORATORIOS 8 1

neurotic, wherein the intellect plays so little
part, while the nerves are just whipped or
soddened by floods of tone of which the
main element is the merely sensuous. But
in Gerontius nowhere do the nerves either
create or seek sensations on their own
account. The effect may be piercing, shatter-
ing, but they are mental effects, born of
the play of the brain upon the circum-
stances of life. Of the skill of the choral
writing and the extreme beauty and re-
sourcefulness of the orchestration it is
superfluous to speak ; if the vocal writing
is once or twice not perfectly successful,
this is because of that ever-present tendency
of Elgar to awkwardness in this respect,
to which allusion has already been made.
But the work is of the first order almost
throughout. Its detail work is poignant
and convincing, while as a whole it has the
homogeneity, the rounded completeness of
vision, that only comes when the artist
sees his picture through and through in the
one white heat of imagination. Few con-
temporary works of its size can compare
with it in this respect.

The Apostles belongs, in part, to another
category than Gerontius. In the latter the
human element is predominant, the religious

VOL. IV, F

82 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

secondary ; in the former, the human ele-
ment at times almost disappears, and a
frankly religious and didactic purpose flies
out at us from the score. " It has long been
my wish," says the composer in a preface
to the work, " to compose an oratorio
which should embody the Calling of the
Apostles, their Teaching (schooling), and
their Mission, culminating in the establish-
ment of the Church among the Gentiles ; "
and as individual character-study is im-
possible with a set of dramatis personcB such
as these, who scarcely have an individual as
distinguished from their communal identity,
it follows that they must be treated as
sjmibols of the rise and progress of a certain
religious doctrine, the vicissitudes of which,
and not human beings purely as human
beings, are the main concern of the com-
poser. There is always the danger of
drifting into dulness in a scheme like this;
always the danger of the composer thinking
that an impressive episode or an impressive
piece of verse is sufficient to gain of itself
the right of entry into our consciousness,
without any care for the quality of the
music that accompanies it — which is by no
means the case. A picture of the crucifixion
does not affect us because it is the cruci-

ORATORIOS 83

fixion, but because it is a fine picture ; if
it is not, the good pretext and the good
purpose will not save the bad art. In
The Apostles there seems to the present
writer a number of episodes to which this
analogy holds good — episodes where the
music is not good enough to make one care
anything about the words to which it is
set, unless we are one of those people to
whom the words of a sacred subject are
enough in themselves, without regard to
their setting. But people of this kind speak
not as artists but as theologians.

The text of The Apostles has been com-
piled by the composer himself by means
of patching together a number of verses
from Scripture. The patchwork is ex-
tremely ingenious, but no solidly built work
of art can be put together in this way ;
and it is no wonder that the first part of
The Apostles exhibits all the vices of struc-
ture of King Olaf, scene following scene
with little or no organic connection, and
characters stepping on and off the stage
with little or no reason for their being
there at that particular moment rather
than at any other. The second Part, deal-
ing with the betrayal and death and ascen-
sion of Jesus, has, of course, the advantage

84 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

of a connected story, and one's attention,
that has flagged a good deal in the preceding
sections, is here kept ahve ahnost every
moment. But it may be noted that the
work is mainly interesting precisely at those
points where the avowed scheme of com-
posing " an oratorio which should embody
the Calling of the Apostles, their Teaching,
and their Mission," goes to the wall. The
presentation of Jesus appeals to us just in
so far as it touches our human sympathies.
It is the fine dramatic qualities of the
scenes of the betrayal and death that seize
upon us ; one takes part in these scenes
without the slightest thought of, or care
for the Apostles, their Teaching, or their
Mission. Truth to tell, the Apostles as
Apostles are rather dull dogs, and one is
always glad to see them go. Judas becomes
enormously interesting at the finish, but
that is because he is Judas the man, not
Judas the Apostle. In fine, then, the
oratorio is at its best when clear issues of
human feeling are treated of in the music,
and at its worst when the merely theological
element comes uppermost.

The prologue to the work commences
with an orchestral prelude of fifteen bars
only, in which we first of all hear a them^

ORATORIOS

85

typical of "The Spirit of the Lord." 1
Then the chorus —

enter to the words, " The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because He hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor," &c.
The chorus is mostly very fine, breathing
a tender and subtle mysticism. Several
motives that are subsequently of importance
are first stated in this brief prelude. Most
important of all, perhaps, is that heard at
the words " anointed me " ; it is the theme
symbolising " Christ, the Man of Sorrows "
— a striking and poignant phrase of three
chords only —

50

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^"a

It is followed by the theme of " the Gospel " —

^ Here, as in the case of Gerontius, I adopt for the lead-
ing-motives the titles given them in Mr. Jaeger's analysis,
which may be taken to have the composer's sanction.

86 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

61

After the words, " to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord," we hear, in conjunction
with the " Gospel " theme, a new phrase
typifying " the Apostles as Preachers." In
the middle of this fine choral movement
comes a section based upon a commonplace
tune in 3-4 time, that plays a large part
in the work as representative of " the
Church " ;—

52

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^

litpr

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and just before the return to the words and
music of the opening we hear an impressive
modification of the " Spirit of the Lord "
theme (No. 49), meant to express " Christ,
the Son of God "—

^^^^^^s

ORATORIOS

87

The Prologue ended, we enter upon the
first section of the oratorio, " The Calling
of the Apostles." In a short recitative the
narrator tells us of Jesus going up into a
mountain and continuing all night in prayer.
The orchestra accordingly paints this night-
scene. Two oboes and 3. cor anglais, out-
side the orchestra, play a pastoral tune that
has in it all the mystery and sadness and
remoteness that the picture requires. But
before it has time to get past the fifth bar
it is superseded by the theme of " Christ,
the Man of Sorrows," which again lasts only
a bar and a half, to be in its turn pushed
aside by a new theme — that of " Christ's
Prayer "—

r r r r r r f-^p

so softly breathed as scarcely to disturb the
air. After eight bars of this, there is a
suggestion of the " Gospel " theme (No. 51),
the object being to indicate the nature of
Christ's prayer. Here we have, upon one
page, a sample of the method of structure
that makes The Apostles so unsatisfying as
a work of musical art. Scarcely anything
is allowed to develop far enough to arrest

88 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the interest of the musical sense. The
phrases are short — so short, in many cases,
that they disappear almost before we have
grasped them — and they succeed one an-
other in obedience, not to musical, but
merely to literary or pictorial necessities.
That is, Elgar has running through his mind
some such train of thought as this : "I
have here to depict (a) Night on the moun-
tain, (b) Jesus alone, (c) Jesus praying,
(d) the subject of His prayer." So he gets
one block of music- type to represent (a),
another to represent (b), others to represent
(c) and {d), and just lays the blocks end-on
to each other, oblivious of the fact that all
this does not make music. In the sym-
phonic poem, musical pictures are played
off against each other, but they are first of
all made interesting in themselves, and then
united to each other by tissue in which the
musical no less than the literary sense can
find a reason and a logic. In other words,
in the symphonic poem the literary or
pictorial purpose goes hand in hand with
the musical purpose. But in a page like
that of The Apostles at which we have now
arrived, there is the maximum of literary
indication and the minimum of musical
connection.

ORATORIOS 89

The Angel Gabriel (soprano) now enters
with a solo, the main burden of which is
a general exhortation to be joyful in the
comfort of the Lord. The tj^pical theme
of the Angel has a generic likeness to that
of the Angel in Gerontius (No. 40). In the
middle of the solo comes an orchestral
passage of twelve bars, " which contains,"
says Mr. Jaeger, " no less than eight leit-
motives new and old, woven into a piece
of exquisite texture." As a matter of fact,
there is scarcely any " weaving " at all in
the passage ; the motives are for the most
part not woven into each other, but pasted
together, and there is so little organic
musical connection between them that were
they pasted together in any other order no
one would be able to tell the difference.
It is the leit-motive system run mad, in
obedience to a purpose that is merely
didactic.

Three new themes appear in this little
interlude, that of the " Apostles " —

1 "Out of Christ's own suffering Humanity," says Mr.
Jaeger, presumably voicing the intentions of the composer,
*' have been evolved the sublime conceptions of His Apostles
and of His Gospel ; and while He has thus ordained how
and by whom mankind shall be taught the way through
Him to salvation, Pie Himself is bowed down under the
load of His own utter loneliness." It is music in a surplice.

90 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

55

that of " Christ's Loneliness"

56

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in the latter of which the clever scoring,
with its utilisation of violas and 'cellos to
produce a sense of weariness and pain, goes
some way towards distracting our attention
from the essential poorness of the theme —
and that of " Christ's Passion," which,
however, had better be shown in the form
it assumes later on —

57

There are some beautiful moments in the
remainder of the Angel's solo, notably where
play is made with the themes of " Christ,
the Man of Sorrows " (No. 50), and others
from the Prologue of the work ; while there
is always a good deal of reference to other

ORATORIOS 91

motives. The scene closes with the
orchestra enunciating the unsatisfactory
" Christ's Lonehness " theme, the theme of
the " Apostles," and that of " Night on the
Mountains," all in eight bars — the system
of patchwork thus prevailing to the last.

Dawn comes, and local colour is given to
the scene by the use of the shofar — the old
Hebrew instrument made from the ram's
horn — and soldiery are alleged to be sym-
bolised in a bar or two of consecutive fifths
with triplets over them. Altos and tenors
in unison greet the dawn with a cry of
" The face of all the East is now ablaze
with light ; the dawn reacheth even unto
Hebron." These are the watchers on the
Temple roof ; their phrases have a genuine
Oriental origin.

The temple gates open, and from within is
heard a morning psalm, " It is a good thing
to give thanks unto the Lord," sung to the
ancient Hebrew melody to Psalm xcii. —
a noble and stately piece of work, embel-
lished with appropriate Eastern colour and
rh5rthmical effects ; at the end the shofar
pierces the air again. There follows a
short orchestral interlude, commencing with
a new theme, expressive of " Light and
Life "—

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

This is, indeed, as Mr. Jaeger says, " of
a genuine Elgaresque type." It has the
characteristics of a score of melodies of his
— the alternate soar and dip of the tune,
the repetition for two or three bars of the
figure stated in the first, the rise and fall
of the bass, generally in contrary motion
with one or both of the upper parts. But
the present theme is undignified and irre-
sponsible in its lilt, and quite unsuited to
its place in the score. Elgar is known to
have had The Apostles in his mind for more
than twenty years ; and one suspects that
this and some other themes of the work
were invented in the earlier days.

The interlude develops into a picture of
dazzling splendour of colour, representative
of the full breaking of day ; at the end of
it there pierces through the texture, with
enormous power, the theme of " Christ's
Prayer " (No. 54), the intention being to
indicate that the cosmic dawn is accom-
panied by a spiritual dawn, Christ having
determined on the founding of the aposto-
late. The Narrator immediately tells us
that when it was day Jesus called His
disciples together and chose twelve of them,

ORATORIOS

93

whom He named Apostles — theme No. 55
accompanying the recital. Their function
as preachers is typified in a modified version
of a theme —

that has already been heard in the Prologue
of the work. A big chorus now follows,
*' The Lord hath chosen them," largely
based on the " Apostles " theme, but also
employing Nos. 49 and 51. John, Peter,
and Judas take up the strain. They are
imperfectly if at all differentiated ; but
when Judas joins in there is heard in the
orchestra a short phrase —

which, we are told, t5^ifies Christ's " Earthly
Kingdom." (Judas is supposed to think only
of turning Jesus' power to material ends.)
The chorus develops on broad lines, some-
times achieving real grandeur of expression,
and indulging in a play of leit-motives far
too complicated to analyse here. The Angel
and the female voices of the chorus join in,
and there is an ingenious union of rhythms

94 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

of 4-2, 6-2, and 3-2. The voice of Jesus
enters, blending with the soft murmurs of
the chorus. His words, " Behold, I send
you forth ; he that receiveth you receiveth
Me," &c., are delivered to an impressive
melody, during the course of which the
motives of " Christ, the Man of Sorrows,"
and " The Spirit of the Lord," are used with
fine effect. The movement ends with the
chorus whispering, " The Spirit of the Lord
is upon him," John, Peter, and Judas re-
iterating, " We are the servants of the
Lord," and the Angel saying, " Look down
from heaven, O Lord, and behold, and
visit this vine," with a final grandiose enun-
ciation of the " Apostles " theme, quickly
dying away to piano.

The next section is entitled " By the
Wayside," the characters entering into it
being Jesus, the Virgin Mary, John, Peter,
Judas, and the people. An orchestral in-
troduction of eleven bars' length has an
air of placid simplicity, but reminds us too
much of the opening of the second Part of
Ger on tilts. Jesus utters the Beatitudes, to
phrases that no amount of familiarity can
make us think anything but expression-
less ; the other characters interject remarks
ol a cognate kind. In spite of some fine

ORATORIOS 95

moments, the scene as a whole carries no
conviction ; the vocal writing is lame and
colourless, and the phrases for the most
part without beauty ; while the constant
snip-snap of speech between the various
characters, each contributing no more than
some half-dozen words, is itself fatal to any
real dignity. The finest passage in the
scene is that in which there is a recurrence
of a tender and expressive theme from the
Prologue, — there used to the words, " To
give unto them that mourn a garland for
ashes," and here to the words, " Rejoice
and be exceeding glad." A short concerted
piece at the end winds the movement up
in gracious loveliness. It expresses the
blessedness of those who have sorrowed
and shall rejoice with Jesus ; its theme —
to be used again later on — is designated
that of " Strength of Faith."

Scene III. opens by the Sea of Galilee.
The Narrator speaks of the disciples em-
barking on the sea, while Jesus goes into
a mountain to pray, remaining there alone
till evening. The recital is accompanied
by clock-work enunciations of the motives
(I follow Mr. Jaeger's statement) of "Fellow-
ship," "the Ship," "Pastoral" {i,e. the
theme of the previous scene on the moun-

96 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

tain), "Prayer," "Loneliness," "Apostles,"
and again " the Ship," " Fellowship," and
" Prayer " — all in seventeen bars ! A
system of this kind is merely the reducUo ad
absurdum of the leit-motive ; each motive
appears practically in the same form as
before — thus simply labelling the character
but not developing with him — while at times,
as in the case of " the Ship," the most
arbitrary attempt is made to establish a
symbolic union between a thing and a
musical phrase. In Gerontius, a phrase like
that of " Judgment " really does create in
us the feeling of awe that the thought of
judgment may be supposed to create. When
Strauss depicts Don Quixote charging at the
windmill, we hear a theme that in its un-
wieldy gyrations reall}^ suggests to the ear
what the motion of a windmill is to the eye ;
in Wagner's " dragon-motive " there is some-
thing of the bulk and the heavy movement
of the beast made visible ; but " the Ship "
motive is no more suggestive of a ship than
it is of a banana or a motor-car.

While the disciples are adventuring upon
the sea, Mary Magdalene, in the tower of
Magdala, observes the storm that arises,
and sees in it the analogue to the distressful
state of her own heart. Her anguish of

ORATORIOS 97

repentance and her appeal for mercy are
eloquently expressed in a solo of great
power, and of an idiom that is quite in-
dividual to Elgar. In the middle of the
solo occur orchestral suggestions of other
melodies of a light character, which are
intended to depict the recrudescence in
Mary's memory of scenes from her past life
of sin. These themes are heard in fuller
form almost immediately, the chorus sing-
ing Bacchanalian exhortations to drink and
pleasure, while Mary pursues her self-
tormenting reflections. The chorus is sotto
voce, the idea being that we are not so much
listening to actual singers in an actual
scene as watching the play of thoughts in
Mary's brain. Her music is always sincere
and moving, but that of the chorus is tame
and inexpressive ; if Mary had done nothing
worse than is suggested by these innocent,
kittenish strains, she really had not much
for her conscience to reproach her with.
A Dorcas meeting is riotous in comparison.

The storm now rages — the painting is
done with Elgar' s customary power of de-
lineation. As Mary speaks of seeing the
ship and " One coming into it," the " Man
of Sorrows " motive (No. 50) is heard in
the orchestra. ''It is a spirit," cry the

VOL. IV. G

gS THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Apostles ; and in a flash there is a change
in the manner of conducting the story. We
no longer see the storm, the disciples, and
Jesus through the narrative of Mary ; they
are all now made directly visible to us, and
the characters speak in their own persons.
Jesus bids them be of good cheer, the
orchestra accompanying with a theme from
the " Beatitudes." Peter, to a modification
of the music already associated with the
Apostles, calls out, " Lord, if it be Thou,
bid me come unto Thee upon the waters,"
the orchestral phrase at his first words well
suggesting his impetuous nature. In a
brief but pregnant little chorus the other
disciples describe his perilous journey. A
great cry, " Lord, save me, I perish," bursts
from Peter, and Mary Magdalene is heard
saying, " He stretcheth forth His hand."
Jesus reproaches Peter for his little faith,
and in a couple of pages of masterly ex-
pression we see them worshipping Him in
almost silent awe, the storm dying down,
and the motive of " Christ as the Son of
God " (No. 53) breathing out with the utmost
solemnity of phrasing and colouring. The
ship passes out of sight, and Mary, in
chastened and comforted mood, turns to the
thought of Christ as her Redeemer. The

ORATORIOS 99

emotion is expressed with penetrating
psychological power, and the interlacing of
themes is extremely close and ingenious.

This scene merges into one " In Caesarea
Pliilippi," where Jesus, after hearing from
His disciples the different views people hold
of Him, obtains from Peter the declaration,
" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God " ; whereupon follows the promise to
build the Church upon the rock of Peter,
— to the accompaniment of the theme of the
" Church " (No. 52). The music as a whole,
up to this point, is not in Elgar's best manner,
but the brief chorus that follows, " Proclaim
unto them that dwell on the earth," is
hugely expressive, and remarkable for the
originality of the part-writing. It is based
on the " Christ's Prayer " theme (No. 54), but
this is enormously heightened in significance
by the constant wave-like roll of the voices
upon and round each other ; in the last bar,
to the words, " the everlasting Gospel," there
is a grand enunciation of the themes of
the " Gospel" and the "Apostles" (Nos. 51
and 55) in combination. In the subsequent
solo of Jesus, " Whatsoever thou shalt bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven," there
appears a new and striking theme — that of
" Judgment " —

100

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

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while at " Whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven," there is
an exquisite musing upon the tender theme
of the " Spirit of the Lord " (No. 49). The
whole music breathes gentleness and con-
solation as it merges once more into the
theme of Mary Magdalene, who implores the
help of Christ. She is accosted by Mary,
the mother of Jesus (soprano), who, in a
short solo, fuU of feeling, bids her be com-
forted. The tenor Evangelist describes her
washing Jesus's feet with tears — a theme
from the scene of the " Beatitudes," kno\vn as
the motive of " Longing " (Vocal Score, p.
64), winds its way through the orchestra,
accompanied by a triplet figure in thirds,
the total effect being most easeful.

The women around remark, " This Man,
ii He were a prophet, would have known
who and what manner of woman this is," —
the theme associated with her previous life
of revelry, heard in the orchestra, making
clear their insinuation. The Evangelist
tranquilly resumes his narration to the

ORATORIOS lOI

same music as before. Mary sobs out,
" Hide not Thy face far from me," to an
accompaniment that is a model of sugges-
tiveness — the waiHng motive formerly heard
in conjunction with her words, " Have pity
upon me, because I have sinned before
Thee " (Vocal Score, p. 71), appears softly
in the violins, but counteracted, as it were,
by the theme of " Longing " in the wood-
wind, and that of the " Virgin's consolation "
in the 'cellos, the last-named motive ulti-
mately coming out alone in the sweetest
of tones. Another fine touch follows im-
mediately, Christ singing, " Thy sins are
forgiven," &c., to the strains of the Mag-
dalene's former appeal, " Hear and have
mercy, for Thou art merciful " (Vocal Score,
p. 71). The final " Go in peace," is based
on the poignant theme of " Christ, the Man
of Sorrows" (No. 50) ; and a scene that is
mostly in Elgar's best manner, an admirable
religious picture, ends with the troubled
" Magdalene " motive in the major, sug-
gestive of consolation won.

The long finale to the first Part of the
oratorio now begins, the solo quartet and
the chorus blending and dialoguing in words
that describe the strength and loving kind-
ness of God. The orchestral part is freely

102 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

treated. At one point, at the repetition
on a unison A of the words, " Turn you to
the stronghold," the theme of " Longing "
is heard in an inverted form (i.e. the lower
figure at the top and the upper figure
beneath). The piece as a whole is beautiful
and original.

The second Part opens with an orchestral
introduction that, in the opinion of the
present writer, is the most unsatisfactory
piece of work ever put together by Elgar.
Here we can see all the vices of his use of
the leit-motive in one concentrated exhibi-
tion. In a prelude like that to Tristan or
Lohengrin or Gerontius, no more than two
or three themes are made to tell the whole
story ; but their conduct, their development,
appeal to us on the musical side as well :
the literary and the musical messages run
in harness. In this prelude to the second
Part of The Apostles the musical interest
diminishes to vanishing point. A theme is
planked down nakedly ; without any de-
velopment, any dovetailing, it leads into
another theme, and this in the same way
into another. It is aU built up like the
pictures made by children by putting to-
gether painted blocks of wood ; there is
a crude pictorial continuity, but nothing

ORATORIOS 103

of the nature of an atmosphere. Elgar
tells his story, but fails to make music in
the process. First we have the theme of
" Christ's Passion " (No. 57), then those of
"Christ's Loneliness" (No. 56), "Christ's
Prayer " (No. 54), " the Church " (No. 52),
" Christ, the Son of God " (No. 53), " Christ,
the Man of Sorrows " (No. 50), and again
"the Passion" (No. 57). The orchestra-
tion of these forty bars is indeed exception-
ally fine, but the movement in a musical,
as distinct from a literary sense, means
nothing at all. The conclusive proof of
this is that the various motives could be
played in any other order whatever without
our being at all conscious of a disturbance
of idea. No part of the whole flowing from
or leading into any other part, it makes no
difference in what order we take them.

The scene is now " The Betrayal." Jesus
first teaches the twelve that He must be
killed. They swear that they will not deny
Him, to the theme that was previously
heard (Vocal Score, p. 30) in the chorus
(" The Lord hath chosen them ") sung at
the choosing of the Apostles, to the words,
" He hath chosen the weak to confound the
mighty"; the themes of "Peter" and the
*' Apostles " in general (No. 55) are also heard.

104

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The chief Priests and Pharisees gather in
council and resolve on the slaying of Jesus.
At the words, " then entered Satan into
Judas," there appears the striking theme
of " Judas's Temptation " —

(Judas was supposed by some of the ancient
fathers to have believed, like the other dis-
ciples, in the power of Jesus, but to have
wanted to hasten the betrayal in order to
" force Him to make such a display of His
superhuman powers as would have induced
all the Jews — and indeed the Romans too —
to acknowledge Him King." As Canon
Gorton puts it, " Judas was the misguided
zealot who would substitute his own plan
for Christ's will." This is the view Elgar
has taken of the character. i)

Judas confers with the priests, and the
terms are agreed upon ; the handing over

^ Those who are interested in the matter may consult an
" Interpretation " of The Apostles by Canon Gorton, pub-
lished by Novello & Co.

ORATORIOS 105

of the thirty pieces of silver is made the
occasion for a representation in the orchestra
of the jingHng of the money. The coming
of the officers to take Jesus is exceedingly
well illustrated, the whole scene being most
vivid and impressive. Judas breaks out
rhapsodically, " Let Him make speed, and
hasten His work, that we may see it," &c.,
the orchestra giving out the theme of " the
Apostles" (No. 55), and that formerly
heard in Peter's expression of the " faith of
the Apostles" (Vocal Score, p. 34 — "Thou
wilt show us the path of life," &c.). As he
dw^ells upon the thought of Jesus sitting
" upon His throne, the great King, the Lord
of the whole earth," there is heard a suc-
cession of grandiose enunciations of the
fine theme of " the Earthly Kingdom "
(No. 60) revealing the motives that are
actuating Judas. The remaining episodes
of the capture are dramatically and con-
vincingly told.

A brief scene, " In the palace of the high
priest," follows. Peter, questioned by the
servants (in rather negative music, that does
not suggest very much), denies Jesus, to the
themes of " the Spirit of the Lord " (No. 49),
and " Christ, the Man of Sorrows " (No. 50) ;
his asseveration is followed, in the orchestra,

I06 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

by the theme of " Christ's Loneliness "
(No. 56), Hke a reproach. The episode of
Christ turning and looking upon Peter, who
goes out and weeps bitterly, is treated in
a chorus of female voices of the utmost
poignancy and beauty : there is something
inexpressibly pathetic in the use of the
" Passion " theme (No. 57) at the words
" looked upon Peter."

Judas now repents and brings back the
silver to the chief priests and elders ; and
we enter upon a scene of great dramatic
power. From inside the Temple is heard a
hymn to the God of Vengeance, asking how
long the wicked shall triumph — a sombre,
fateful strain. Judas, struck by the bear-
ing of the hymn upon his own crime, cries
out, " My punishment is greater than I
can bear ; my iniquity is greater than can
be forgiven." The priests, while the chorus
still continues, ask him the cause of his
trouble. Over the sinister chords of the
" Temptation " motive (No. 62), he breaks
out, " I have sinned in that I have betrayed
the innocent blood." He casts down the
pieces of silver — their metallic rattle is
again painted — and departs, the chorus
continuing their impressive hymn in a still
more terrifying form. It does not end —

ORATORIOS 107

the suggestion being that Judas, having left
the temple, no longer hears the singers. He
despairingly voices his sense of his crime
and his utter abandonment on earth. From
the Temple comes a faint wave of a new
hymn, " Blessed is the man whom Thou
chastenest, that Thou mayst give Him rest
from the days of adversity." Judas mourn-
fully and bitterly echoes the last few words.
He recalls the words and the actions of Jesus,
the orchestra giving out the theme of the
"Beatitudes" and others that have been
already associated with Christ. Then he has
a long and pessimistic monologue, containing
the 'finest words (from the Book of Wisdom)
and some of the finest music in the oratorio.
Theology goes to the wall, and a human
being, claiming our interest on no other
ground than that he is a human being,
comes to the front. Judas is the one char-
acter in the whole work whose limning
carries real conviction. There are several
fine uses of leit-motives, among which the
transformation that the " Earthly Kingdom"
theme (No. 60) undergoes is particularly
striking (Vocal Score, p. 156, last bar).

The chorus, with its austere, antique
solemnity, is resumed, and Judas' mood
becomes more and more despairing. As he

I08 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

cries, "It is not possible to escape Thine
hand," we hear in the orchestra the " Judg-
ment " motive (No. 6i). In the distance
the people are now heard calling out,
" Crucify Him " ; there is a recurrence of
the fine theme, suggestive of the power of
armed men, that accompanied the capture
of Jesus (Vocal Score, p. 162) ; then there
are ferocious shouts of " Crucify Him,"
with a shriek from Judas, " They condemn
the innocent bloodi" " The end is come,
the measure of my covetousness," he says,
and we hear again a mournful transforma-
tion of the " Earthly Kingdom " motive.
In terror of the darkness he goes towards
his doom, but he, he says, is unto himself
" more grievous than the darkness." He
is sent out of life in six bars of the most
highly concentrated expression it is pos-
sible to imagine. The " Christ " motive
(No. 50), treated with more and more force
in the orchestra, shows Judas's brain col-
lapsing under the strain of the thought of
what he has done ; then comes a terrific
version of the " Earthly Kingdom " theme
(No. 60), and the betrayer dies with the
bitter taste of frustrated ambition upon
his lips. Half-a-dozen bars of the hymn
within the temple, " He shall bring upon

ORATORIOS 109

them their own iniquity," bring the scene
to a gloomy end.

The drama now moves to Golgotha, where
we see only the last episode of all, the
death of Jesus. Believing that the cry of
" Eli, EH, lama sabacthani ? " could not be
fittingly given to any human voice, Elgar
has entrusted it to the muted strings alone.
The wail is piercing in its agony ; one can
only object in it to a too close resemblance
to the music of the " Angel of the Agony " in
Gerontius. " Truly this was the Son of
God," sing the chorus softly in tones of
awe. Then the voice of the Virgin Mary
breaks in with a cry of grief ; John answers
her ; and there follows a short dialogue of
pain and compassion, remarkable for its
subtle uses of previous leit-motives no less
than for its exquisite human feeling.

The sixth Scene is at the sepulchre.
Blended ingeniously with the Narrator's
story of the women coming early in the
morning to take the body of Jesus, is the
remote song of the watchers greeting the
dawn — the same strain that was heard near
the commencement of the oratorio. The
shofar call is used again, and the Narrator's
recitative is accompanied by the theme of
" Light of Life " (No. 58). Angels' voices

TIO THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

float down in waves of tone in an " Alleluia "
that Vv'ill be much used later on—

They accost the women, telling them that
Jesus is risen, and bidding them inform His
disciples that He is gone before them into
Galilee ; their speech flows on in tones and
rhythms of heavenly simplicity. Again the
"Alleluia" (No. 63) is heard, conducting us
into the seventh Scene, that of the Ascension.
Christ enters to the disciples. His words,
" Behold, I send the promise of my Father
upon you," are accompanied by the theme
of " the Spirit of the Lord " (No. 49) ;
while the inquiry of the Apostles, " Wilt
thou at this time restore again the Kingdom
to Israel," is accompanied by the motive
of the " Earthly Kingdom " (No. 60). He
tells them it is not for them to know the
times or the seasons, but promises them
power when the Holy Ghost shall come
upon them, and bids them go forth and
teach and baptize all nations. The vocal
writing all through Christ's monologue is
rather inexpressive, but the orchestra is

ORATORIOS III

weighty and suggestive, dealing with theme
after theme of the work in a very ingenious
fashion ; though even here one sometimes
feels again that the junction of the motives
is rather too palpable and mechanical, and
that the picture would have been the better
for the diffusion of a little atmosphere over
it, and a subtler and more gradual melting
of the colours into each other.

Jesus ascends and is lost to their sight,
the " Christ " motive (No. 50) being em-
ployed in the happiest manner, both to
suggest the personality and to convey the
sense of floating upwards.

This brings us to the great Finale. On
earth the Apostles sing, " Give us one heart
and one way," and the Virgin Mary, Mary
Magdalene, John, and Peter, forming another
group, chant a " Magnificat " ; in heaven
there are a chorus and a semi-chorus of female
voices, hymning the spiritual "iVlleluia"
(No. 63). These are all combined with con-
summate art. At one point (Vocal Score,
p. 190), the four soloists have the theme
formerly associated with the " faith of the
Apostles " (see Vocal Score, p. 34), while the
mystic chorus in heaven, aided by the re-
maining Apostles, gives out at the same time
the theme of "Christ's Prayer" (No. 54).

112 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The most remarkable passage in the Finale
commences on page 194. The " Christ "
motive (No. 50) is heard in the orchestra
in various progressions ; below on earth
the Apostles repeat the farewell words of
Christ, while in heaven the mystic semi-
chorus softly sings, " I have done thy com-
mandment," &c. Then, in most moving
strains, the heavenly chorus dialogues with
the semi-chorus — " What are these wounds
in Thine hands ? " " Those with which I
was wounded in the house of my friends."
" They platted a crown of thorns, and put
it above His head," the chorus continues ;
" they mocked Him, they spat upon Him,
they smote Him with a reed, they crucified
Him " — all to the simplest but most vital
of music. At " they crucified Him " there
is a fine reminiscence of the beginning of
the " Passion " theme (No. 57).

Again the mystic " Alleluia " is heard from
above. Then, to the words of the Apostles,
" Give us one heart and one way," a new
phrase of solemn, stately breadth appears,
symbolical of " Christ's Glory" (Vocal Score,
p. 198). This is taken up by other voices,
and developed with added curve and colour.
" The kingdom is the Lord's," the Apostles
cry, to the theme of " The Spirit of the

ORATORIOS 113

Lord " (No. 49). The great climax comes
with the vociferous enunciation of the
theme of " Faith " i—

to the words, " All the ends of the world
shall remember," against which the choruses
in heaven have a counter- theme — " From
henceforth shall the Son of man be seated
at the right hand of the power of God."
The movement grows in power ; the " Spirit
of the Tord " motive comes out in fullest
force, and the rapturous "Alleluia" from
heaven seems like the constant gentle fall-
ing of flowers. Once more we hear the
theme associated with the " ascension of
Christ" (Vocal Score, p. 181), which, it will
be remembered, is founded on the motive
of " Christ, the Man of Sorrows " (No. 50).
Then, to the words, " In His love and in
His pity He redeemed them," we have the
theme of " Christ's Peace " from Gerontius.^

^ It has already been heard in the scene of the ** choosing
of the Apostles," when Peter sings to it the words, "Thou
wilt shew us the path of life." (Vocal Score, p. 34).

2 This is the theme heard in Gerontius' first solo, to the
words, " Thou art calling me " (Vocal Score, p. 7). Later on
it plays an important oart in the chorus, " Be merciful, be
VOL. IV. H

114 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Finally all join in a softly breathed
" Alleluia," rising in a crescendo.

The points of strength and weakness of
The Apostles have been mostly indicated in
the foregoing analysis. Much of the music
is dull, the rhythms are frequently mono-
tonous, and the atmosphere is often enervat-
ing. But there are scenes in tJie oratorio
of incomparable beauty, and others where
the psychology is as veracious and as pene-
trating as in Gerontius, even if there is none
of the continuity of that work. Time after
time we feel that we are in the presence
of a musical gift of the first order ; and
when all is said. The Apostles remains a
work that no one but a great musician,
and a man with an unusual power of syn-
thesis, could have put together.

gracious." (See the bass pari — "By Thy birth and by
Thy cross," p. 19.) The phrase heard to the words in the
soprano part on p. 19 of Gerontius, which lower down in
the page appears as a counterpoint to the " Christ's Peace"
theme, is also used as a counterpoint to the same theme at
the point in The Apostles which is now being described
(Vocal Score, p. 212).

CHAPTER IV

SONGS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS

Op. 26. Two Part-Songs.
Op. 27. From the Bavarian Highlands.
Op. 28. Organ Sonata.
Op. 34. Te Deum and Benedictus.
Op. 37. Sea-Pictures.

Op. 45. Five Part-Songs : Words from the Greek
Anthology.

The two Part-Songs in Op. 26 are perhaps
the best, and certainly the best known, of
all Elgar's compositions of this kind. The
poetry is by Lady Elgar, who has more
than once supplied him with texts of a far
better quality than he generally manages
to find elsewhere. They were originally
written for female voices with accompani-
ment for two violins and pianoforte ; but
since then the composer has scored them
very effectively for a small orchestra. The
first, "The Snow," is a delicately painted
miniature, of the utmost refinement of feel-
ing. The second, " Fly, singing bird, fly,"
is no less exquisite, but of more impassioned
quahty. In both the viohn accompaniment

"5

Il6 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

is used in the most charming way to echo
or embroider the leading vocal phrases.

Op. 27, From the Bavarian Highlands,
is a series of six choral songs, with accom-
paniment for orchestra or piano. The words
are " imitated from Bavarian Volkslieder
and Schnadahiipfler." The work is a re-
miniscence of a summer holiday of the com-
poser. No. I, "The Dance (Sonnenbichl)^^
is a piece of boisterous, infectious gaiety,
with a fresh and varied rhythm. No. 2,
"False Love (Wamberg)" — in which a
swain goes light-heartedly to seek his
" maiden true," but finds a rival with her,
and goes off to " dwell unloved, unseen,"
in the forest — is pretty, but lacking in
point and force. The central motive of
the poem is insufficiently realised. The
rustic sings —

" As I climb and reach her door,
Ah ! I see a rival there,
So farewell for evermore," —

in much the same tones as if he were singing
" Hush-a-bye baby."

No. 3, " Lullaby (In Hammer shach),^^ is
the most beautiful and most popular of the
series — a gem of lovely melody and delicate
fancy. Particularly happy is the union of

SONGS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS II7

the vocal phrases with the dainty, tripping
melody of the orchestra. The whole thing
is an example of the lighter Elgar at his
best — the Elgar of the Minuet and the
Gavottes, with just enough of a dash of
the deeper-feeling Elgar to make it all very
human and very tender.

No. 4, " Aspiration {Bei Sand Anton)"
is a short, hymn-like song, original in con-
ception and effective in treatment.

No. 5, "On the Aim (Hoch Alp);' is a
rustic love-song, treated on simple lines.
The orchestra opens with a placidly flowing
theme, which is afterwards used very happily
as a refrain — sung to " Ah ! " pianissimo,
by the female voices — to the verses that
have been sung by the tenors and basses.

No. 6, "The Marksman (Bei Murnau),''
is a bustling song, dealing with the excite-
ment of the village shooters before a contest
of skill. It owes what excellence it possesses
to its treatment rather than to its ideas.
These are not very striking, but skilful hand-
ling contrives to invest them with a good
deal of interest, and the constant animation
of the song is exhilarating.

Op. 45 is a series of five short Part-Songs
for men's voices (unaccompanied), set to
words translated from the Greek anthology

Il8 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

by Richard Gamett, Edmund Gosse, Andrew
Lang, and others. They are fairly suc-
cessful, without showing ideally intimate
feeling for the spirit of the poetry. The
best of them are, " It's oh ! to be a wild
wind " ; *' Yea, cast me from heights of the
mountain " ; and " Whether I find thee."

The Organ Sonata (Op. 28), was " com-
posed for the visit of some American
musicians to Worcester Cathedral in July
1898." It is a fine work, fuU of originality,
and, although rather difficult in parts,
extremely effective on the organ. In the
first movement {allegro maestoso) there is a
slight weakness in working-out, but the
themes themselves are striking. The second
{allegretto) is a bold and fanciful piece of
writing of great charm ; the third {andante
expressivo) is based on a broad melody of
sincere feeling, belonging to much the same
mental world as the Sursum Corda and
The Light of Life. The finale (presto) is
energetic and tuneful, and contains a curious
reminiscence of the theme of the " Andante."

The Te Deum and Benedictus (Op. 34), in
spite of some fine work here and there, on
the whole leaves an unfavourable impres-
sion. The reason probably is that, listen-
ing to it now with the recollection of all the

SONGS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS IIQ

music that Elgar has written before and
since, we see it to be packed with his
mannerisms — a certain type of melody that
is frequent with him, a certain rhythm, a
certain distribution of accents, certain har-
monic device^, certain sequences that recur
time after time in his music, all of which
we here get crowded into a comparatively
small space. Stereotyped subjects like this
do not lend themselves to great originality
of treatment ; and the result in the present
case is that we get extremely little of the
deeper Elgar and a good deal of the Elgar
that lies near the surface.

Elgar has never shone as a song writer.
Original enough in many other respects, in
the song he has mostly been content to
work along the ordinary English lines and
traffic in the ordinary English sentiments.
No doubt the market for which he has
written has had something to do with the
character of his songs ; while in some cases
the mediocre or commonplace verses he has
chosen to set have put any distinction of
style quite out of the question. One finds
it hard to believe that with so many good
poems in existence a musician of Elgar's
calibre should ever set such a thing as Mr.
Clifton Bingham's "Come, gentle night!"

120 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

But taking the songs as they are, with the
Hmitations of their class, some of them have
a touch of a quahty that may rescue them
from neglect. The " Shepherd's Song "
(words by Mr. Barry Pain) is pleasant and
pretty, and the workmanship is always
interesting. The " War Song " (words by
Mr. C. F. Hayward), has some descriptive
touches, and here and there a flash of real
power. It is a good song of the popular
kind, doing its honest best in spite of the
words. " The Poet's Life " is superior
Lawrence Kellie. " Like to the Damask
Rose," "A Song of Flight," "Queen
Mary's Song," "After," "Rondel," and
" The Pipes of Pan," are fairly interesting
— the last-named is more effective in its
orchestral setting.

Elgar's most notable achievement in this
line is the Sea-Pictures, a cycle of five songs
for contralto and orchestra. Here the words
are almost invariably good, while the oppor-
tunity for orchestral expression counts, as
always, for a good deal with him. The
value of this is seen in the opening of the
first song (" Sea Slumber-Song," words by
the Hon. Roden Noel), where a quite un-
distinguished vocal phrase is made fairly
acceptable to us by the orchestral atmos-

SONGS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS 121

phere in which it is set. So again in the
hnes —

" I, the Mother mild,
Hush thee, O my child,
Forget the voices wild ! " —

the orchestration, with the mysterious
octaves in the strings, the arpeggios in the
harp, the tremor of the drums, and the
faint clang of the gong, gives an interest to
the passage that it would not otherwise
possess. There is, too, the old thoughtless-
ness in the melodic phrasing, as seen in
such lines as —

" Isles in elfin light
Dream, the rocks and caves
Lulled by whispering waves,
Veil their marbles bright."

Here the sense of the first clause obviously
ends at " dream " ; there is no earthly
necessity, merely because the poet has made
a division at " light," for the composer to
imitate and even exaggerate his procedure.
Elgar's melodic sentence, however, ends
definitely at "light," and the verb "dream,"
instead of belonging to the first melodic
phrase, is thrust unceremoniously into the
second, which thus runs, " Dream the rocks
and caves, Lulled by whispering waves."

122 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Then there comes a dead stop, and the verb
that really belongs to the rocks and caves
—the "veil" of the fourth line— is left
stranded, apparently related to nothing.
Elgar's phrasing is thus —

(i) Isles in elfin light.

(2) Dream the rocks and caves lulled by whispering

waves.

(3) Veil their marbles bright.

The first melodic sentence should obviously
run from " Isles " to " Dream " without a
break, and the second from " The rocks
and caves " to " marbles bright " without
a break. This would necessitate a vocal
phrase of quite anotlier shape than that
used by Elgar.^ His ear is plainly insensi-
tive to defects of phrasing of this kind ;
his tune is conceived for its own sake, and
the words have to be made to fit it as best
they can. He never sets a poem as Hugo
Wolf, for example, would do, with the most
delicate equipoise of poetry and music, the
melodic phrase ignoring the artificial line-
divisions of the poem, always paying the

^ A singer \vith an ear would of course try to link the
"Dream" with "Isles in elfin light"; but if this is not
done with great emphasis the real verbal sense is not con-
veyed, and if it is done with great emphasis the melodic
line is broken.

SONGS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS 123

most perfect respect to the rational verbal
phrasing, but without sacrificing any of
its own independence.^ With Elgar the
cases of really felicitous verbal phrasing in
his vocal music are quite scarce. Some-
times it is startlingly bad ; at other times,
while not bad enough to disturb us very
deeply, the words are indeed made, by a
process of lengthening this or that syllable,
to go with the words, but without any
sense of inevitableness. He has lately pub-
lished the canto popolare from the In the
South overture as a song with words by
Shelley, and this may serve to illustrate
the point I am enforcing. It is quite true
that you can sing Shelley's words to the
music, but only by the same process by
which Procrustes made his victims, tall or
short, fit his bed of torture. Your sense of
verbal rhythm is pushed and pulled and
jolted till its ribs are broken ; and you

1 The student who is interested in this point, that is so
essential to good song-writing, yet upon which there is the
most extraordinary ignorance and carelessness among both
composers and audiences, should examine a song of Hugo
Wolf's like "Das Standchen" (in the Eichendorff volume),
or *' Auf dem grlinen Balkon" in the "Spanisches Lieder-
buch." Wolf is, indeed, infallible in the matter of catching
in his melody the right accent and phrasing of the poetry.
Even Brahms can be caught tripping once or twice, but
Wolf, I believe, never.

124 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

finally declare that by similar treatment
anything — an Act of Parliament or a patent
medicine advertisement — could be made to
" go with " the melody equally well.

The two most completely successful songs
in the Sea-Pictures are, "In Haven" — set
to three admirable little verses by Lady
Elgar — and " Where corals lie," the words
of which are by Dr. Richard Garnett. In
the former there is the loveliest of quiet
orchestral colour, the flowing figures in the
strings giving a happy placidity to the
movement : the song is a little seascape in
water-colours. In " Where corals lie," the
vocal phrasing meets with no difficulties
because the verbal sense always terminates
with each line, and Elgar has found a
melody that exactly squares with the orderly
rhythm and accent of the verse. The
orchestral colouring is again very suggestive,
and saves one or two of the phrases from
striking us as rather obvious. The melody
is generally expressive, though it lacks dis-
tinction at the words —

" But far the rapid fancies fly
To rolling worlds of wave and shell."

The cadences, however, are always striking,
especially the final one, where a certain

SONGS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS 125

austerity is preserved that well suits the
whole character of the poem and the music.
The " Sabbath Morning at Sea," the third
of the scries, is very unequal. The words
are by Mrs. Browning, and not always quite
suitable for music, as in the muddled lines —

" As glorified by even the intent
Of holding the day glory."

The inspiration falters at times, but there
are some deeply moving passages, and the
song works up to a fine climax. At the
words, " And on that sea commixed with
fire," the violins bring in the string figure
that has already been heard at the opening
of the first song of the series. This system
of quotation is again adopted in the last
song of the set, " The Swimmer." The
words — a rather ineffective imitation of the
sonorous harmonies of Swinburne — are by
Mr. A. Lindsay Gordon. In the lines —

" One gleam like a bloodshot sword-blade swims on
The sky-line, staining the green gulf crimson,
A death-stroke fiercely dealt by a dim sun," —

there is an absurdity of rhyme that is
faithfully preserved in the musical setting.
The orchestral prelude, depicting the sea in
its fury, is, of course, graphically done ; the

126 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

pictorial work is, indeed, good throughout.
There is vigour in the swinging tune that
follows, but rather too much use is made
of it in its unvaried form, and it does not
always go amicably with the words to which
it is applied, as at " When we wandered
here together." At the line " From the
heights and hollows of fern and feather,"
the oboe repeats one of the themes from
" Where corals lie " ; and the section com-
mencing, " The skies were fairer," is based
on the theme of " Isles in elfin light " in
the first song. Altogether the song, if not
of impeccable workmanship throughout, has
many striking passages, much tenderness,
and a good deal of strength.

CHAPTER V

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS :
MARCHES, OVERTURES, ETC.

Op. 19. Overture : " Froissart."

Op. 32. Imperial March.

Op. 36. *' Enigma" Variations on an Original Theme.

Op. 39. Three Military Marches : " Pomp and Circum-
stance."

Op. 40. Overture: "Cockaigne."

Op. 42. Incidental Music to " Crania and Diarmid."

Op. 43. "Dream Children" — two pieces for small
orchestra.

Op. 47. Introduction and Allegro for Strings.

Op. 50. Overture : *' In the South."

The Froissart overture, produced at the
Worcester Festival of 1890, was Elgar's first
Festival work. The explanation of the title
is that the overture expresses Elgar's love
for the days of chivalry, which live again
for us in the pages of the charming old
historian, Froissart. Prefixed to the score
is a quotation from Keats —

" When Chivalry
Lifted up her lance on high."

i?7

128 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The idea of the overture grew directly
out of a scene in Sir Walter Scott's " Old
Mortality," where Claverhouse asks Morton :
'* Did you ever read Froissart ? " When
Morton replies " No," Claverhouse goes on :
" I have half a mind to contrive you should
have six months' imprisonment in order to
procure you that pleasure. His chapters in-
spire me with more enthusiasm than even
poetry itself. And the noble canon — with
what true chivalrous feeling he confines
his beautiful expressions of sorrow to the
death of the gallant and high-bred knight,
of whom it was a pity to see the fall, such
was his loyalty to his king, pure faith to
his religion, hardihood towards his enemy,
and fidelity to his lady-love ! — Ah, bene-
dicite ! how he will mourn over the fall
of such a pearl of knighthood, be it on the
side he happens to favour, or the other.
But, truly, for sweeping from the face
of the earth some few hundreds of villain
churls, who are born but to plough it,
the high-bom and inquisitive historian has
marvellous little S5nnpathy — as little, or
less, perhaps, than John Graham of Claver-
house."

The overture may thus be taken as a
picture of the old knightly world, with its

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I29

fighting and romantic love-making, seen
through eyes that ideahse it all.

Two or three preliminary motives are
sketched out before the principal subject
enters. First of all the general atmosphere
of the times the composer is delineating is
suggested in some vigorous bars, dying away
to a pianissimo. Then a gracious, suave
theme, thoroughly characteristic of Elgar,
enters in wood-wind and strings —

65

t-^=m:

±=L

^^E^Si^^S

to be followed by a striking little passage
for the horns, which in turn leads into
another typical Elgar melody —

66

-tesl-

in the development of which the horn-
call just referred to is heard pealing out
cheerily (this time strengthened by the
trumpets).

Some transitional matter of a buoyant
character culminates in the statement of
the chief theme {allegro moderato) —

VOL. IV. I

130

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

E^^

This is pleasantly and freely dealt with, ulti-
mately leading to a grandiose repetition of
No. 65 in the full orchestra, the little figure for
horns and trumpets again being prominent.
All gradually becomes quite tranquil, and in
a solo clarinet we hear the second subject,
accompanied quietly by the upper strings —

It is repeated with fuller scoring, but never
with any loss of its simple and winsome
character. Fragments of No. 67 (end of
bar 2 and bar 3) are quietly suggested in
clarinet, viola, and flute, and then the de-
velopment section begins.

The trombones give out a reminiscence of
the beginning of No. 65, and are answered
by the violas with the opening of No. 68.
Further dialogue between these two themes
ensues, as well as a good deal of reference
to the phrases with whicli the overture

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I3I

Opened. The horn-call reappears in im-
posing form in the full orchestra, and is
followed by a highly-coloured version of
the knightly theme, No. 66. No. 68 is
further dealt with, and the little melodic
figure seen in bar 2 of No. 65 and bar i
of No. 68 is always being put to use. No. 65
reappears, augmented, in clarinets, violas,
and horns, and with further handling of
this the development section ends.

At the beginning of the recapitulation
section the tempo quickens again, and the
colours become brighter, till after a big
crescendo No. 67 emerges in full swing. It
is followed by No. 68, at first in the 'cellos,
with a quiet accompaniment, then with
fuller instrumentation. In the ensuing
transition-work there is an interesting re-
currence, piano ma marcato, of the old
horn-call. In the coda much use is made
of fragments of the themes with which
the overture opens, and of No. 65, the
latter in vociferous form.

The Froissart overture is an exceedingly
pleasant piece of work, breathing as healthy
an atmosphere as one could wish to have
in music. To hear it now, in the light of
our knowledge of the later Elgar, is to
realise how thoroughly, even in those early

132

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

days, he understood the secret of the
orchestra. There is not, of course, the
Giorgionesque opulence of colour of the
latest works, but the colour is alwa37S fresh
and vivid, and the calculation is always
certain — the effect that comes out is always
the effect that was planned when the notes
were put on the paper.

The Imperial March, like the cantata The
Banner of St. George, owes its origin to the
celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond
Jubilee in 1897. It is a good specimen of
this order of composition, its colour being
rich and its tunes broad and swinging with-
out descending into the obvious. A pompous
theme first comes out —

69

^^^^^

W^^=^i^

and is supplemented by another, marked
strepitoso —

'i^-f^^^^^'^^^^^t.

t^=m^i^-

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I33

A repetition of No. 69 brings us to the middle
section, based on a more suave motive —

71

which in due course leads back to No. 69 and
No. 70, with a final glance at No. 71.

The Enigma Variations, brought out by
Dr. Richter in London in June 1899, were
practically the first work in which Elgar's
genius was made fully manifest. From that
time many people put him in the front
rank of contemporary musicians, and each
subsequent work of his had to be judged by
the standard not of English music merely,
but of the world's music.

The meaning of the word " Enigma " in
connection with the score is that, according
to the composer, " another and larger "
theme which is never heard " goes with "
the theme we hear and with each Variation
of it ; but what this other enigmatic theme
is, nobody knows.

The score is dedicated " To my friends
pictured within," from which it will be seen
that each of the Variations is a musical
portrait or character-study of one of the

134 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

composer's friends — or, to put it in another
way, each Variation shows the theme as
seen through the eyes of another person.
These are indicated in the score either by
initials or by pseudonyms, and only Elgar
and a few of his intimates have the key
to the persons pictured. It is not at all
necessary to have this key, however, in
order to appreciate the work, which may
confidently appeal to us as music pure and
simple. It is full of delicate fancy and
beauty tinged with warm feeling ; and the
consummate art of the orchestration makes
it a perpetual delight to the ear.

The Variations are fourteen in number,
and the headings are as follows —

Enigma (the theme stated).

1. C.A.E. (Andante).

2. H.D.S.P. (Allegro).

3. R.B.T. (Allegretto).

4. W.M.B. (Allegro di moito).

5. R.P.A. (Moderate).

6. Ysobel (Andantino).

7. Troyte (Presto).

8. W.N. (Allegretto).

9. Nimrod (Moderate).

10. Dorabella (Allegretto).

1 1. G.R.S. (Allegro di molto).

12. B.C.N. (Andante).

13. * * * Romanza (Moderate).

14. E.D.U. (Allegro).

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I35

One or two of these initials are easy to
decipher. Those who know that Sir Edward
Elgar is married, and that " C. A. Elgar "
figures as the poetess of one or two of the
Sea-Pictures, will have little difficulty in
forming the conclusion that the first Varia-
tion is Lady Elgar. " G.R.S." will be no
mystery to any one who knows the names of
the " Three Choir " organists ; and a little
transposition of " Nimrod " into another
tongue will yield the name of a well-known
London admirer of the composer. The
" Dorabella " must represent some very
dainty maiden ; and the 13th Variation,
with its curious drum-roll — like the faint
throb of the engines of a big liner — and its
quotation from Mendelssohn's " Calm Sea
and Prosperous Voyage," refers to a friend
who was crossing the ocean when the Varia-
tion was written.

The theme itself runs as follows —

72 (a)

^^

H — 33-

:j|.-T-

^^

T^

^m

>=^-

136 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

J-

i(c)

It begins, as will be seen, in the minor,
goes, at (h), into the major, and ends with
a return to the phrase marked (a).

I. In the first Variation, the flute and
clarinet (with second violins and violas
doubling them in an exceedingly quiet
tremolo) muse upon No. y2a, while the
first violins and 'cellos move up and down
in light syncopated groups — ■

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I37

At the eighth bar No. 726 hazards an ap-
pearance in violas, against a counter-theme
in the wood- wind. Four bars later there is
a noble climax in the full orchestra, an im-
pressive descent in wood-wind and upper
strings being accompanied by No. 72^ in
horns, trumpets, and 'cellos ; this becomes
more and more refined in feeling, till at
the last a solo clarinet softly utters it in
the major.

II. Throughout this Variation there runs
a quaint semiquaver figure —

^1^

Small counter-themes appear against it, and
at the eighteenth bar it is accompanied by
No. 72a in 'ceUos and basses.

III. Here a solo oboe plays scherzando
with No. 72a, over a shifting basis of sixths
in flutes, clarinets, and bassoons —

^s

1^=^

8va.

m

Jau,^

g^g^-^=g

>:e

^^^

138

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

No. 72& is taken up in the same playful
mood by the clarinets, the theme being
metamorphosed into whimsical triplets, and
the violins clinching the clarinet phrase at
the end of each bar. Towards the end,
when the opening of the Variation is repeated
in flutes, oboes, and clarinets, the bassoons
are prominent with a humorous run up-
wards in triplets, which before it finishes is
accompanied in sixths by the violins.

IV. Here we get back to a restatement of
the theme almost in its original form ; the
mood however is now breezy and boisterous —

The gusty energy of the runs in the strings
against No. 726 (in the seventh and follow-
ing bars) strikes one very forcibly. A middle
section of a few bars takes us into a quieter
atmosphere for a moment ; but when the
return to the beginning is made the orchestra
lets itself go at its full power, the drummer
working as hard as any one.

V. No. 72a is now heard in grave tones
in bassoons and basses, while the violins

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I39

have a counter-theme of equal gravity of

feehng —

T7' ^ ^

S)^^

*yq=:

p

Ji

^

Then No. 726 appears in altered form in the
flutes, with the oboes creeping up under-
neath—

iTvj

140

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the oboes breaking out at the second bar
into a cheery chatter, which is imitated
at once in other instruments. No. "j"] re-
turns, with the upper subject thickly under-
hned, as it were, in all the strings, bassoon
and double bassoon in unison, and the under
theme lifted up above it to the higher wood-
wind. The Variation ends with further play
upon the intermediate matter commenced
in No. 78, except for a reminder, at the
very finish, of No. ']'].

VI. No. V. runs without a break into
No. VI . Here the violas have a new figure
that is worked in dialogue against another
in the bassoons, founded on No. 72^.

V9

At the sixth bar a modification of No. 726
steps out in the bassoons, and later on a

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I41

cantahile viola solo stands out prominently.
Except for a bar or two of lighter colouring
here and there, the tone of the Variation
is very serious, sombre, and contemplative.
VII. Here everything is exceedingly im-
petuous : a characteristic feature of the
Variation is the drum figure with which it
commences, and which recurs persistently.
The theme is in the wood-wind and violas ;
it will be seen to be derived from No. 726 —

l±i

stac.

col 8va.

$

B^

tv=t-

^§8^51

■:g.-

&c.

mi

^

1=«/==t:

^ 5 f^' =

A peculiarity of it is the quiet beginning of
each phrase, the rapid crescendo (the pace
is very fast) and the drop again to piano.
Later on No. 72^ carries on " a raging,
tearing propaganda " in trombones, tuba,
basses, and bassoons, accompanied by fly-
ing arpeggio passages in the strings —

143

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

c. 8va,

The drum figure reappears, and with it
No. 80 ; the theme being this time encircled
with brilhant string scale passages that
sweep up and down through four octaves.
No. 81 also returns, as vigorous as before,
and the drum never tires of its own little
theme. Towards the end the horns and
brass throw out No. 72^ in superb lines
and colours ; there is an impetuous down-
ward rush in the strings, and the drum
manages to come in with a final tattoo at
the very last. The whole Variation is as
invigorating as a walk over the mountains
v/ith sun and wind at their best.

VIII. The portrait is feminine. No. 72a
is given in sixths to the clarinets, in a new
rhythm of engaging Hghtness ; at the third
bar the strings complete the phrase in
broad, suave curves —

&c

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS

143

The oboe then trills out suggestions of
No. 72^, with decoration in the flutes. The
'cellos and bassoons take up the spirit of
No. 82, the violins having a counter-
theme ; and so we work our way back to
a proper resumption of No. 82, the wood-
wind, as before, giving out the beginning of
the theme and the strings completing it.

IX. The last three bars of Variation VIII.
deal with the theme of bar 3 of No. 82
largamente, and then run without a break
into the grave and composed ninth Varia-
tion. No. 72^, transposed into the major,
is turned into a noble melody in E flat —

J^ ^--_ .- ^ JT &c.

It is first of all heard in the strings, then
with fuller scoring. Its final statement is

144

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

extremely dignified, glowing with the richest
of colour, and breathing some of the most
elevated inspiration that modern music can
show. The hearer must not be misled by
the title of " Nimrod " to suppose that the
Variation has anything to do with a sport-
ing character. As already explained, " Nim-
rod " is a linguistic play upon the name of an
enthusiastic admirer who has done a great
deal to make Elgar's music known and
understood.

X. In the exquisite " Dorabella " Varia-
tion (styled an Intermezzo), there is only the
slightest of references to the original theme.
A dainty, ingenuous melody, of the most
winsome charm, is sung in snatches by the
wood- wind, the muted strings playing round
it in delicate, gauze-like figures. There is
something of the dart and flutter of the
butterfly in the theme —

At the tenth bar there is heard in a solo
viola, against the same kind of figure as is

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS

145

shown in No. 84, a distant reminder of
No. 72&. The Variation is mostly in
G major ; there is a middle section in
G minor, in which No. 726 is again most
vaguely suggested in the violins ; then
No. 84 returns in G major as before.
Finally the G minor violin phrase just
referred to is put into the major, with a
lovely cadence, and the Variation ends with
a few suggestions of No. 84, ppp.

XI. The strings leap down in a cascade
through three octaves ; then, in bar 2,
bassoons and basses pick out, staccato, a
variation of No. 72^^ ; the wood- wind and
violins answer in bar 3 with No. 726, and
other instruments have rapid chromatic
scales —

VOL. TV

146

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Aiter fuller statements of this, the brass
gives out a jerky and strongly accented
modification of No. 72a. The mood of
No. 85 is resumed, the themes always being
treated with sudden breaks and wild rushes.
The general psychological characteristic of
the Variation is an abrupt, explosive kind
of energy.

XII. We come back again to more con-
templative moods. After a couple of bars
suggestive of No. 72a, the 'cellos have a
long-drawn and expressive melody founded
on that theme —

that dominates the whole movement. There
are hints of No. 726 in the middle section.
No. 86 mounts to a dignified climax, and a

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I47

finely spiritual effect is produced at the
end by a solo 'cello quietly giving out a
reminiscence of the opening theme.

XIII . This Variation follows without a
break on the preceding one. Here again,
as in the tenth, the original theme is hardly
ever in evidence. The clarinet begins with
a melody over a swaying accompaniment in
the strings. Soon the violas have a gently
heaving figure in sixths, the kettledrum
keeps up a faint roll like a long throb,
and the clarinet softly gives out a quota-
tion—

from Mendelssohn's "Calm Sea and Pros-
perous Voyage " overture. The marine pic-
ture becomes still more lovely later on, where
the viola figure is distributed over the whole
of the strings, and the Mendelssohn quota-
tion is breathed out softly in trumpets and
trombones. At the very end the sense of
the ship vanishing in the distance is ex-
quisitely conveyed, the theme returning to
the placid clarinet, and the drum keeping
up its faint persistent throbbing.

XIV. The first sixteen bars of the la§t

148

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Variation are devoted to leaping and flying
preludial figures ; then a broad and digni-
fied subject thunders out in the full
orchestra —

in which No. 72a is clearly apparent. A
vigorous development of this leads to a
section commencing thus —

in which No. 726 is seen below (in violas and
'cellos) while wood-wind and horns have a
theme in counterpoint above it. No. 726
is always prominent at this stage in some

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I49

part or other. A fine climax comes with the
" Nimrod " Variation (No. 83) in augmenta-
tion in the brass, with a counter-theme above
and below it. The theme broadens and
broadens, the falling sevenths being put to
fine use in a great stringendo passage. The
preludial matter is then resumed, followed
by No. S8. Then a modification of No. 73
comes out very quietly, but in full scoring.
The time quickens, and No. 89 is heard
once more, leading in due course again into
No. 88, and this in turn into a fine version
of No. 72^. No. 88 is treated with bold
variation to the end, and the " Nimrod "
theme also appears in a new light. Alto-
gether the finish is a superb outburst, re-
markable both for its clever theme-weaving
and its glorious colour.

The Pomp and Circumstance Military
Marches are intended to be six in number.
The first two were produced in 1901, the
third in 1905. Elgar's idea was to treat
the soldier's march symphonically — to blend
the practical and the artistic in one, by
making the March in every way adapted
for marching purposes, while not sacrificing
any of the qualities required for performance
in the concert-room. The following lines of
Lord de Tabley have been taken by the

150

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

composer as a motto for the Marches as a
whole —

" Like a proud music that draws men to die
Madly upon the spears in martial ecstasy,
A measure that sets heaven in all their veins
And iron in their hands.
I hear the Nation march
Beneath her ensign as an eagle's wing ;
O'er shield and sheeted targe
The banners of my faith most gaily swing,
Moving to victory with solemn noise,
With worship and with conquest, and the voice of
myriads."

No. I, in D, after a stirring Introduction
of a few bars, breaks out into a tune with
any amount of snap in it ; it is entrusted
to vioHns, violas, and 'cellos in unison —

It has a brilliant continuation-

which after doing duty as a melody is
used as a bass. Repetition of previous

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I5I

matter, in which the introductory phrases
serve to lead — contrary to the usual practice
in Marches — into the next section, brings
us to the Trio, where we have the healthy
tune — popular in the best sense of the
word — that was later on to be used for
" Land of Hope and Glory " in the Corona-
tion Ode —

i

is

i^

l5t»:

^^

^: -s*-

I

^

i

a^z^g:

The melody is accompanied by a uniform
beat throughout. Repeated with fuller scor-
ing, it leads back into No. 90 and No. 91,
as well as the strains of the Introduction.
Then No. 92 recurs, this time not in the
dominant but the tonic key, and the March
ends with brief allusions to No. 90.

March No. 2 in A minor has an attention-
arresting preface of two bars, followed by
the first subject, lightly scored —

152

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

After sundry modulations a broad, rolling
melody enters —

at the end of which the original preface
introduces No. 93 once more. Then, with
a change to A minor, a triplet figure is
heard in the lower strings and wood-wind ;
this is soon made to serve as bass to the
melody of the Trio —

^^f^^^

The melody is pleasingly varied and re-
peated. Some allusions to No. 93 bring us
to a return of the whole March, which ends
with a coda based on figures derived from
the preface.

The third March, in C minor, is not so
attractive as the other two. This is in
part due to the curiously sombre character
of a good deal of it, though it must be said
that the thematic invention right through
the March is of a rather inferior quality.

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I53

It opens with a quiet and mysterious theme
in the clarinets, bassoons, and horns, punctu-
ated by drum-beats on the weak accents of
each bar —

This is repeated higher up in the wood-wind,
the first vioUns helping now and then with
a pizzicato ; then, with a great crescendo
and a quickening of the pace, another theme
appears. Here each phrase is prefaced by
three sharp semiquavers in the brass, the
remainder coming out in the full wood-wind
and strings —

No. 96 recurs and is treated in a new fashion,
with fresh effects of rhythm and scoring ;
and the section ends with a bar of upward
and downward rushes and one sharp chord.
The Trio opens with a melody in the

154

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

clarinets over a staccato string accompani-
ment in tenths —

It is bandied about in the orchestra until
a new theme enters in vioHns and 'cellos
in octaves —

This is followed by a recapitulation of
No. 98 ; then the first part of the March
(No. 96 and No. 97) is repeated. On its
next statement it is whipped up to higher
excitement by rushing scale-passages in
strings and wood-wind.

The coda is founded on the Trio, the
theme of which (No. 98) now comes out
grandioso in the full orchestra. A connect-
ing section deals in spirited style with
fragments of No. 96 and No. 97 ; then, in
an animatOy No. 98 comes out in a breezy
kind of way, with a striking accompani-

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I55

ment in the brass. Finally the third bar
of No. 98 is seized upon and tossed about
in various forms, and the March ends with
the runs and the brusque chord that
finished the first section.

There is something enigmatic in the mood
of the opening theme of the March, and one
would like to know more definitely what
it was that prompted this curious melody.
It is, however, more puzzling than striking,
while the other themes, as already hinted,
are not of distinguished quality. The breezy
melodies of the two other Marches are un-
consciously popular in the best sense of the
word ; in the third March the conscious
intention to write a popular tune — as in
the Trio — is too plainly evident, and the
tune fails and is apt to drop into banahty.

In the Cockaigne overture Elgar has con-
fined himself for the most part to the lighter
side of London life ; there is dignity, in-
deed, in it, but unfiecked by any suspicion
of care or " problem." It is not the sordid,
harassed London of Mr. Charles Booth, but
the happy-go-lucky London of Phil May —
if we could imagine Phil May with a touch
of romance in him — that Elgar dwells upon.

The gladsome nonchalant feelings of a
typical easy-going Londoner strolling through

156

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

St. James's Park on a lovely summer day
are described in the opening theme —

At the fourth bar another sprightly little
figure enters —

i^^^i^

&C.

to add to the general gaiety.

Several presentations of the bustling,
jaunty No. 100 lead to another theme —

that brings a more serious mood into the
music. It represents the stronger side of
the London character. More vociferations
of No. 100 in the brightest colour of the
brass, and then tranquil feelings come
uppermost ; we are introduced to a pair
of happy, tender lovers on their walk. A
preliminary phrase —

103 «^

^

3^^

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS 157

leads into the love-theme proper, which
may be regarded as the second subject of
the overture —

104

After listening for a moment to the lovers'
conversation, the composer fastens on the
phrase shown in No. 103, passes it through
various modifications, and finally makes it
conduct us into another scene, where we
are introduced to the perky, self-confident,
unabashable London street-boy —

This theme, it will be noticed, is evoked
out of that of the graver " Londoners," just
as Wagner obtained the theme of his
Nuremberg apprentices out of that of the
Master-singers.

No. 104 is tossed about merrily from one
key to another, until No. loi reappears
in a more assertive form, followed by the
semiquaver passage shown at the beginning
of No. 100. Continuing to play with this

158 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

in the strings (the drums assisting later on)
the composer once more takes up No. 104
and modifies it.

The development section opens with
No. 102 high up in the strings legato e dolcey
and followed by an equally smooth pre-
sentation of the end of the " lovers' " theme
(the continuation of No. 103). This is
shown in one dreamy form after another ;
at one or two points a solo clarinet breaks
in upon the scene with an anticipation of
the rough strains that are soon to disturb the
love idyll. There is a military band ap-
proaching from somewhere, but as yet its
noise is attenuated by distance. Rushing
scale passages in strings and wind, however,
interspersed with further suggestions of
military music, indicate that the band is
drawing nearer. Soon we hear it in full
blast : against a whirr of tone in strings
and wood-wind the cornets and trombones
blare out their impudent, swaggering
theme —

106

^^^

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I59

This is developed largely, and the joy of the
youngsters in the soldiers, the band, and
the procession is shown by pieces of No. 105
flitting about like broken ejaculations of
delight.

The turmoil dies away, and fragments of
No. 100 make their reappearance. The
lovers are supposed to make for a quiet
church, to avoid the crowd and the din ;
on their way their ears are assailed by the
corybantic strains of a Salvation Army
band that is stationed down a side street.
The big drum and the tambourine are
faintly heard ; then the clarinets play a
typical piece of Salvation Army music (a
metamorphosis of No. 106), horribly out of
tune with the basses, which are in F while
the tune is in G fiat. The basses obligingly
change their tonality in the hope of putting
things right, but the unskilled clarinettists
repay their courtesy by again getting out
of the key ; this time the basses hold G,
while the tune is in A flat. These episodes
alternate with a short, tender phrase in the
violins, that may be taken to denote the
feelings of the lovers.

These are now in the church, and a calm
phrase in the clarinets and horns is worked as
a counterpoint with a figure in the strings —

i6o

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The noisy outer world is forgotten for a
moment, but it soon obtrudes itself again,
snatches of the " urchins' " theme (No. 105)
mixing themselves up with that of the
" lovers' " (No. 104). The tempo quickens
again to that of the opening of the overture,
and No. 100 reappears in the trombones,
marking the commencement of the recapitu-
lation section, and also — so far as the pro-
gramme is concerned — the point at which
the lovers leave the church and re-enter
the streets. Nos. 100 and loi are enun-
ciated in full form with brilliant scoring.
The " lovers' " theme and second subject
(No. 104) is treated with the same rich-
ness of colour, and No. 103 appears as a
pendant to it. The joyous No. 105 scampers
about exuberantly, dies down quickly to
piano, and makes way for new reminders of
the coming of the military band, whose
strident strains are soon heard again in
fuU force. Finally, the " London " theme

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS l6l

(No. 102) comes out in the utmost fulness of
scoring and nobility of phrasing, and the
overture ends with a reminiscence of the
sprightly No. 100.

The Grania and Diarmid music was
written for a play by Mr. George Moore
and Mr. W. B. Yeats. The incidental
music — thirty-seven bars in all — commences
with a series of answering horn-calls, in
which the trumpets shortly join. Then,
after some intermediary passages in strings
and harp, an expressive melody, plaintive
and haunting, is heard in the clarinet. It
is passed on from instrument to instrument,
until it dies away in the harp and strings.
All that is aimed at in this brief fragment is
the evocation of a delicate, fugitive mood.

The Funeral March commences, maestoso,
with a march-like theme —

:d^=

^ea^^^ttfeS

.M^dZjl

"^""

^^.c.

T' u.

to which the use of the scale with the
flattened seventh gives a peculiar atmos-

VOL. IV.

l62 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

phere. Very melancholy is the effect of
the series of rises and falls in the melody.
The melodic figure shown in the fourth bar
is specially symbolical of the somewhat
weak character of Diarmid. A change to
the major key introduces a fresh theme, by
turns noble and pathetic in its expression —

109

Although the rhythm has altered from that
of the commencement, the sense of a solemn
procession is still maintained. In the
further course of the melody we have a
modification of the " Diarmid " motive just
referred to.

This section terminates with a roll on
the timpani and a vibrant note in the gong ;
whereupon there enters the lovely dream-
like melody that has been already heard
in the incidental music —

110

This time it is scored much more elaborately.
Then the opening section (No io8) is re-

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS 163

peated, followed as before by No. 109. In
spite of occasional outbursts of fiery splen-
dour, the tone of the funeral march as a
whole is singularly subdued. Death has
here represented itself to the composer's
imagination not as the King of Terrors, at
whose coming we must beat the breast and
tear the hair, but as a power dignified, noble,
and not altogether the enemy of mankind.
The prevailing note of it all is a kind of
wistfulness, a beautiful and touching resigna-
tion to fate. Its mood of elegiac regret is,
in its way, as impressive as the more frenzied
strains in which modern composers some-
times cry out their fear and horror of death.
Dream Children are a couple of delicate
little pastels for a small orchestra, inspired
by an essay of Charles Lamb. Elia, enter-
taining some children with stories of their
grandmother, finds them gradually dis-
appear from his sight — he is, indeed, only
dreaming. " And while I stood gazing,
both the children gradually grew fainter to
my view, receding, and still receding, till
nothing at last but two mournful features
were seen in the uttermost distance, which,
without speech, strangely impressed upon
me the effects of speech : ' We are not of
Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at

164 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

all. . . . We are nothing ; less than nothing,
and dreams. We are only what might have
been.' " The two pieces are very short —
24 and 141 bars respectively. The first, a
tender little reverie with much lovely feeling
underlying its simplicity, is the better of the
two. The second, though charming, is more
obvious in its sentiment. At the end of it
there is a return to the theme of the first.

The latest work of Elgar's is the Introduc-
tion and Allegro for Strings (Op. 47), which
was produced for the first time in March
1905, at the same concert at which the
third Pomp and Circumstance March also
received its first performance. He has said
that the work had its origin in Wales some
three years ago, when he was impressed by
the sound of distant singing, in which the
cadence of a falling third particularly caught
his fancy (see bar 2 of Ex. No. 115 below).
From the train of thought thus generated
sprang the main theme of the work — the
pseudo- Welsh tune shown in Ex. No. 115.
Later on, a song heard in the valley of the
Wye reinforced the Welsh impressions, and
led to the completion of the present work.

It is written for a solo quartet (two violins,
viola and 'cello) in conjunction with a string
orchestra (first and second violins, violas,

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS 165

'cellos, and basses, all divisi). This scheme
gives plenty of opportunity for varied tone-
colour, particularly in the hands of one
who writes for strings with such consum-
mate knowledge of their capacities as Elgar
does. Even in the early String Sercnaie
(Op. 20) he drew from the instruments a
rich sonority that is quite remarkable.

The Introduction begins, moderato, with a
preliminary theme in the two groups of
strings —

•t£ri

It is followed immediately by a minor ver-
sion of a theme that afterwards appears in
the form quoted as Ex. No. 112. Further
handling of No. iii in conjunction with
this leads to a solo viola foreshadowing the
Welsh tune with which the work ends (see
Ex. No. 115). Broad and tranquil treat-
ment of this is followed by a return of No.
Ill, and then one more quiet reference to
the Welsh melody brings us to a pause, to
which succeeds the Allegro.

Here the theme already tentatively
touched upon is stated at length —

i66

112

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

^^A^^i

After a full development of it, the second
subject enters staccato in the solo quartet —

lliJ

It is succeeded by further references to
No. Ill, and this in turn by more state-
ments of No. 113. The section is brought
to a dignified semi-close ; then, instead of
a formal working-out of the previous themes,
the composer adds a sprightly fugato on the
following theme —

^^^^^J^^^
^W'^*"^^^^^^

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS 167

Then Nos. 112, 113, and iii are taken up
again, and finally the so-called Welsh tune
is given in full —

U5

^4=.^^JL

:?R=^rr±q?i

^t=-t

m

i

1 — f-

molto sostenuto, in both quartet and orchestra.
The work ends with flying allusions to
No. 112.

The concert overture In the South (Alassio)
is said to be the fruit of a brief sojourn in
Italy in the winter of 1 903-1 904, and to
owe its immediate origin to the thoughts
and sensations of one beautiful afternoon
in the Vale of Andora. The composer has
taken for a general motto for his work the
following hues from Tennyson's poem, " The
Daisy "—

"... What hours were thine and mine,
In lands of palm and southern pine,

In lands of palm, of orange blossom,
Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine."

l68 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The whole poem, though it is only of second-
rate quality as poetry, should be read for a
broad idea of the pictures the composer has
had in his mind. The manuscript of the
overture also contains a quotation from
Byron's " Childe Harold," canto vi. verses
25 and 26 —

". . . aland
Which was the mightiest in its old command
And is the loveliest. . . .
Wherein were cast . . .

. . . the men of Rome 1
Thou art the garden of the world."

First we have an expression of the joy in
life, the quickened energy, the bounding of
the pulse, that comes in moments when
earth seems entirely beautiful and enjoy-
able to us. A vigorous theme comes leap-
ing out in clarinet, viola, 'cello, and horns —

i

isr=4-=t

S=mL

&c.

After a httle development of this, it is con-
tinued in conjunction with a counter-
subject —

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS 169

In time there comes a fine outburst of
feeling —

118 ^

that continually expands in intensity, until
No. 116 is resumed. The mood grows
quieter and quieter, leading into a train of
reflections evoked by the sight of " a shep-
herd with his flock and his home-made

119

The orchestra breathes an exquisite sense-
lulling calm. Ultimately this picture of
placid soul-states merges into the delinea-

170

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

tion of a frame of mind that is at once com-
templative and impassioned —

120

i

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A.^'

J.

m

^

— ^«H r

&G,

The cadences of this melody (which is the
second subject of the overture) are particu-
larly beautiful, while the after-thought —
121

wraps our senses in the lotos-eaters' Iiappy
repose.

This ends the first section. The working-
out section commences with variations upon
No. 119. The composer's thoughts now
turn to the glories of ancient Rome, as

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS 17!

suggested by the ruins and remains around
him ; he tells us that here we may take for
motto a couple of lines from Tennyson's
second verse —

" What Roman strength Turbia showed
In ruin, by the mountain road."

The whole tissue of the music seems to
harden, and we come to a great passage
that has the strength of tissue and the
vibrancy of colour of some magnificent old
bronze. An energetic theme forces itself
strenuously upwards and then dies away —

122

i

rrtw

It is followed by a remarkably original and
effective long-drawn cadence —

The composer puts it that here he has
" endeavoured to paint the relentless and

172

THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

domineering onward force of the ancient
day, and to give a sound-picture of the
strife and wars, the ' drums and tramp-
lings,' of a later time."

The picture is continued in some turbulent
passages, based on soaring figures of this
kind —

124

i

pi?y r

4=t

i

f##^

and dealing largely with No. 122. The
tumult gradually dies away, and the transi-
tion to the next section is made by means of
a passage suggesting the vanishing of the
military picture from the composer's mind
and the advent of a more peaceful mood —

(A curious similarity may be pointed out
between the first half of No. 125 and one of
the phrases in the Apostles).

Now the pastoral element becomes pre-
dominant again, the shepherd stepping for-
ward with a new theme —

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I73

^

^

PP

^r^=

3:

w

jsEJ^^^^-^feBJliUb^ajl

This was formerly supposed to be an adapta-
tion of an Italian canto popolare that caught
the composer's fancy, but he himself has
said that this is not the case. It gets a
peculiar colour by being played on a solo
viola. In the development of this an
augmented version of No. ii6 is heard as-
serting itself ; the subsequent statement
of No. 126, too, is broken at points by re-
miniscences of the second part of No. 119
and the first part of No. 125. The so-called
canto popolare, indeed, is ultimately un-
finished ; it pauses suspended for a moment,
and then the recapitulation begins with
No. 116 in the original key — softly at first,
but soon growing in intensity. Nos. 117,
119, 120 and 121 are aU made use of ;
No. 118 reappears toned down to the most
dulcet pianissimo and is worked up into
a broad flood of rich tone ; No. 119 (second
half) is again important ; suggestions of
No. 116 recur, much altered in phrasing ;
and finally Nos. 116 and 118 are combined,
in augmentation, in grandiose style.

174 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

The excellences and defects of Elgar's
two large overtures may be summarised in
a few words — a certain weakness in devel-
opment, compensated for by wonderfully
expressive and pictorial phrases, and an
orchestration that is always a sheer joy
to listen to. The various " scenes " of the
overture do not always coalesce into an
indivisible whole, but individually they are
excellent.

Such criticisms as suggest themselves
upon Elgar's published work have been
made in their proper places in the foregoing
analysis ; but it would obviously be unwise
to hazard a final estimate of a composer who
is still living, and in the prime of his
powers. Certain general characteristics of
his style may be briefly noted — his habit,
in his melodies, of making the second sec-
tion of the phrase an echo or imitation of
the first, as in Ex. No. 34, 35, 36, 44, 52,
53, 54, 56, 58, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 90, 92,
105, 109, and 116, in the present volume ;
the tendency in his harmony to double a
given part (as . on page 7, Vocal Score of
The Apostles) ; a peculiar mobility of the
bass of his harmony, which is ahnost always
moving at much the same rate as his
melody — a long melodic line over two or

LARGER INSTRUMENTAL WORKS I75

three broad chords, such as we have on
every page in ahnost every other composer,
being the exception in Elgar's music ; a
certain nervous vigour in his melodic ac-
centuation, as in the opening phrase of In
the South (Ex. No. 116) ; a habit of insert-
ing triplet figures in melodies in duple or
quadruple time, as in Ex. No. 8, 13, 20, 55,
107, 108, 109, III, 116, and 125 ; a tendency
of his melodies to proceed by alternate rises
and falls, as if doubling back on themselves
— as in Ex. 11, 14, 24, 34, 51, 58, &c. The
occasionally quoted remark that he " has
not yet attained a distinctive style " is a
fiction, based on imperfect acquaintance
with his work : to those who know that
work there is scarcely any composer whose
distinctive style can be so readily recog-
nised as Elgar's. Any two consecutive
pages of his have a stamp that enable us
at once to name their author. In one de-
partment— that of orchestration — he may
be said to be without a superior ; his scoring
is remarkable for its beauty even in these
days, when to score well is a quite common
gift. He treats the orchestra as one who
loves and respects it, while Strauss, no less
ardent, som.etimes dissembles his love by
kicking the object of his affection down-

176 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

stairs. Elgar is not, as we have seen, a
predestined vocal composer ; nor, on the
other hand, does he handle the symphonic
form with perfect mastery throughout. He
is at his best either when he gets a fine
poetic text that burns like a flame within
him — as in Gerontius — or when he is work-
ing at a kind of necklet of gems — as in the
Variations — where all his finest qualities of
imagination, fancy, feeling, and technique
have free play, and where the miniature
form absolves him from the necessity of
running on for a single moment after he
has become tired. So much for the Elgar
of the past ; it will be interesting to
watch the development of the Elgar of
the future.

APPENDIX

ELGAR AND PROGRAMME MUSIC

Since the previous chapters were written
Elgar has appeared in a new role — that of
the Hterary pubUcist. In his capacity of
Professor of Music at the Birmingham
University he has recently dehvered five
lectures to the students. As these lectures
treat at times of rather controversial matters,
and as they are about to be issued in
book form, they must, of course, be taken
into account in any volume dealing with the
life-work of Elgar. Only one topic in them,
however, really calls for discussion here, and
that is vital to our understanding both of
Elgar the musician, and Elgar the aesthe-
tician. In one of the lectures he held up
the Third Symphony of Brahms as the
height of music because of the absence from
it of any " clue to what was meant." " It
was simply ... a piece of music which
called up a certain set of emotions in each
individual hearer. That, to his mind, was
VOL. IV. '77 i^

178 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

the height of music. When music was
simply a description of something else it
was carrying a large art somewhat further
than he cared for. He thought music, as
a simple art, was at its best when it was
simple, as in this case." And he protested
against people, when they heard a Beethoven
symphony, " calling up all sorts of pictures,
which might or might not have existed in
the composer's mind."

This was plainly an attempt to belittle
poetic music as compared with absolute
music. Even the allusion to Beethoven was
unfortunate. Beethoven himself declared
that he always had a picture in his mind
when he composed ; and if this may be
set aside as an exaggeration, nothing is
surer than that he often not only worked
on a picture, but that he gave us " clues "
to the concrete circumstances that had
stimulated his imagination. He gave us a
" clue " when he called his Sixth Symphony
the Pastoral ; when he called the Third
the Eroica, and told us how it had arisen
from his reflections upon Napoleon ; when
he said of the opening theme of the Fifth,
" Thus Fate knocks at the door " ; when
he called one great overture Leonora No. j,
and hmned Florestan and Fidelio in it.

ELGAR AND PROGRAMME MUSIC I79

and " painted " the arrival of the minister
by means of a trumpet call ; when he
styled another overture Coriolanus, and
" described " so definitely therein that no
one is under any doubt as to whom the
different themes represent. If all this is
not " giving us a clue to what was meant,"
if this is not making music " a description
of something else," by what appropriate
name shall we call it ? As a matter of
fact, Elgar's hasty dictum would condemn
three-fourths of the music of the nineteenth
century ; the very essence of the Romantic
movement that began with Weber and de-
veloped through Mendelssohn, Schumann,
Wagner, Liszt, Berlioz, and a dozen others
to Strauss, was that it took impressions
from life, nature, art, and books, and gave
us them again in music with more or less
definite " clues to what was meant."

But the case against Elgar may be pressed
still further. He himself has written practi-
cally nothing on a large scale that is not
frankly descriptive. What is the prelude
to Gerontius, for example, or the Intro-
duction to the Second Part of the Apostles,
or Froissart, or Cockaigne, or In the South,
but a series of musical descriptions to which
he himself has given us copious clues ? If

l80 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

he really believes now that music is at its
height only when it concerns itself with
nothing but pure tonal pattern-weaving, he
is condemning all his own best work en
masse. Nay, not only his published but
his unpublished work ; for the symphony
upon which he has been engaged so long,
has it not a title ? Has he not already
given his friends the " clue " to it ? If
the music is not descriptive, in some way
or other, of the character whose name is
affixed to it, what is the use of the title
—the " clue " ? And if the title really
appHes, if the music really answers to it,
why does Elgar choose to work in a medium
that his judgment condemns as inferior ?

In the last lecture of the series he en-
deavoured to reply to this criticism, but
only succeeded in getting deeper into the
mire. " He still looked," he said, " upon
music which existed without any poetic or
literary basis as the true foundation of the
art. ... He held that the symphony with-
out a programme was the highest develop-
ment of the art. Views to the contrary, they
would often find, were held by those to whom
the joy of music came somewhat late in life,
or by those who would deny to musicians that
peculiar gift which was theirs — the musical

ELGAR AND PROGRAMME MUSIC l8l

ear, the love of music for its own sake.'*^
He thus ignored the real point, and chose
to stand by a new proposition in which he
can easily be shown to be wrong. The
passage I have italicised is merely one of
the current fallacies as to the " musical
ear " of the programmist. We have said
again and again — said it till we are tired
of saying it — that we appreciate absolute
music just as much as poetic music, and
as much as any absolutist of them all can
do. We have assured them that our enjoy-
ment of a Bach fugue or a Beethoven or
Brahms symphony is equal to theirs. But
the theory that people like poetic music
because they are not musical enough to
appreciate absolute music is too convenient
a one to be abandoned merely because it
has been disproved. It is one of the sacred
tags that will, I suppose, be given to the
guileless young student as wisdom to the
end of time ; some aesthetician in a hurry
invented it once, and other aestheticians
in a hurry will always keep on repeating
it. Any advocate of the symphonic poem
who knows his business invariably insists
that it is not sufficient to tell a story in
music, but that the process of telling it
must satisfy our musical sense. In the

l82 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

handling and working out of the themes,
satisfaction must be given to the demand
of the purely musical ear for musical logic ;
and those of us who have striven most
to have the nature of programme music
properly understood have always contended
most strongly that the building of the tissue
into an organic, symphonic musical whole
is as important as the invention of pregnant,
charaxteristic themes.

But the best proof of the wildness of
Elgar's last shot is to be seen in the present
book. 1 personally am an advocate of pro-
gramme music. According to Elgar, this
often implies a lack of the " peculiar musical
gift — the musical ear, the love of music for
its own sake." Well, if there is one point
that has been insisted on time after time
in the foregoing pages, it is that Elgar's
own large instrumental works fail precisely
on this count. We have seen that in
Cockaigne, In the South, many parts of The
Apostles, and elsewhere, his practice is to
draw a number of small pictures on separate
pieces of paper, then paste them together
and enclose them in a large frame. The
criticism I have had to pass on this, a
dozen times, is that in doing so Elgar
delineates particulars accurately enough,

ELGAR AND PROGRAMME MUSIC 183

but does not make a musical whole of them.
In a word, he, the champion of absolute
music and of " the purely musical ear, the
love of music for its own sake," always
writes music that cannot satisfy this organ ;
we, lovers of poetic music, but who want
poetic music to be as consistent and in-
evitable throughout as the perfect sym-
phony— we, who have given Elgar one bad
mark after another for not coming up to
this ideal, are now told by him that we
" would deny to musicians that peculiar
gift which was theirs — the musical ear,"
and so on. His position is still more self-
contradictory than when he began.

His further remarks, again, were no reply
at all to the real point that had been raised.
Adverting to the criticism passed upon him
for writing nothing but programme music,
and yet advocating absolute music as the
highest form of the art, he said, " He had
written overtures and things with titles more
or less poetic and suggestive, but was he
then so narrow as to admire his own music
because he had written it himself ? . . .
When he saw one of his own works by the
side of, say, the Fifth Symphony, he felt
as a tinker might do when he saw the
Forth Bridge." That is an admirable frame

184 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

of mind, no doubt, but it has nothing to
do with the question. The point was not
as to the comparative value of his works
and Beethoven's qua music, but as to his
own aesthetic inconsistency, the contradic-
tion between his theory and his practice,
the inconsequence of his reasoning ; and
this point he only evades by his reference
to Beethoven. For the rest, one quite
agrees with him that the sjntnphony is not
necessarily " dead " ; when the man comes
who can write one as good as some of the
great ones of the past, we programmists
will enjoy it as much as any one. But we
will still maintain what we have always
maintained — that it is only superficial
aesthetics to speak of poetic music as being
an order of art inferior per se to absolute
music ; the one is as basic, as imperishable
in human nature as the other.

Elgar has wound up by telling an inter-
viewer that " programme music was essen-
tially the literary man's attitude towards
an art with which he had sympathy, but
of which his knowledge was comparatively
small." In his anxiety to score off his
critics he has overlooked the little fact
that the responsibility for programme music
lies primarily not with the critics but with

ELGAR AND PROGRAMME MUSIC 185

the musicians who write it. If we are to
take his latest dictum seriously, then every
programme-music writer, from Beethoven,
through Liszt, Berlioz, and Wagner, to
Strauss, is not a musician but merely a
literary man. Nor is this all. According
to the interviewer, " if you point out to
him that much of his own work is pro-
gramme music, he laughingly acknowledges
that you are quite right: he has written
programme music because he cannot write
anything else ! " On his own showing,
then, he is only a literary man, not a
musician. There must be something very
wrong with the premisses and the reasoning
that land us in a conclusion like this.

LIST OF ELGAR'S PUBLISHED I

WORKS I

Where an opus number is omitted, it signifies that ]

the work is as yet unpublished. A few small \

works have appeared without opus numbers. \

Op. I. Romance for Violin and Orchestra. \

2. Motet : Ave Verum. ^

3. Allegretto for Violin and Piano. ;

4. Three Pieces for Violin and Piano. \

5. Two Songs. j
7. Sevillana for Orchestra.

10. Three Pieces for Small Orchestra — j

(i) Mazurka. }

(2) Se're'nade Mauresque. \

(3) Contrasts : The Gavotte, lyoo \

and igoo. '\

11. Sursum Corda, for Strings, Brass, and ;

Organ. .

12. Salut d' Amour, for Small Orchestra. '

13. Two pieces for Violin and Piano. ^

14. Twelve Voluntaries for Organ. i

15. Two Pieces for VioUn and Piano — j

(i) Chanson de Nuit. j

(2) Chanson de Alatin, ^

16. Three Songs. ';.

186

LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS 187 '\

i

Op. 17. La Capricieuse, for Violin and Piano. j

18. Part-Song. ;

19. Froissart : Concert Overture. '

20. Serenade for String Orchestra.

21. Minuet for Small Orchestra.

22. Six very Easy Exercises for Violin, with

Piano Accompaniment. j

23. Spanish Serenade, for Chorus and J

Orchestra. '

24. Etudes Caracteristiques, for Violin. :

25. The Black Knight : Cantata. \

26. Two Part-Songs, with Two Violins Obbli- j

gato— \

(i) The Snow. " \

(2) Fly, Singing Bird. I

27. From the Bavarian Highlands : Choral

Suite for Chorus and Orchestra. j

28. Sonata for Organ. \

29. Lux Christi (The Light of Life) : Ora- !

torio. \

30. King Olaf : Cantata. . i

31. Two Songs. i

32. Imperial March. \

33. The Banner of Saint George : Cantata. i

34. Te Deum and Benedictus. j

35. Caractacus : Cantata. j

36. Enigma Variations on an Original Theme. j

37. Sea-Pictures : Song-cycle for Contralto j

and Orchestra. !

38. The Dream of Gerontius : Oratorio. \

39. Pomp and Circumstance : Three Mihtary

Marches. i

l88 THE MUSIC OF THE MASTERS

Op. 40. Cockaigne : Concert Overture.

41. Two Songs.

42. Crania and Diarmid : Incidental Music,

Funeral March, and Song.

43. Dream Children : Two Sketches for Small

Orchestra.

44. Coronation Ode : Cantata.

45. Five Part- Songs from the Greek Antho-

logy-
47. Introduction and Allegro for Strings.

49. The Apostles : Oratorio.

50. In the South : Concert Overture.

THE END

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