Elgar, Pomp and Circunstance, March 1

His Majesty Edward VII, by the grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the seas, defender of the faith, and emperor of India, earned that title the same day his mother, Queen Victoria, died, on January 22, 1901, after having been heir for 59 years, two months and thirteen days. For his coronation he had, likewise, to wait. It was not until August 9, 1902, that Edward ascended the throne in Westminster Abbey, where a melody composed the previous year and adapted for the occasion could have been heard if the king had not gone ill before.

The composer
The melody was the central part of a march composed by Edward Elgar, an English composer born in 1857 who had only gained fame and recognition at the age of 42, after the publication of his masterpiece, the Enigma Variations of 1899.

Having thus overcome a long period of low self-esteem, by 1901 he composed a pair of marches which on the day of their premiere were very acclaimed, the first of them being encored twice. The central section of March No. 1, the trio, would be included in the Ode composed by Elgar in 1902 for Edward's coronation, with the title Land of Hope and Glory.

Sir Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934)

One march after another
The enthusiasm arose and in 1905 Elgar wrote a third march, in 1907 a fourth and, finally, a fifth, a little later, in 1930. The series was entitled Pomp and Circumstance, words taken from some lines of Shakespeare's Othello, although only the first march has ended up being known by that name.

March No. 1 - trio

From then until today, March No. 1 is part of the graduation ceremonies of institutes of higher education in much of the Western world. It is considered a second British anthem and closes the Proms every year. Its central section, the aforementioned trio, is one of the most popular melodies in the history of music.

The recording is by Orquesta y Coros de la Radio Televisión Española, conducted by Maestro Enrique García Ascencio (The choir sings the trio again at 5:04).

Erik Satie, Trois Gymnopedies, piano

"Monsieur le pauvre"
The composer Erik Satie died in a Paris hospital on July 1, 1925, after a long illness. During his several months stay in the establishment, the only thing he longed for was to be returned to his home to die at home, amid poverty, in the very modest Parisian suburb of Arcueil-Cachan.
"Monsieur le pauvre", the title by which Satie often called himself, lived there miserably from 1898 and for the rest of his days, even though he would become a famous, if disputed, composer from 1911 onwards.

The "popular" Satie in the mid-20th century
Indeed, Satie gained the recognition of the scholars at least after the Société Musicale Indépendante dedicated a monographic concert to him, after Maurice Ravel's efforts, in 1911. From then on he became "popular", although never as 150 years later, when in the second half of the 20th century his youthful works began to be heard in the most diverse contexts, from commercials intended for the sale of mass consumer products, to jazz-rock or jazz fusion arrangements, as well as a good number of final film shots where a couple walks along the beach with the sunset in the background.

Erik Satie (1866 - 1925)

Trois Gymnopedies
Of all this, Satie would have been grateful, no doubt. And perhaps he would have invented a new title for each performance, because when it comes to titles, he showed boundless ingenuity. One of his first forays into solo piano music, from 1888, and perhaps his best known and happiest work, bears the curious title 3 Gymnopédies. It is said to allude to the education of young Greeks, but when Satie was asked about it, he pointed out that he had been inspired by the novels of Flaubert...

It has also been said that the three pieces are the same piece written three times. They explore a single idea, it is true, but from different perspectives, while maintaining their undeniable dreamy character unchanged.

The version, audio only, is by the French pianist Anne Queffélec:

00      Gymnopédie No. 1. Lent et douloureux

03:33 Gymnopédie No. 2. Lent et triste

06:30 Gymnopédie No. 3. Lent et grave

Wieniawski, Concerto for Violin No. 2

It is well known that the Polish nation has always had to deal with its voracious neighbors. During the 18th and 19th centuries, for example, it had to cede from time to time a portion of territory to Austria or, failing that, to Prussia, or to suffer, now or later, the intervention of the tsarist army. So, it is not surprising that when the violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski came into this world in Lublin in 1835, Poland was under Russian domination. Interestingly, Wieniawski saw his career take off and flourish in St. Petersburg, where he eventually became one of the leading musical figures of Tsarist Russia.

A new Paganini?
Coming from a family with a long musical tradition, Wieniawski entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of nine and at eleven received his first prize in violin. A child prodigy, two years later he began a career as a concert pianist. Along with achieving status as one of the greatest violinists of the time - he was often compared to Paganini - the virtuoso also matured as a composer.

Henryk Wieniawski
(1835 - 1880)

The first attempt
A first violin concerto, written at the age of 18, had won over the public but not the critics: a lot of virtuoso playing empty of substance, was the general comment. The critics were right since the work has not reached us.
Different is the case of his second concerto, premiered in St. Petersburg in 1862, conducted by Anton Rubinstein. The highly demanding work remains to this day as one of the great violin concertos of the Romantic era.

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in D minor
It was begun around 1856 and premiered on November 27, 1862, with the composer as soloist. It was published many years later, in 1879, with a dedication to his friend and virtuoso colleague, Pablo de Sarasate.

It is in the three traditional sections, with the second movement joined to the first, without a pause.

00        Allegro moderato
10:37  Andante non tropo (romanza)
15:03  Allegro con fuoco - Allegro moderato (a la zíngara)

The performance is by Korean violinist Bomsori Kim, with the T. Szeligowski Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marek Pijarowski.

Chopin, Berceuse in D flat major

In the summer of 1844, Chopin again spent the season in Nohant, in the company of Mrs. Sand and her children. This time they were joined by Ludwika Chopin, Frédérik's older sister, whom Frédérik had not seen since his departure from Warsaw, 14 years earlier. As usual, they resumed walks and excursions in the region, as well as evenings out, after a day of gratifying work.

The singer Pauline Viardot-Garcia, was unable to attend. She was on tour. On her behalf, she left her little daughter with them, in the care of Mrs. Sand. There is speculation that the little girl may have been the inspiration for the lullaby Chopin began to write that year in Nohant (although it is hard to imagine Frédérik engaged in cuddling with a baby).

The work, completed in 1844, was published the following year with a dedication to a very dear person to Chopin, his pupil and admirer Elise Gavard, who would become great support after his breakup with George Sand in 1847 and who would be present at his deathbed two years later.

Berceuse opus 57 in D flat major

The short and simple piece is the only lullaby that Chopin composed. But it was enough for him to elevate the form to a higher category of art, from which other composers, Liszt among them, took inspiration. The work takes the form of theme and variations, with a melodic line supported by the simplest harmony imaginable: tonic and dominant, a basso obstinato that runs through the whole piece, from beginning to end, entrusted to the left hand. The variations are 14 in number, with increasing difficulty until the middle of the piece and then return to the simplicity of the beginning.

The rendition is by the French pianist Elizabeth Sombart, who after adding a couple of biographical details about Chopin, illustrates on the keyboard the work to be done by the left hand, then shows us the theme and the most complex variation. After this introduction, she begins her excellent performance at 1:50.

Tchaikovsky, Suite from Swan Lake

The most famous ballet in the world was a complete failure for its premiere, on March 4, 1876, at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. The circumstances were manifold. Poor choreography, poor scenery and costumes, lousy direction, and numbers considered unattainable replaced by others to please the soloists, finally resulted in the staging of a disastrous production. But Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky did not fall into depression this time. He simply forgot about the ballet, although in 1882 the work returned to the stage with new choreography and some adjustments, which resulted in a better reception.

An attempted orchestral suite
That same year, learning that Léo Delibes had taken to converting his ballets into concert suites, Tchaikovsky asked his publisher, Piotr Jurgenson, to send him a copy of the score. The master was once again interested in the ill-fated ballet with the intention of extracting an orchestral suite from its music and, who knows, perhaps revising the entire work again. But none of this happened. Tchaikovsky died in 1893 without having sent Jurgenson the suite – let alone the revision of the ballet – although it is possible that he had sent one piece or another, but we cannot be sure.

Tchaikovsky in his last days
(1840 - 1893)

A "Jurgenson suite", opus 20a
The only certainty is that Jurgenson published in November 1900 a "suite" made up of six ballet numbers, as opus 20a. Since the authorship of its construction is not clear, the versions heard today of the orchestral suite of the ballet Swan Lake are varied. There are them with six numbers – the "original" –, with eight (adding a Spanish dance, or a Neapolitan, and a mazurka), and also with nine. As if that were not enough, the order in which they are presented is also up to the taste of the performers, or the conductor.

So, there is something for everyone in the Swan Lake Suites. The following version is from the Symphony Orchestra of a music school in Gdansk, Poland, conducted by Sylwia Anna Janiak.

00:26  Scene. Moderato

03:39  Waltz. Tempo di Valse

11:10  Swan Dance. Allegro moderato

12:50  Scene. Andante

19:35  Hungarian Dance. Czardas. Moderato assai.