In the South (Alassio)

A flurry of strings, a vaulting horn theme and a great surge of orchestral sunlight. Many composers have celebrated Italy, but perhaps it takes an artist from northern Europe to really capture the exultant leap of the heart that comes with the first glimpse of sun-kissed hills and a blue sea. Elgar completed his concert overture In the South in early 1904 after a winter escape to Alassio on the Italian Riviera, and it’s an uninhibited love letter to the Mediterranean world in the form of a 20-minute symphonic poem. That exuberant opening sets the mood, but Elgar incorporates a series of musical cameos into his sumptuous musical canvas: bittersweet folk-inspired themes, a shimmering night scene (with solos for viola and horn), and a vision of a massive Roman aqueduct striding across the landscape. It’s all woven into a sweeping, richly coloured orchestral panorama—Elgar at his most optimistic and unbuttoned.