Sospiri

A jewel-like miniature for strings, harp and organ lasting no more than five minutes, Sospiri somehow contains the very essence of Elgar in microcosm, with its achingly wide downward leaps—especially leaps of a seventh—and suspensions that hold notes across the beat to give a sense of yearning. The title means "sighs" in Italian, and it’s perhaps significant that the piece was written in anxious times in 1914, just before the outbreak of World War I. But Elgar’s initial intention was for something more lightweight: a salon-style companion to his popular commercial hit Salut d’amour. It was only when he found the music turning into something more emotionally powerful than he’d bargained for that he rethought his composition into the serious, intense adagio it then became: effectively the slow movement of an Elgarian symphony but freestanding, with no need for any larger structure to support it. The score was dedicated to Elgar’s close friend and professional colleague William Henry Reed, leader of the London Symphony Orchestra.