Introduction & Allegro

When the London Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1904, it asked Britain’s fastest-rising composer, Edward Elgar, to compose and conduct something specially for it. But it was Elgar’s publisher Jaeger who suggested that he should write a virtuoso showpiece for the orchestra’s string section: as he put it, “a real bring down the house torrent of a thing such as Bach could write”. In response, Elgar drew on his lifelong love of Handel to create a 20th-century concerto grosso in his own unashamedly passionate and poetic voice. The Introduction and Allegro (1905) sets a solo string quartet against a full string orchestra, beginning in cascading grandeur before the solo quartet sings a lyrical melody that came to Elgar (he said) in Wales. The Allegro launches the full ensemble into a vigorous, often brilliant orchestral workout before the “Welsh” tune returns in ringing splendour, and the work accelerates to an exuberant final flourish.