Violin Concerto in B Minor

Elgar’s Violin Concerto was composed in 1909-10, after the triumph of his First Symphony; yet even before he had completed the latter work, the great violinist Fritz Kreisler had proclaimed Elgar in 1905 “the greatest living composer” and publicly expressed the wish that he would “write something for the violin”. No doubt, the success of Symphony No. 1 gave Elgar the courage to write a concerto both far from conventional and which gave expression to his innermost world. Dedicated to Kreisler, the score is also inscribed with a quotation in Spanish, “Aquí está encerrada el alma de .....” (“Herein is enshrined the soul of .....”). There has been a great deal of speculation of whose soul is commemorated in the concerto—it seems likely from its often tender and confiding tone to be a woman beloved by Elgar, not necessarily his wife (as she was aware, albeit apparently tolerant). Without any kind of preamble, the orchestra immediately introduces a main theme, to which the soloist, after a long orchestral paragraph, appears to provide a would-be final answer. Yet, as if the composer were unable to contain himself, the concerto continues, sometimes in reflective mood, and, with its slow movement (“Andante”), becomes particularly confiding and tenderly expressive. The finale begins in a fleeting style reminiscent of another great late-Romantic work written in memory of a beloved muse, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto. Elgar’s finale, like Dvořák’s, contains reminiscences of the previous movements, and towards the end the soloist plays a soliloquy, lightly accompanied by the orchestra.