TO MOTHER, WITH LOVE: WAGNER, RAVEL AND ELGAR | 9 May
slower, more reflective middle section introduced by the cello. Then the movement closes with a brief, frenzied reprise of the opening. The strictness of form is relaxed slightly in the slow movement, which is more improvisatory in character, and more episodic in its sequences. The tempi change continually and the opening theme of the first movement returns here in quite a different guise. In true chamber music fashion, themes and ideas (two of which are introduced by the viola) are tossed back and forth between the protagonists. A vigorous flourish renews the sense of urgency in the helter-skelter finale. The unusual rhythm (based on five-in-a-bar) creates an off-beat feel, but passages of a more expressive character continually emerge amidst the disconcerting effects. The opening theme of the Quartet returns once more, suitably contorted within the ‘new sound world’ of the finale, both rounding off the Quartet as a whole, but also pointing toward a new direction in Ravel’s later music. No wonder it made the venerable Fauré feel uncomfortable! Martin Buzacott Symphony Australia © 1998
EDWARD ELGAR
(1857–1934)
Salut d’Amour, Op.12 Not content simply with a diamond ring as an engagement gift, the young composer Edward Elgar composed and presented Caroline Alice Roberts with Liebesgruss. Miss Robert’s fluency in German gives a clue to the choice of language for the title (Love’s Greeting), but it was later changed by the publishing company Schott & Co to Salut d’Amour. 24
Elgar received only two guineas from the publisher for Salut d’Amour —
remarkable as it is arguably one of his most recognisable ditties. Originally written for violin and piano, Elgar made editions for piano solo, cello and piano and small orchestra but today we hear my new favourite version on flugelhorn. Hopefully my mother (and yours) agrees! Christopher Moore © 2021
MAURICE RAVEL Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé Soupir Placet futile Surgi de la croupe et du bond Georgia Wilkinson soprano When asked to interpret the poems he set, Ravel responded: “Useless to explain. The poetry speaks to you or it does not. It is very obscure and if it once seizes you — marvellous! I consider Mallarmé not merely the greatest French poet, but the only French poet; since he made the French language, not designed for poetry, poetical. It is a feat in which he stands alone... He released winged thoughts, subconscious reveries, from their prisons.” Whether Ravel fully understood Mallarmé’s aesthetic or not is anyone’s guess. In any case, his endeavour to ‘transpose’ Mallarmé’s reflexive poetic technique into music has produced some of the most exquisitely delicate sonance ever penned. Christopher Moore © 2021
RICHARD WAGNER
(1813–1883)
Siegfried Idyll The Siegfried Idyll reveals a touchingly gentle and domestic side of a composer who often displayed the opposite. Wagner’s full title for the piece was Tribschen Idyll, with Fidi’s Birdsong and Orange Sunrise, as a Symphonic Birthday Greeting from Richard to Cosima.
