This evening’s concert is of English music, although it would be very difficult to define ‘English’ music from these three pieces alone even though the three composers were near contemporaries!
John Ireland London Overture: Ireland was very much an establishment figure, receiving his formal training at the Royal College of Music under C V Stanford. He went on to teach at the College and his pupils include Benjamin Britten. He was steeped in the Anglican church tradition and his music is still in the repertory of most competent choirs. His music was championed by no less a person than Sir Adrian Boult who encouraged Ireland to expand his Comedy Overture from a brass band work into the orchestral London Overture, which has remained a favourite in the repertoire ever since.
Delius Sea Drift: Sir Frederic Delius was anything but an establishment figure. Overcoming stiff parental opposition to a musical career, he eventually studied at the famous conservatoire established in Leipzig, Germany by Mendelssohn and went on to spend much of his life in France. He held no formal positions as a teacher or performer and it seems his life was centred on his own music. Justifiably famous for pieces such as On hearing the first cuckoo in spring and A summer night on the river, Sea Drift is a piece which deserves to be heard just as often.
Elgar The Music Makers: Sir Edward Elgar, by contrast, constantly sought the recognition of the English establishment. Unlike Ireland and Delius his formal training was mainly from his father and other local musicians, while, as a composer, he was largely self taught. He learned German in the hope of also studying in Leipzig but the necessary finances could not be raised. Despite this frustrated ambition his genius was eventually to shine through. Unlike the effervescence of pieces such as the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, The Music Makers is a very introverted work which cleverly includes quotations from many of Elgar’s other works. It was commissioned for, and first performed at, the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival in 1912. Early criticism of the work, directed more at the words than at the music, described the piece as tawdry and self-centred, but such views are perhaps more reflective of the reviewer than the composition, as the continued popularity of this piece with audiences and performers alike more than justifies its inclusion in this year’s festival – and what a wonderful way to greet the new Worcester artistic direcor in his first Three Choirs concert!