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VSO
VANCOUVER A
British Celebration MUSICALLY
SPEAKING: Sat
MAY 7 8PM WALTON Crown
Imperial March Bramwell Tovey
conductor Maestro
Bramwell Tovey
returns with fellow Brit David Owen Norris to present a program of music
from, and inspired by the British Isles. With Elgar prominent, look
forward to Bramwell’s interpretation of his Crown Imperial March, Enigma
Variations, and Pomp and Circumstances March No.4. You’ll also
enjoy Vaughan Williams English Folksong Suite. You can also look forward
to the appearance of the witty, diminutive, volatile spirit of David Owen
Norris. The Seattle Times hails this keen-edged talent as “playing like
a demon possessed, utterly quirky highly personalized, and strangely
brilliant.” For
information on group sales call 604.684.9100 ext.252 barry@vancouversymphony.ca Edward Elgar ... an English musical
genius. Born at Broadheath, a village some three
miles out of Worcester on the road to Tenbury, Edward Elgar was born on June 2nd
in 1857. The red-brick house where the family lived still stands ... a museum
filled with Elgar treasures. With the performance of the Enigma
Variations forty-two years later, Elgar stepped out of the ranks of the
talented, and took his place among composers of genius. On the title page of the score Elgar wrote
a dedication ‘To my Friends pictured within’ and at the head of each of the
fourteen variations he ~ wrote
their initials, beginning with his wife and ending with himself. The work had been written during the late
autumn the previous year. The story goes that one evening he began to play
something on the piano that his wife had not heard before. She liked it and
asked him what it was, but he only replied: ‘Nothing, but something might be
made of it’. He then began to improvise, playing the theme in a way he thought
some of his friends might have written it. In this way, the Enigma Variations
was born. But the variations contain mysteries that
have never been solved, or so it is believed. Elgar himself left a clue, or,
rather, posed the problem when he said: ‘The Enigma I will not explain — its “dark saying” must be left
unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connection between the Variations
and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the
whole set another and larger theme “goes”, but is not played ... so the
principal Theme never appears.’ And ever since, musicians have been trying
to guess the answer. An American magazine even held a competition and gave prizes for
the best answers, but none fit like a glove. Elgar demolished the most promising
suggestion by saying: ‘No, Auld Lang Syne won’t do.’ And so the question, if it is a question
and not just a brilliant leg-pull on Elgar’s part, remains open. Anyone who
solves it can be sure of a place in musical history. Call Barry Jakel VSO
Group Sales 604-684-9100 Local 252 Email:
Barrv@vancouversyrnphony.ca |