Canto Popolare (Elgar)
Encyclopedia
Canto Popolare is an arrangement for viola
with piano accompaniment, made by the English composer Edward Elgar
. It is from the viola solo in the central section of his concert-overture In the South (Alassio)
, written in 1904.
Following the success of the overture, Elgar was asked to make arrangements of the melody for any instrument: the most important being the version for viola with piano accompaniment, edited by the violist Alfred Hobday
. The vocal version, "In Moonlight
", was set to words by Percy Bysshe Shelley
. Other versions were for small orchestra; and for violin, cello and clarinet accompanied by piano. The composer sent corrected proofs of the arrangements to the publisher Novello & Co at the end of September 1904.
"Canto popolare" (Italian) means "folk song". Elgar first suggested that the melody had come from a popular Italian song, but later admitted that it was his own invention.
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
with piano accompaniment, made by the English composer Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
. It is from the viola solo in the central section of his concert-overture In the South (Alassio)
In the South (Alassio)
In the South , Op. 50, is a concert overture composed by Edward Elgar during a family holiday in Italy in the winter of 1903 to 1904.The work is dedicated "To my friend Leo F. Schuster".- History :...
, written in 1904.
Following the success of the overture, Elgar was asked to make arrangements of the melody for any instrument: the most important being the version for viola with piano accompaniment, edited by the violist Alfred Hobday
Alfred Charles Hobday
Alfred Charles Hobday was an English viola player who made his career in England. He was the elder brother of the double-bass player Claude Hobday....
. The vocal version, "In Moonlight
In Moonlight
"In Moonlight" is a song with music written by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1904 to words from the poem "An Ariette for Music. To a Lady singing to her Accompaniment on the Guitar", by Percy Bysshe Shelley and published in 1832....
", was set to words by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
. Other versions were for small orchestra; and for violin, cello and clarinet accompanied by piano. The composer sent corrected proofs of the arrangements to the publisher Novello & Co at the end of September 1904.
"Canto popolare" (Italian) means "folk song". Elgar first suggested that the melody had come from a popular Italian song, but later admitted that it was his own invention.
Recordings
Solo with piano accompaniment- Vellinger String Quartet – James Boyd (viola), Piers Lane (piano); Classics for Pleasure (1994)
- Heartache, An Anthology of English Viola Music – Dame Avril Piston (viola), Shamonia Harpa (piano); Guild GmbH; GMCD 7275 (2004)
- The Art of the Clarinettist – Colin Bradbury (clarinet) and Oliver Davies (piano); Clarinet Classics CC0008
Videos
The viola serenade section from "In the South"- Unknown soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult, Bedford Corn Exchange, 1944
- Giovanni Pasini (viola) with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann, Kuala Lumpur, 2008