The Music Makers
Encyclopedia
The Music Makers, Op. 69, is a work for contralto
or mezzo-soprano
, chorus
and orchestra
composed by Edward Elgar
. It was dedicated to "my friend Nicholas Kilburn". It was first performed at the Birmingham Festival
on 1 October 1912, conducted by the composer, with Muriel Foster
as the soloist.
The text of the work is the 1874 poem Ode
by Arthur O'Shaughnessy
, which Elgar set in its entirety. He had been working on the music intermittently since 1903, without a specific commission.
Later verses celebrate the importance of the artist to his society.
The music is for the most part reserved and personal, and Elgar quotes
his own music several times. Sometimes there is a specific verbal cue: for example, the word "dreams" is accompanied by a theme from The Dream of Gerontius
, and "sea-breakers" by the opening of Sea Pictures
. The music also quotes the first
and second
symphonies, the Violin Concerto
, "Nimrod" (from the Enigma Variations
), Rule, Britannia
and La Marseillaise
.
However, it is possible to make too much of the self-quotations. Most of the music is original, and Elgar more than does justice to O'Shaughnessy, displaying a perfect ear for the sounds of the chorus and the mezzo-soprano.
, 1912. Early criticism of the work were directed more at the words than at the music, but it was also dismissed as tawdry and self-centred. It is true that performances are rare, particularly outside England. The self-quotations inevitably bring to mind Strauss's
Ein Heldenleben
, but with different intent; Elgar is depicting the artist not as hero but as bard.
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
or mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
, chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
and orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
composed by 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 was dedicated to "my friend Nicholas Kilburn". It was first performed at the Birmingham Festival
Birmingham Triennial Music Festival
The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. Its last performance was in 1912.-History:...
on 1 October 1912, conducted by the composer, with Muriel Foster
Muriel Foster
Muriel Foster was an English contralto, excelling in oratorio. Grove's Dictionary describes her voice as "one of the most beautiful voices of her time"....
as the soloist.
The text of the work is the 1874 poem Ode
Ode (poem)
Ode is a poem written in 1874 by the English poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy. It is often referred to by its first line We are the music makers.The Ode is the first poem in O'Shaughnessy's collection Music and Moonlight. It has nine stanzas, although it is commonly believed to be only three stanzas long...
by Arthur O'Shaughnessy
Arthur O'Shaughnessy
Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy was a British poet of Irish descent, born in London.-Biography:At the age of seventeen, in June 1861, Arthur O'Shaughnessy received the post of transcriber in the library of the British Museum, reportedly through the influence of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton...
, which Elgar set in its entirety. He had been working on the music intermittently since 1903, without a specific commission.
Analysis
The words of the poem no doubt appealed to Elgar's nature, as it celebrates the dreaming artist — by 1912, he was established as part of British artistic society, but was ambivalent at best about that society. The mood of the Ode is clear in the first lines, which depict the isolation of the creative artist:- We are the music makers,
- And we are the dreamers of dreams,
- Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
- And sitting by desolate streams...
Later verses celebrate the importance of the artist to his society.
The music is for the most part reserved and personal, and Elgar quotes
Musical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
his own music several times. Sometimes there is a specific verbal cue: for example, the word "dreams" is accompanied by a theme from The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
, and "sea-breakers" by the opening of Sea Pictures
Sea Pictures
Sea Pictures, Op. 37 is a song cycle by Sir Edward Elgar consisting of five songs written by various poets. It was set for contralto and orchestra, though a distinct version for piano was often performed by Elgar...
. The music also quotes the first
Symphony No. 1 (Elgar)
Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55 is one of his two completed symphonies. The first performance was given by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Hans Richter in Manchester, England, on 3 December 1908. It was widely known that Elgar had been planning a symphony for more than...
and second
Symphony No. 2 (Elgar)
Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2 in E major, Op. 63, was completed on 28 February 1911 and was premiered at the London Musical Festival at the Queen's Hall by the Queen's Hall Orchestra on 24 May 1911 with the composer conducting...
symphonies, the Violin Concerto
Violin Concerto (Elgar)
Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is one of his longest orchestral compositions, and the last of his works to gain immediate popular success....
, "Nimrod" (from the Enigma Variations
Enigma Variations
Variations on an Original Theme for orchestra , Op. 36, commonly referred to as the Enigma Variations, is a set of a theme and its fourteen variations written for orchestra by Edward Elgar in 1898–1899. It is Elgar's best-known large-scale composition, for both the music itself and the...
), Rule, Britannia
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740...
and La Marseillaise
La Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
.
However, it is possible to make too much of the self-quotations. Most of the music is original, and Elgar more than does justice to O'Shaughnessy, displaying a perfect ear for the sounds of the chorus and the mezzo-soprano.
Criticism
It was commissioned for, and first performed at, the Birmingham Triennial Music FestivalBirmingham Triennial Music Festival
The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running classical music festival of its kind. Its last performance was in 1912.-History:...
, 1912. Early criticism of the work were directed more at the words than at the music, but it was also dismissed as tawdry and self-centred. It is true that performances are rare, particularly outside England. The self-quotations inevitably bring to mind Strauss's
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
Ein Heldenleben
Ein Heldenleben
Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The work was completed in 1898, and heralds the composer's more mature period in this genre...
, but with different intent; Elgar is depicting the artist not as hero but as bard.
Notable recordings
- Hallé OrchestraThe HalléThe Hallé is a symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It is the UK's oldest extant symphony orchestra , supports a choir, youth choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasionally released recordings on Angel Records and EMI...
and Choir with Jane Irwin, conducted by Mark ElderMark ElderSir Mark Philip Elder, CBE is a British conductor. He is the music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England.-Biography:Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the son of a dentist...
, coupled with Froissart, Dream Children and J.S. Bach's Fantasia and Fugue in C minor (Hallé HLL 7509, 2005) - Elgar recorded extracts of the work at the Three Choirs FestivalThree Choirs FestivalThe Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held each August alternately at the cathedrals of the Three Counties and originally featuring their three choirs, which remain central to the week-long programme...
on September 8, 1927 - London Philharmonic ChoirLondon Philharmonic ChoirThe London Philharmonic Choir is one of the leading independent British choirs in the United Kingdom based in London. The Patron is Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy and Sir Roger Norrington is President. The choir, comprising over 200 members, holds charitable status and is governed by a...
(chorus master : Frederic Jackson), London Philharmonic OrchestraLondon Philharmonic OrchestraThe London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
and with Janet BakerJanet BakerDame Janet Abbott Baker, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.She was particularly closely associated with baroque and early Italian opera and the works of Benjamin Britten...
, conducted by Adrian BoultAdrian BoultSir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, coupled with The Dream of GerontiusThe Dream of GerontiusThe Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
(EMI, december 1966) - BBC Symphony OrchestraBBC Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
and chorus with Jean RigbyJean RigbyJean Rigby , is an English opera and concert singer. A mezzo-soprano, she is a long-time principal with the English National Opera....
, conducted by Andrew DavisAndrew Davis (conductor)Sir Andrew Frank Davis CBE is a British conductor.Born in Ashridge, Hertfordshire to Robert J. Davis and his wife Florence J. née Badminton, Davis grew up in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, and in Watford. Davis attended Watford Boys' Grammar School, where he studied classics in his sixth form years...
, coupled with short orchestral pieces (Teldec, 1994)
External links
- Free scores of this work in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)Choral Public Domain LibraryThe Choral Public Domain Library is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing .-Description:...