The Severn Suite
Encyclopedia
The Severn Suite, Opus 87, is a musical work written by Sir Edward Elgar. It is a late composition, written in 1930, the result of an invitation to write a test piece for the National Brass Band
Championship. It was dedicated to his friend, the author and critic George Bernard Shaw
.
There are five movements, which follow each other without breaks:
The Severn of the title is the name of the river which runs through the centre of the city of Worcester
where Elgar spent his childhood and lived later. The subtitles, added by Elgar when he made the orchestral arrangement, refer to historic places in the city: Worcester Castle
, The Cathedral
and the Commandery
. One subtitle refers to the medieval Tournament.
, Caractacus of 1897-8, a work devoted to the story of the Bristish king defeated and captured by the armies of Rome
in the 1st century AD.
The work was commissioned by Herbert Whiteley of the National Brass Band Championship committee, who also assigned Henry Geehl
, with his knowledge of brass band scoring, to assist with the instrumentation. Geehl found Elgar difficult to work with as he had preconceived ideas many of which seemed to Geehl, with his great experience, to be ineffective. The final result was Geehl's scoring - a compromise between Elgar's ideas and Geehl's experience.
The first performance was at the National Brass Band Championship at the Crystal Palace
on 27 September 1930, which was won by the Foden's Motor Works Brass Band
and excerpts from the performance were recorded. It was published by R. Smith & Co. the next year.
Following an invitation to record the work, the composer arranged it for symphony orchestra in 1932, and this had its first performance on 14 April with the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. The present published orchestral version was reconstructed by Esther and Robert Kay from the manuscript full score used at the first performance, Elgar's short score, Elgar's recording and Geehl's brass band score. This full score was published in 1991.
Symphony orchestra:
Brass band (British style)
A British-style brass band is a musical ensemble comprising a standardised range of brass and percussion instruments. The modern form of the brass band in the United Kingdom dates back to the 19th century, with a vibrant tradition of competition based around local industry and communities...
Championship. It was dedicated to his friend, the author and critic George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
.
There are five movements, which follow each other without breaks:
- I. Introduction (Worcester Castle) - Pomposo
- II. Toccata (Tournament) - Allegro molto
- III. Fugue (The Cathedral) - Andante
- IV. Minuet (Commandery) - Moderato
- V. Coda - Lento - Pomposo
The Severn of the title is the name of the river which runs through the centre of the city of Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
where Elgar spent his childhood and lived later. The subtitles, added by Elgar when he made the orchestral arrangement, refer to historic places in the city: Worcester Castle
Worcester Castle
Worcester Castle was a Norman fortification built between 1068 and 1069 in Worcester, England by Urse d'Abetot on behalf of William the Conqueror. The castle had a motte-and-bailey design and was located on the south side of the old Anglo-Saxon city, cutting into the grounds of Worcester Cathedral...
, The Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
and the Commandery
The Commandery
The Commandery is a historic building open to visitors and located in the city of Worcester, England. It opened as a museum in 1977 and was for a while the only museum in England dedicated solely to the Civil Wars...
. One subtitle refers to the medieval Tournament.
History
A theme used in the opus may have been developed from an idea expressed in his cantataCantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
, Caractacus of 1897-8, a work devoted to the story of the Bristish king defeated and captured by the armies of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in the 1st century AD.
The work was commissioned by Herbert Whiteley of the National Brass Band Championship committee, who also assigned Henry Geehl
Henry Geehl
Henry Ernest Geehl was an English pianist, conductor and composer.Born in London in 1881, Geehl studied piano with Benno Schönberger and R. O. Morgan in London, and with Anton Schlieber in Vienna...
, with his knowledge of brass band scoring, to assist with the instrumentation. Geehl found Elgar difficult to work with as he had preconceived ideas many of which seemed to Geehl, with his great experience, to be ineffective. The final result was Geehl's scoring - a compromise between Elgar's ideas and Geehl's experience.
The first performance was at the National Brass Band Championship at the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
on 27 September 1930, which was won by the Foden's Motor Works Brass Band
Foden's Band
Foden's Band is a brass band from Sandbach in Cheshire. The band derives its name from the Foden manufacturer of trucks in Sandbach...
and excerpts from the performance were recorded. It was published by R. Smith & Co. the next year.
Following an invitation to record the work, the composer arranged it for symphony orchestra in 1932, and this had its first performance on 14 April with the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. The present published orchestral version was reconstructed by Esther and Robert Kay from the manuscript full score used at the first performance, Elgar's short score, Elgar's recording and Geehl's brass band score. This full score was published in 1991.
Instrumentation
Brass band:- Soprano cornetSoprano cornetThe soprano cornet is a brass instrument that is very similar to the standard B cornet. It is a transposing instrument in E, pitched higher than the standard B cornet....
, solo cornetCornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
, repiano cornet & flugelhornFlugelhornThe flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
, 2nd & 3rd cornets, solo tenor horn, 1st & 2nd tenor horns, 1st & 2nd baritonesBaritone hornThe baritone horn is a member of the brass instrument family. The baritone horn has a predominantly cylindrical bore as do the trumpet and trombone. A baritone horn uses a large mouthpiece much like those of a trombone or euphonium, although it is a bit smaller. Some baritone mouthpieces will sink...
, 1st & 2nd tenor trombonesTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, bass trombone, euphoniumEuphoniumThe euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
, E and B bassesTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, drums (side drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
).
Symphony orchestra:
- PiccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, 2 fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, 2 oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, cor anglaisCor anglaisThe cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
, 2 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s in B, bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, 2 bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, contrabassoonContrabassoonThe contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
, 4 hornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s in F, 3 trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s in B, 3 tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, timpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, side drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
and stringString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
s.
Arrangements
In addition to the composer's orchestral version- Military band, arr. Henry Geehl (1931), pub. Keith ProwseKeith ProwseKeith Prowse is a trading name currently used by two separate companies. Within the United Kingdom it is used by the Sport, Leisure and Hospitality Division of Compass Group Plc , the company operates at numerous prestigious venues for many of the world's most iconic sporting and cultural events...
- Organ, arr. Ivor AtkinsIvor AtkinsSir Ivor Algernon Atkins was the choirmaster and organist at Worcester Cathedral for over 50 years . He is well known for editing Allegri's Miserere with the famous top-C part for the treble...
as Elgar's Organ Sonata No. 2, Opus 87a (1933), pub. Keith Prowse
Recordings
- The Severn Suite - selections (1930), Crystal Palace Brass Band Festival, Foden's Motor Works Band (Fred Mortimer)
- The Severn Suite - I, II, III, IV, V 2010, London Brass Virtuosi (David Honeyball)