Falstaff (Elgar)
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''Falstaff – Symphonic Study'' in
C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: Cha ...
, Op. 68, is an orchestral work by the English composer
Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
. Though not so designated by the composer, it is a
symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...
in the tradition of
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
and
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
. It portrays Sir John Falstaff, the "fat knight" of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's '' Henry IV'' Parts 1 and 2. The work was well received at its première in 1913, but did not inspire the great enthusiasm aroused by some of Elgar's earlier works. The composer thought it his finest orchestral piece, and many Elgar admirers agree, but it has not become a popular favourite. Compared to other Elgar works, it is infrequently played in the concert hall, although it is well represented in the CD catalogues.


Instrumentation

Falstaff is scored for an orchestra of two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and cor anglais, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (side drum, triangle, tabor, tambourine, bass drum, cymbals), two harps (second harp ad lib), and strings.


Structure

Elgar set out the divisions of the score in an "analytical essay" in ''
The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...
'' in 1913:Elgar, Edward. "Falstaff", ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 54, No. 847 (1 September 1913), pp. 575–79 *I. Falstaff and Prince Henry *II.
Eastcheap Eastcheap is a street in central London that is a western continuation of Great Tower Street towards Monument junction. Its name derives from ''cheap'', the Old English word for marketplace, market, with the prefix 'East' distinguishing it from ...
Gadshill – The Boar's Head. Revelry and sleep – Dream Interlude: 'Jack Falstaff, now Sir John, a boy, and page to Thomas Mowbray,
Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...
' (Poco allegretto) *III. Falstaff's march – The return through
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
– Interlude: Gloucestershire. Shallow's orchard (Allegretto) – The new king – The hurried ride to London *IV. King Henry V's progress – The repudiation of Falstaff, and his death In the first section, Elgar establishes the two main themes of the piece, that for Prince Hal (marked ''grandioso'') being courtly and grand, and that for Falstaff himself showing "a goodly, portly man, of a cheerful look, a pleasing eye and a most noble carriage."
Arrigo Boito Arrigo Boito (; born Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) was an Italian librettist, composer, poet and critic whose only completed opera was ''Mefistofele''. Among the operas for which he wrote the libretto, libretti ar ...
adapted these words of Falstaff for his libretto for the Verdi opera of the same name, but the Falstaff of the opera is essentially the '' buffo'' character from ''
The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...
,''Heyworth, Peter. "Falstaff and the Verdi canon", ''The Observer'', 14 May 1961 whereas Elgar's is the Falstaff of ''Henry IV''. The subsequent development of the score follows closely the key events of the two parts of ''Henry IV'', in which Falstaff features. The Gadshill section (from ''
Henry IV, Part 1 ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the Battle of H ...
'') shows him attempting a gold bullion robbery but being himself attacked and robbed by the disguised Hal and his companions. Falstaff returns to his base at the inn and drowns his sorrows in drink. In his drunken sleep, he dreams of his youth, when he was a slim page to the Duke of Norfolk. Here too Boito/Verdi and Elgar treat the same material quite differently: in the opera, Falstaff's nostalgic reminiscence is a lively little aria ("Quand' ero paggio"), but Elgar's treatment is slow and wistful. Part III of the score moves to Shakespeare's ''
Henry IV, Part 2 ''Henry IV, Part 2'' is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by '' Richard II'' and ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and succeeded by '' Henry V''. The p ...
''. After Falstaff's summons to court and commission to raise soldiers for the King's army, there is a battle scene and then a second interlude, an English idyll in a Gloucestershire orchard. This is dispelled by the news of the King's death and Prince Hal's accession. As in the play, Falstaff hurries to London, confident of favours from the new monarch, but is instead dismissed and banished. Finally the broken Falstaff, having crept away, lies dying – "the king hath killed his heart" – and after a return of the theme of the second interlude, a
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
chord in the brass and a hushed roll on the side-drum portray Falstaff's death. The work ends with a very brief version of Prince Hal's theme showing, in the composer's words, that "the man of stern reality has triumphed."


History and critical reception

In 1912 the
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Festival commissioned Elgar to write a new work to be performed the following year. Before the première Elgar told a reporter, "I have, I think, enjoyed writing it more than any other music I have composed and perhaps for that reason it may prove to be among my better efforts". It was first performed at Leeds on 1 October 1913, conducted by the composer. ''The Musical Times'' commented, "the work is unsurpassed in modern music for variety, effectiveness and sureness of orchestral writing." The London première was on 3 November 1913, at the
Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...
, conducted by the dedicatee, Landon Ronald. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' said of the London première that it was played to "a not very large but very enthusiastic audience" and subsequently ''Falstaff'' has remained less popular than other major Elgar works, though much loved by aficionados. ''Music and Letters'' noted in its obituary of Elgar that though "a majority would call ''Falstaff'' his greatest work" most people would "say they like the '' Enigma'' best." Even during Elgar's lifetime, the musical scholar Percy Scholes wrote of ''Falstaff'' that it was a "great work" but "so far as public appreciation goes, a comparative failure." Sir Donald Tovey viewed ''Falstaff'' as "one of the immeasurably great things in music" with power "identical with Shakespeare's," and the 1955 reference work '' The Record Guide'' described ''Falstaff'' as "the only
tone poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement (music), movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. T ...
of its day that suffers nothing by comparison with the best of Richard Strauss's works in the genre".
Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
wrote that " lgarmade the band do it all, and with such masterful success that one cannot bear to think what would have been the result of a mere attempt to turn the play into an opera." Others were less impressed with the work. The dedicatee, Landon Ronald, admitted to John Barbirolli, "Never could make head or tail of the piece, my dear boy." After a performance by the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
in 1983, the critic of ''
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'' opined that the conductor (Andrew Davis) "could not do much, in fact, to rescue the character's spirited braggadocio from the programmatic detail that smothered the music." The well-known Elgarian writer Michael Kennedy criticised the work for "too frequent reliance on
sequences In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is call ...
" and an over-idealised depiction of the female characters. Even Elgar's great friend and champion, W. H. Reed, thought that the principal themes show less distinction than some of Elgar's earlier works. Reed acknowledged, nevertheless, that Elgar himself thought ''Falstaff'' the highest point of his purely orchestral work.


Recordings

Though concert performances have been comparatively rare, the work has been well served in recordings. There were no fewer than 20 recorded versions of the work by 2007. The composer's own 1931–1932 recording with the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
, produced by
Fred Gaisberg Frederick William Gaisberg (1 January 1873 – 2 September 1951) was an American musician, recording engineer and one of the earliest classical music producers for the gramophone. He did not use the term 'producer', and was not an impresario like ...
of
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, was widely praised both at the time of its release and when it was remastered for LP and then for CD. Sir John Barbirolli's 1964 Hallé recording on
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
was chosen by
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
's Record Review as the recommended version, even over the composer's own. In 2007, the classical music magazine '' Gramophone'' compared 20 recorded versions of ''Falstaff'' and selected Barbirolli's recording as "the essential choice" and "one of the pinnacles of the Elgar discography."Achenbach, Andrew, "A knight to remember", ''Gramophone'', November 2007, p. 57 Sir Adrian Boult was closely associated with the work and made three recordings of it. His final version, set down in 1973, was praised by critics for emphasising the "symphonic'" aspect. In 1978,
Vernon Handley Vernon George "Tod" Handley (11 November 1930 – 10 September 2008) was a British conductor (music), conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. Early life and education He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mothe ...
and the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
recorded a version for Classics for Pleasure that ''Gramophone'' praised for its "spacious yet purposeful conception" and "meticulous fidelity to the letter and spirit of the score and architectural splendour." In 2005, the BBC also recommended a
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recording by David Lloyd-Jones and the English Northern Philharmonia,Radio 3 Record Review online archive
/ref> and in 2007 ''Gramophone'' marked it as the "bargain choice" recording of ''Falstaff.''


Notes


References

* * * * * * *


External links

* {{Authority control Compositions by Edward Elgar Symphonic poems 1913 compositions Music based on works by William Shakespeare John Falstaff Works based on Henry IV (play)