Edward Elgar

Symphony No. 2 in E-flat, Op. 63

Sir Edward Elgar's Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 63, was composed in 1911, with the premiere taking place at the London Musical Festival by the Queen's Hall Orchestra, Elgar conducting, on May 24 of that year. A deeply personal work, the symphony is also more varied and inventive than his first. But despite this, Elgar's second symphony was received politely, but not enthusiastically, at the premiere. Numerous external reasons for this have been proposed, including the change of his country's mood as the times shifted away from the confidence of the culture during the premiere of Elgar's Symphony No. 1 towards the tensions that eventually led to World War I. Perhaps the recent death of King Edward VII, to whom the symphony is dedicated, had also put the audience in a more somber mood. But due to the initially weak reception, Elgar's Symphony No. 2 was slow in finding its way to standard orchestral repertoire, not really finding it's place there until after World War I. Instrumentation: 3(3rd dPicc).2+EH.2+Eb+BCl.2+CBsn: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(3-4): Hp(2): Str (9-8-7-6-5 in set).