Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Boult’s Elgar: the forgotten recordings rec. 1944-67
No texts (but see below)
SOMM Ariadne 5037-2 [2 CDs: 149]

Recently, I was given a copy of Nigel Simeone’s new book Edward Elgar and Adrian Boult. I’ve just finished reading it and I found it as absorbing as his previous book in which he wrote about the relationship between Vaughan Williams and Boult. Simeone has written the booklet essay for this SOMM release – he was the obvious choice – and his essay is an abbreviated version of relevant sections of his book. Anyone who has yet to read the book will find that the essay that he has written for SOMM is ideal in all respects; it should whet your appetite for the book itself.

SOMM have subtitled this release ‘the forgotten recordings’. I’ll be honest and say that though I have most of Sir Adrian’s recordings of the Elgar symphonies in my collection, I had not previously heard – or heard of – this Boult recording of the Second Symphony; reading Simeone’s book prompted me to rectify that omission. Similarly, I wasn’t previously aware of these performances of the part songs but, then, I’m not sure that any of them have previously achieved a commercial release.

The first disc opens with a 1944 BBC recording of In the South. Given that the recording was made eighty-one years ago, it’s unsurprising that there are some sonic limitations – the violins and brass tend to dominate in loud passages, for instance – but the sound has come up remarkably well in Lani Spahr’s restoration and any thoughts about the sound are very soon swept away by the sheer verve of the performance that this glorious score receives. The opening music is delivered in an exciting, thrusting manner – as is the case when the material is reprised later on. In quieter passages one can appreciate the sheer quality of the BBCSO woodwinds. The ‘Canto popolare’ episode (10:11-13:29) is played with great refinement and features a characterful solo viola. Boult, who was aged fifty-five at the time, conveys the music in a thrilling sweep and his orchestra plays superbly for him. This is a terrific performance and I’m delighted that this set has given me the chance to hear it for the first time. I gather that the recording has been on CD before though everything else in this set is new to the medium.  

That’s certainly the case with the Second Symphony, which first appeared as a stereo LP on a minor label. Nigel Simeone explains that in March 1962 Boult performed the symphony in four Scottish cities with what was then the Scottish National Orchestra. The following year he came back to Glasgow and recorded the symphony for the Edinburgh-based Waverley label. This was, I believe, Boult’s third studio recording of the work; he’d recorded it with the BBC Symphony in 1944 (review) and again, in 1956, with the LPO for the Nixa label (review). He was the surest possible guide to the work: he’d first conducted it in 1920, to the approval of Elgar and his wife, and a listing in Nigel Simeone’s aforementioned book details 52 performance prior to these recording sessions. (In all, Boult would conduct the work on over seventy occasions during his long career.) The notes record Trevor Harvey’s comment on the recording when it first came out that there is a certain lack of weight in the sound of the SNO strings. I’d agree but it’s by no means a deal-breaker, though occasionally it’s noticeable (for example, at 8:53 in the first movement, where Elgar begins the lead-back to the movement’s opening material). Because it’s a stereo recording we can easily tell that Sir Adrian divided the violins left and right, as was his wont – except on his 1968 Lyrita recordings of the symphonies (review). As I listened, I formed the distinct impression that the SNO were collectively on their mettle. The interpretation of the first movement mixes confident swagger with lyrical delicacy. I especially admire the way Boult brings out the patrician melancholy of the slow movement; here, perhaps because the scoring is more subdued, the strings do seem to have sufficient body. The Rondo is very dynamic; the playful rhythms are well articulated. Boult sets the finale rolling on its way in a very pleasing fashion. I have to admit that in the lead-up to the climactic point where the trumpet plays his sustained top note the SNO strings seem both undernourished and, to be frank, a bit scrappy. However, that one short-lived flaw is fairly minor in the scheme of things; overall, the performance of the movement has purpose and nobility. The extended coda (from 11:03) in which Elgar reminds us of the first movement, is just right. I think I’ve heard all of Boult’s other published recordings of this great symphony but until now this 1963 version had eluded me. I think it has a lot going for it and I’m glad that I’ve heard it at last.

On the second disc SOMM offer us some genuine rarities. I don’t know if Boult’s Elgar discography includes any other examples of him conducting the composer’s part songs – I’m not aware of any examples – but now we have the chance to hear him conduct ten songs. He’s conducting the BBC Chorus – known nowadays as the BBC Singers. These performances were recorded, in stereo, in the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios in February 1967 and Boult obviously lavished as much care and attention on these miniatures as would have been the case if he’d been conducting one of Elgar’s major works. The selection includes some of Elgar’s best essays in the genre, such as ‘There is sweet music’, one of the four songs that constitute Op 53, all of which were composed in late 1907 when the Elgars were wintering in Italy. This particular song presents technical challenges, not the least of which is the fact that the male voices sing in G major while the ladies’ parts are in A-flat. Of course, that presents no problems to the professional BBC Chorus. The singers – and Boult – really get hold of the third song, ‘O wild West Wind’; this is an impassioned, strongly projected performance. The last in the set is the remarkable ‘Owls’, a dark, spooky piece that is quite unlike anything else in this composer’s output; it’s atmospherically rendered here. Another remarkable composition is Death on the Hills, a standalone song which sets a poem by the Russian, Apollon Maykov (1821-1897) in an English translation by Rosa Newmarch (1857-1940), a specialist in Russian literature.  The subject of the poem is Death stalking a Russian village, seeking out victims. I think it’s a most unusual subject for an English composer of that era to choose for a song. This performance brings out the grimness of the poem. Also included is another of Elgar’s best-known part songs, Go, song of mine. Like the songs of Op 53, this single song was composed in Italy, this time in 1909. It’s a setting of a medieval Italian poem in an English translation by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1825-1882). Elgar responded to the poem with ardent music to which Boult and his chorus do full justice.  All the songs are well worth hearing, as are these performances. Issued here for the first time on CD, these are significant additions to the Boult Elgar discography.

The rest of the second disc consists of three spoken items. There’s a brief conversation between Boult and Elgar’s daughter, Carice, recorded in February 1944. The subject is the ‘Enigma’ Variations. The conversation is very scripted – and, to be honest, stilted – but it’s interesting nonetheless. Much more valuable is a radio talk which Boult gave in 1951 in which he shares recollections of Elgar. He paints a vivid portrait of Sir Edward, including detail about his first meeting with Elgar when, as a teenager, he was introduced to the great man at the home of Elgar’s great friend, Frank Schuster (1852-1927), who took the young Boult under his wing. In this talk, Sir Adrian offers insights into the various sides of Elgar’s nature. One thing interested me in particular. It’s well known that Elgar fell out with Boult for a while; the cause was Boult’s proposal to perform The Dream of Gerontius with a reduced woodwind section. This was because the City of Birmingham Orchestra could not afford the full forces. Elgar was very unhappy, his anger piqued especially because the performance was to take place in Birmingham; Boult says that the composer had never forgiven the city for the poorly prepared premiere of the oratorio. As he put it to Boult, the city had many rich residents; let some of them pay for the full woodwind complement (in the end, Boult paid for the players himself). The story is related in Nigel Simeone’s book. However, Boult adds an interesting detail, previously unknown to me. According to him, Elgar had approved the use of a reduced woodwind section but changed his mind when he learned that the performance was to take place in Birmingham.

The third item is an extended (29 minutes) conversation which Boult recorded for the BBC in 1965 with the broadcaster and conductor Bernard Keeffe (1925-2022). I found this very interesting. The tone is, by today’s standards, rather formal but, like any good interviewer, Keeffe just asks his subject a question and then lets him talk. Elgar’s name is scarcely mentioned – and then only in passing – but it matters not. Boult reminisces in particular about the establishment of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1930 – modestly, he gives all the credit for the recruitment of the founding players to others. Another sign of his modesty is his acknowledgement of how much he learned by sitting in on rehearsals when Toscanini and Walter came to conduct his orchestra; “wonderful lessons” he calls them. This conversation is full of interest and I’m very glad that SOMM included it.

This, then, is an invaluable album which expands our appreciation of Sir Adrian Boult’s direction of Elgar’s music. The catalogue contains later performances of both In the South and the symphony, which are in better sound but these earlier examples of Boult as a notable Elgar interpreter are well worth hearing and, of course, the part song recordings are unique. Lani Spahr is responsible for all the audio restoration. I’d say his greatest achievement is the work he has done on In the South but, in truth, everything on this set benefits greatly from his audio skills.

I ought to say a word about the booklet. I’ve already referenced Nigel Simeone’s contribution, which is first class. The booklet that came with my copy of the CDs does not include the texts of the part songs. I have been told by SOMM that this was an erroneous omission. The texts have now been posted on the SOMM website and can be accessed there. Anyone who purchases this set as a download will receive the texts as well as the notes. When in due course the CD booklet is reprinted, the texts will be included.

John Quinn

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Contents
In the South (Alassio), concert overture Op.50 (1904)
Symphony No.2 in E flat, Op.63 (1911)
Four Part Songs, Op.53 (1907)
Two Choral Songs, Op.71 (1914)
Death on the Hills, Op.72 (1914)
Two Choral Songs, Op.73 (1914)
Go, song of mine, Op.57 (1909)
Sir Adrian Boult in conversation with Carice Elgar Blake
Sir Edward Elgar as I knew him, a personal portrait by Sir Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Boult in conversation with Benard Keeffe
BBC Symphony Orchestra (In the South)
Scottish National Orchestra (Symphony No.2)
BBC Chorus

Recording details
March 1944, Corn Exchange Bedford (In the South): September 1963, the Glasgow Concert Hall (Symphony No.2): February 1967, Maida Vale, London (Choral music): February 1944, Corn Exchange Bedford (talk with Carice Elgar Blake): April 1951, Maida Vale, London (Sir Edward Elgar as I knew him): November 1965, Maida Vale, London (In conversation with Bernard Keeffe)