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

The archive archaeologists at SOMM have done collectors proud again. Anyone with even a scintilla of interest in the legacies of great British composers or conductors are already deeply in their debt. With this latest two-disc collection titled “Boult’s Elgar – The Forgotten Recordings” – the sense of gratitude deepens. Possibly “forgotten” is a slightly strong term and neglected might be more appropriate. Neglected because all of the key musical works have appeared on LP but these wonderfully handled transfers are their first CD incarnations – except for In the South which has appeared on an old/out of print Beulah CD.

The simple truth is that no other conductor had as long, as extensive or indeed close – personally and professionally – a relationship with Elgar as Boult. More than forty years after his death, Boult’s recordings remain a benchmark for more of Elgar’s works than any other conductor. As just one example, he performed the Symphony No.2 more than seventy times in the concert hall and made five commercial recordings. With that same work he was responsible for a performance in the early 1920’s that rehabilitated the work and also studied the score in depth with the composer. No future conductor, no matter how dedicated or able, will be able to boast that level of first-hand knowledge, insight or opportunity.

Previous archival releases on SOMM have benefitted hugely from the skill of Lani Spahr who was responsible for sound restoration and remastering on this new disc too. Given the relatively modern stereo sources of the bulk of the material this is not quite as revelatory or transformative a role as on earlier sets but the understated quality of his work is evident here too. Especially so in the radio recording of In the South which dates from March 1944. This is when the orchestra had been evacuated to Bedford and is from the same year as Boult’s first and famously powerful recording of the Symphony No.2. Both overture and symphony have had previous CD releases which I have not heard. Technically Spahr has done an excellent job with his restoration. Yes of course there is noticeable background noise and the instrumental detail and dynamic range is limited. But by ensuring that the sound is very stable and consistent throughout the performance, the listener’s ear soon adjusts to the extraneous sounds and can focus on the music-making.  This is one of the many Elgar works that Boult studied in detail with the composer and in truth his interpretation across the three main commercial recordings is remarkably consistent;

BBC SO/1944 – 19:55, HMV/LPO/1956 – 19:30, – EMI/LPO/1972 – 19:54

Perhaps more notable is the fact that this sub 20 minute mark makes Boult easily one of the faster if not fastest interpreters on disc.  Even Solti comes in at 20:06 while Elgar stalwart Andrew Davis hits 22:00.  But at no point do any of Boult’s versions sound in the slightest rush or perfunctory. For sure this is not a sentimental or indulgent performance [I wonder what Boult would have made of Sinopoli’s 23:12!] but Boult’s particular skill – exhibited across this entire group of performances – is his elasticity and flexible pulse. Anyone who has ever glanced at a printed score of Elgar’s music will know they are littered with interpretative instructions regarding expression and tempo amongst much else. The danger for performers is to obsessively apply these which can result in successions of indulgent climaxes and excessive emoting. Boult knew these to be just expressive ‘nudges’ and when passages are treated in this way what can seem sectionalised and disjointed instead becomes extended musical paragraphs of coherent thought. Take the “in the moonlight” section of this overture.  As an intermezzo it is rightly celebrated as a beautifully wrought lyrical interlude.  In this performance it is played with genuinely fine poise and tenderness but not indulged. Sadly the solo violist is uncredited – the BBC SO’s famed principal Bernard Shore had left the orchestra to join the RAF some years earlier – but their playing is really beautiful. Indeed, having wondered whether the demands on personnel of the War might result in playing of less polish than before, it has to be said that the entire orchestra acquits themselves very well in this far from easy virtuosic work. The value for the Elgar or Boult collector of this performance is undoubted but the sonic limitation must mean that for someone less dedicated to completeness the logical option is one of the later two versions simply for the more sophisticated sound.

Much the same must be said about the 1963 stereo recording of the Symphony No.2 in E flat Op.63.  The orchestra here is the hard-working Scottish National. I have to say I have a particular fondness for this recording as it was the LP performance – in its Classics for Pleasure incarnation – by which I first got to know this remarkable work. Returning to this performance after decades, and after getting to know the piece far better through multiple other versions, I am pleased to discover that this remains a fine and impressive version. In large part this is again due to Boult’s insight and consistency. 

Below is a comparative table I produced when reviewing a version of his 1956 second recording. Into this I have inserted the details for the Waverley recording under consideration here (Waverley were a small Scottish recording company who had the initiative to engage the 75 year old Boult to record at a time when literally no other company was). As can be seen, it is nip and tuck between versions with only the first movement of the 1976 recording noticeably different in duration. Interpretatively, I think the lamenting second movement Larghetto is remarkably successful and powerful in this performance. There is dignity and powerfully held emotion balanced by flow and long lyrical lines. The Waverley recording is perfectly acceptable but clearly a regional British company did not have the technical resources of the International giants Decca who would provide the engineering for Lyrita just five years later. 

I do not know how much restoration Lani Spahr has had to do to the masters here, there is some noticeable peaking and flattening to the sound at the loudest climaxes and in general the upper strings have a slight brittle thinness to their tone that seems to be more an artefact of the recording rather than a reflection of the playing. The stereo recording reveals the violins to be in Boult’s preferred antiphonal seating although the recording does not achieve a particularly wide sound stage so the left/right violins do not register as much as they do on other performances.

Of all of the works by Elgar that Boult was intimately acquainted with there is a strong argument for saying that the Symphony No.2 is the most significant. It was the youthful Boult who rehabilitated the work in the eyes and ears of the general public with in 1921. Over the next decades it was his numerous performances that elevated it to a status all but equalling that of the instantly admired Symphony No.1. His detailed study of the score with the composer led to numerous adjustments and emphasises in the score that Boult wrote into his copy and then implemented in performance.  Many were nuances but some were significant – allowing the 1^st trumpet to extend a note by an extra bar in the finale [track 5 – 5:00 mark in this performance] is a detail that has subsequently appeared in other conductor’s performances too. Although there is a continuity across the five commercial recordings, each in turn offers unique qualities and insights. My personal preferences are for the thrilling 1956 or luminous 1976 versions but in many ways this Scottish version offers a literal mid-point.  As such its return to the catalogue is to be warmly applauded.

The bulk of disc two appeared initially as an Elgar Society LP and latterly on the EMI Greensleeves label in the 1980’s although the recordings date from 1967. Interestingly both this new SOMM release and both of those LP’s feature a (different) cover image of San Miniato Tuscany (near Florence) – which is no-where near the Alassio  immortalised in the Concert Overture so I am not sure if there is another Elgar connection. Complementing the thirty four minutes or so of unaccompanied choral works are three recorded talks involving Boult.  The first two; “Sir Adrian in conversation with Carice Elgar Blake” and “Sir Edward Elgar as I knew him, a personal portrait by Sir Adrian” filled the LP releases too.  The third and longest – 29:12 was a talk recorded in 1965 for the BBC; “Sir Adrian in conversation with Bernard Keefe”. The first two are a little stilted and scripted although the sense of hearing things first-hand is palpably powerful. 

The conversation with Bernard Keefe is a treasure trove from first to last crammed full of information and fascinating detail lightly dispatched with considerable modesty. The abiding impression is of just how important to British musical life in the 20^th Century the BBC, its orchestra(s) and by extension Boult as the founding Musical Director and driving artistic force for twenty years was. It also serves as a valuable reminder that Boult was so much more than ‘just’ a performer of insular British music. You will look in vain in Boult’s discography for Debussy or Ravel (there is one BBC Legends disc that includes part of Daphnis in a concert performance) yet he names those two as some of his most favourite composers.  Likewise, Webern wrote to Boult thanking him and the BBC for the promotion of the 2^nd Viennese School at a time when they were being scorned in their own country.

If multiple versions of the other works are available, these performances with the BBC Chorus represent Boult’s only recordings of these pieces. All were written in the great high noon of Elgar’s creative life; the Four Part-Songs Op.53 are adjacent to Symphony No.1, the settings that make up Op.71-73 follow on from Falstaff, The Music Makers and Sospiri.  Yet on disc, as a choral collection they remain relatively rare given their quality and the composer.  The BBC Chorus were the forerunner of the current BBC Singers so I assume they were a professional chamber choir although there is no indication in the liner of their singing strength.  Sadly, the texts for the songs are not printed in the booklet, though they are available on the SOMM website and I understand they will be included in the booklet when it is reprinted in the future.  By the measure of excellence of modern choirs on a similar scale it must be said that the BBC Chorus do not achieve a unanimity or blend and balance to match those. Collectively and individually they do not have the musical personality of say The Baccholian Singers who were recording similar repertoire around the same time for EMI.   Likewise, their pronunciation is clearly in the best tradition of BBC ‘RP’ which gives the performances a distinctly period, slightly emotionally distanced feel.  Boult’s presence ensures authoritative and effective interpretations.  He is unfussy and direct.  Take Owls ­– the last of the Four Part Songs Op.53– one of Elgar’s most elusive and enigmatic compositions which Boult dispatches in a no nonsense 2:13.  Handley with his larger/amateur LSO chorus (on Hyperion) is 3:02 whereas Christopher Robinson and his youthful Cambridge University Chamber Choir (on Naxos) stretch that to a brooding and bleached 3:20 – to the benefit of the music to my ear.  As performances these are good but in all honesty would not demand attention in the catalogue without Boult’s presence.  Aside from Death on the Hills which explores darker emotional terrain to powerful effect, these works are rather genteel in both the words and the settings.  Given that one of Elgar’s most miraculous gifts was his ability to imbue slight works with sincere emotion, I find that these part-songs are content to stay in an emotional middle ground of good taste.  Even as insightful an Elgarian as Boult is not able to elevate them above that.

But even if the above paragraph reads as rather lukewarm in my enthusiasm, it really is a significant cause for celebration to have these performances restored to the current catalogue.  As ever, SOMM’s accompanying booklet is a model of insight and interest.  All the more so here because my copy of liner writer Nigel Simeone’s new book; “Edward Elgar and Adrian Boult” [pub. Boydell & Brewer 2025] arrived as I was writing this review.  Even a cursory dip shows this to be a quite superb reference volume and a worthy companion to the same author’s earlier “Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult”. 

All in all this is a very valuable set and one that I will return to often with pleasure for the musical and spoken wisdom it contains.

Nick Barnard

Previous review: Jonathan Woolf (March 2025)

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)
Adrian Boult in conversation with Carice Elgar Blake
Sir Edward Elgar as I knew him, a personal portrait by Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult in conversation with Benard Keefe
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 (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 Keefe)

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