Romance for violin (Elgar)
The Romance in E minor for violin and piano is a work by Edward Elgar composed in 1878 or 1879 [1] and published in 1885 as his Opus 1.
The Romance was dedicated to Oswin Grainger, an older friend of Elgar's from a Worcester orchestra they played in, who was an amateur musician and grocer by trade.[2] It was published by Schott's in 1885 and the first performance was on 20 October, in Worcester.[3]
Structure[]
Andante 12/8 E minor
Following the 4 bars of introduction by piano, violin shows the subject shown in excerpt 1.
Excerpt 1
![\relative c' \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } {
\key e \minor \time 12/8
e'2.\p \upbow \< g4\!( fis8\>) e4( dis8\!) a'4.~\downbow _\markup \italic restez. ( a8 g-- fis--) e4.~\< ( e4 c'8--\!)
c4_\markup \italic espress. ( g8) g4( fis8) b4( fis8) fis4( e8) a4\>( e8\!) e4-- dis8--\downbow fis2.\upbow
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/7/j/7jfya4vh0g6ineh25v0dibyakclozy7/7jfya4vh.png)
Then, the same introduction by piano induces the exposure of excerpt 2, in G minor, played by violin.
Excerpt 2
![\relative c' \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } {
\key e \minor \time 12/8
d2.\p ^\markup \italic { poco più mosso. } ( e\<) d'\! b c4.~( c8_\markup \italic dol. b a) g4 e8( a4) e8 g4.~( g8 fis e) d4.-- b8--( c-- cis--)
}](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/o/5/o5k05kigk31qhrcp8e5ise521xaw7hj/o5k05kig.png)
The music reaches passionate climaxes twice before excerpt 1 reappears. Double stop of violin leads the quiet end of the work.
It is a short work, with performing time about 5 minutes.
Recordings[]
- Elgar: Romance for Violin & Piano, Op. 1, (Violin), Yurie Miura (Piano)
- Elgar: Romance for Violin & Piano, Op. 1[permanent dead link], Marat Bisengaliev (Violin), Benjamin Frith (Piano)
Notes[]
References[]
- Kennedy, Michael (1987). Portrait of Elgar (Third ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-284017-7.
- McVeagh, Diana M. (1955). Edward Elgar: His Life and Music. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
- Moore, Jerrold N. (1984). Edward Elgar: a Creative Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-315447-1.
- Score, Elgar: Romance pour Violon, Schott & Co., London, ca. 1885
External links[]
- Romance for violin: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Other Music for Piano and Violin on website from Elgar Society
- Romance for violin at AllMusic
- Chamber music by Edward Elgar
- Compositions in E minor