Cockaigne - Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

In a country with such an integrated love of music and music-making, it is surprising that we have bred so few eminent composers. However, among that select band, we do have Edward Elgar, whose music has all the warmth and affection of a dear friend revisited. Elgar was born and died in his beloved Worcestershire. His career, beset by disappointments and self-doubt, eventually took him to a position of love and respect both at home and abroad. At the turn of the century he was depressed by the early failure of his great oratorio, "The Dream of Gerontius", a state of mind that drew the famous, "I always knew God was against art." Nevertheless, Elgar set to work on his new overture enthusing to his publisher that here was a work that is "stout and steaky….honest, healthy, humorous and strong but not vulgar." He dedicated it to: "My many friends, the members of British orchestras", ending the score with a quotation, redolent of his native Worcestershire, from the medieval poet Piers Plowman: "Meteless and moneless on Malverne hulles."

Elgar's Overture is not a prelude to an opera but a substantial concert opener based on the idea of Cockaigne. This fantasy land of splendour and delights, which may well have spawned the term "cockney", was an Edwardian conceit. Thus, considering the strength and position of the British Empire in 1901 when Elgar wrote his Overture, it is hardly surprising that the mythical land of Cockaigne represented a vibrant London Town, then the foremost capital of the world. The music is a tapestry of London life portraying its dignity and brashness. We hear the passage of a brilliant military band and catch a glimpse of street-corner Salvationists complete with their tambourines. At the centre of the Overture, away from the bustle of street life, there is a passage of quiet and tenderness perhaps reflecting the tranquillity of London's parks and secluded corners. The strident life of the city, all too familiar in the present day, is soon recalled. The band re-enters to preface a final statement of Elgar's typically "noble" theme and the kettle drums end it all with a triumphant flourish.

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