London Symphony Orchestra’s New Album, “Elgar”

Released on LSO Live, the remastered collection includes Elgar’s Symphonies Nos 1–3, Enigma Variations, Cello Concerto, and Marches

Combining a remastered collection of the London Symphony Orchestra’s (LSO) best recordings of Elgar’s music, the new release showcases performances by conductors Barry Tuckwell, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Sir Colin Davis, and Sir Antonio Pappano. 

The album features critically acclaimed and award-winning recordings of Elgar’s Symphonies Nos 1–3, alongside Elgar’s Imperial March, Pomp and Circumstance Marches, and Cello Concerto featuring Felix Schmidt as the soloist. 

From its inception in 1904, the LSO held a firm partnership with Sir Edward Elgar himself, who conducted the LSO in its very first 1904/5 season concerts. The orchestra’s first principal conductor, Hans Richter, was also a champion of Elgar’s music nationally and abroad.

With the advent of electrical recording in 1925, EMI Records decided to release most of Elgar’s compositional output and selected the LSO to perform them under the composer’s direction. 

“I believe Elgar really did know what he wanted in his scores, but I do not think you should take things too literally,” said Sir Colin Davis in a program note by Jon Tolansky in 2001. 

“For instance he will carefully write poco accelerando (getting a little faster) and then subito tempo primo (suddenly back to the original tempo), but you have to make that sound absolutely natural so that it does not interrupt the flow and you don’t suddenly rein in the horse — everybody would fall off if you did. It’s like every kind of instruction anywhere: you still have to interpret it.”

To purchase and listen to “Elgar,” click here.