Symphony No. 2 (Elgar): Difference between revisions

The [[Musical form|form]] of the [[Movement (music)|movement]] is a [[sonata form]] without a [[Musical development|development]] and is characterized by its manipulation of modal expectations.<ref>J. P. E. Harper-Scott, “Elgar’s deconstruction of the ''belle époque'': interlace structures and the Second Symphony,” in ''Elgar Studies,'' ed. J. P.E. Harper-Scott and Julian Rushton (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 199.</ref> It opens with a seven [[Bar (music)|measure]] [[C minor]] [[Introduction (music)|Introduction]] of soft [[Chord (music)|chords]] in the [[String section|strings]], grouped into a 3+3+1 [[Bar (music)|bar ]]pattern which contrasts with the clear 4+4 grouping of the main [[Theme (music)|theme]]'s [[funeral march]].<ref>Donald F. Tovey, ''Essays in Musical Analysis, Volume Two'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1936), 117.</ref> The march tread of the [[Movement (music)|movement]] is suggested beginning at [[Bar (music)|measure]] 8 by a series of throbbing [[Chord (music)|chords]] on [[Beat (music)|beats]] two and four, pulsing in the [[String section|string]] and [[Drum|drum]] [[accompaniment]] under the grave [[Woodwind instrument|winds]] and [[Brass instrument|brass]] melody. An unexpected welling of emotion is heard just before the [[Funeral march|March]] section closes at rehearsal 70, followed by a transitory passage featuring a “sigh” motive (rehearsal 70) in the [[Woodwind instrument|woodwinds]]. This transition [[Modulation (music)|modulates]] to the second theme in [[F minor]] opens with a lyrical but subdued [[String section|string]] episode at 71. Then, as if [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]] had lost his sense of restraint, we hear a buildup of [[Dynamics (music)|dynamic]], an increase in [[Tempo|tempo]], and more imaginative scoring leading to a triumphant [[F major]] climax in the [[Brass instrument|brass]], marked ''Nobilmente e semplice'' (rehearsal 76). The "sigh" figure is again heard in the closing [[Theme (music)|thematic area]] at rehearsal 78, as if to recall earlier grief, slowly melting into the [[Recapitulation (music)|recapitulation]] of the [[C minor]] [[Funeral march|March]] [[Theme (music)|theme]] at rehearsal 79.