Five Essential Elgar Recordings - your five?

[Pabmusic]

Apropos pronunciation how about the final var. 'Edu'. His housemaid said that Alice called him 'Edoo'( Eduard?), presumably the way to say it.

Yes - German pronunciation, with a short E.

[Barbirollians]

... though you're right about the Barbirolli recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3i3rNX2mU-s

Michael Kennedy suggested it was the musical expression of depression or something along those lines and I agree with him - I have told this story before I thought I was handling a friend's suicide until I heard Sospiri again at the end of the original Britidh Composers EMI CD of Elgar 2.

[Pabmusic]

Michael Kennedy suggested it was the musical expression of depression or something along those lines and I agree with him - I have told this story before I thought I was handling a friend's suicide until I heard Sospiri again at the end of the original Britidh Composers EMI CD of Elgar 2.

Elgar wrote two short pieces in 1913 for the new publishing house of Elkin & Co., who specialised in 'light' music, Carissima and Soupir d'Amour. Elkin didn't want Soupir d'Amour because it was too serious for them, so Elgar sent it to Breitkopf & Härtel with the title Sospiri.