Elgar Complete Edition

[VodkaDilc]

I read in the latest Elgar Society News that Novello has sold out of full scores of The Dream of Gerontius, and as the Elgar Society is committed to publishing the remaining unpublished 16 volumes, it may be a long wait before republication, unless some enterprising publisher gets in earlier. In the meantime, my copy must have shot up in value.

Reading in the new Elgar Society News today, I've been trying to work out whether the old Novello Complete Edition volumes share the same size and, in particular, cover as the new ones. Are you collecting the complete set? At £80 or so, less 25% for subscribers, it sounds quite reasonable.

(I noticed someone following what appeared to be the Complete Elgar Edition of The Kingdom at the rear of the arena on the first night. I wonder if it was someone who's reading this.)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Reading in the new Elgar Society News today, I've been trying to work out whether the old Novello Complete Edition volumes share the same size and, in particular, cover as the new ones. Are you collecting the complete set? At £80 or so, less 25% for subscribers, it sounds quite reasonable.

(I noticed someone following what appeared to be the Complete Elgar Edition of The Kingdom at the rear of the arena on the first night. I wonder if it was someone who's reading this.)

Novello originally intended to have volumes in 3 different sizes, and the Elgar Society has continued the policy, except that the 3 sizes were reduced to 2 ( the smallest size having never been used). The only cosmetic difference is the change in the name of the publisher.

As regards a prommer following a Complete Edition score, well, that's what you call posing.
The Kingdom is one of the large volumes.

And to answer your other question, I am collecting the full edition, and have been since 1980. Had Novello kept to their original schedule, the edition would have been completed in 2003.

[VodkaDilc]

Novello originally intended to have volumes in 3 different sizes, and the Elgar Society has continued the policy, except that the 3 sizes were reduced to 2 ( the smallest size having never been used). The only cosmetic difference is the change in the name of the publisher.

As regards a prommer following a Complete Edition score, well, that's what you call posing.
The Kingdom is one of the large volumes.

.

He (inevitably it was 'he') was resting the score on a convenient flat surface behind him - he was right at the back of the arena. I noticed that he occasionally got involved with the happenings on the platform and neglected the score for a few minutes - resulting in desperate searching for the right place. I could not tell whether he was turning the pages silently.

Silly question to ask whether you are collecting the full set - you mentioned that in your original posting. I'm very envious.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Silly question to ask whether you are collecting the full set - you mentioned that in your original posting. I'm very envious.

Don't be too envious. It has required extreme patience as the following will show:-

The Elgar Complete Edition was announced by Novello & Co. in 1981. As the major publisher of Elgar's music, they already possessed the edited plates which could form the basis of the Complete Edition, waiting until Elgar's music went out of copyright (in 1984) before tackling the works published by Boosey & Hawkes, Elkin, Keith Prowse and others.
The first volume to be published was Symphony no. 1.



It was little more than a straight reprint of the already published edition, available in miniature score (miniature being an apt word to describe the print size).

The Dream of Gerontius followed in 1982.



Like the first volume, this contained only limited evidence of recent scholarship. In recent weeks, it was announced that Novello had sold its entire stock of this important volume.

Novello's plan had been to publish two volumes per year, but it soon became apparent that completing the ECE within 22 years was merely a pipedream. Subscribers were kept in the dark about which works were to be published and the time-scale was vague. However, the third volume was the long out of print score of Elgar's largest scale oratorio, The Apostles, published in 1983.



Suddenly, the whole potential of the Complete Edition sprang to life. Would The Kingdom be next? It was - early in 1984.




Later in the same year, Symphony no. 2 was added.



Novello's strategy was a good one, alternating well-known works with those that had been unobtainable (except on hire) for many years.

The cantata "Caractacus" was the surprise of 1985.



The work had only received its first broadcast a few years earlier and there was only a single recorded version (RLPO/Groves). This raised a question about the size of volumes. Novello had announced three different sizes from the outset. All those published up to this time had been of the largest size, yet the symphonies and Caractacus had so much white space around every page that it would have been possible to fit the scores of these within the medium-sized volumes.
The first of two volumes published in 1986 joined The Music Makers with The Spirit of England, again works that were not generally available.



This was to be the last large-format volume to be published by Novello.
Next came the medium format "Variations on an Original Theme - Enigma", the composer's best-known work.



The chief point of interest here was the inclusion of Elgar's original ending, which A.E.Jaeger ("Nimrod") had considered unsatisfactory, and had told the composer, who responded with panache.
1987 produced only a single volume, the slimmest of the entire series, The Organ Works. It even included the Organ Sonata no. 2, which was an arrangement by Sir Ivor Atkins of some of Elgar's "Severn Suite". Strictly speaking, it should not have been part of the ECE.



The Concertos followed in 1988.



The difference in layout between the violin and cello concertos is startling, the latter being scored for a smaller orchestra. The violin concerto could have merited a large-size volume, but the cello concerto could not.
Being one of the best-selling volumes of the ECE, this went out of print some time ago, but a new re-edited and re-originated second edition is due in November 2014.

The Chamber Music volume, also from 1988, had its scores re-originated, as these had previously appeared only as parts for the instrumentalists, and in miniature score format. The new volume did have a few musical mistakes - mistakes that might not have occurred had the volume been produced a few years later using music software, rather than the painstaking and time-consuming practice of musical engraving.



Unlike the choral scores already published, "The Light of Life", using smaller forces, fitted easily within a medium format volume. It was the only ECE volume to be published in 1989.



Editorial comment had increased as more volumes appeared, and a snare drum part had been added using authoritative evidence, but rather than re designing the two pages affected, the extra part being added as footnotes. It would have been even better had the engraver remembered to add the required trill signs.

It was another two years before another volume appeared: The Spanish Lady, a work that remained far from complete at Elgar's death. This volume does not appear to be available any more - possibly a victim of Music Sales' "pulping" policy (see "The Spanish Lady" below).



It was right that Dr Percy Young should be given the opportunity to edit this volume, he being the foremost expert on the sketches. This 1991 publication was to be the penultimate Novello volume. The ultimate insult was to come some years later, when Novello/Music Sales pulped all remaining volumes of "The Spanish Lady".

In the following year (1992), Falstaff and Polonia were combined in a single volume.



Falstaff had been engraved immediately after its composition, but Polonia appears to have been reoriginated from the original Elkin score and the manuscript score, and the improved clarity and layout of the newer artwork is a reminder of just how things have changed over the decades.

Novello was absorbed by Music Sales in the early 1990s and the Elgar Complete Edition was one of the first casualties of the takeover. The edition was cancelled in 1993, even though a new volume was ready for publication. Subscribers were not informed, and were left confused until news seeped through.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Continued

I attended the first performance of the Elgar-Payne Symphony no. 3 in 1998 and met several Elgar enthusiasts who said that moves were afoot to set the edition in motion again, and three years later (2001), the volume already prepared by Novello before the Musical Sales axe fell, Dream Children and The Wand of Youth.



Ideally, a more exciting work to relaunch the edition (now renamed) might have been desirable, but the Elgar Society's publicity and enthusiasm more than made up for that. Initially the plan was to obtain funding for Novello and others to continue with the work. However, the publishers did not have quite the same enthusiasm for the project as did the Elgar Society, and the next volume, "The Crown of India", was delayed until 2005.



The surviving orchestral movements required a large format volume, making the vocal score reduction of the full work appear a little incongruous. The complete full score had been destroyed many years earlier, and it was again the work of Anthony Payne that enabled the masque to be performed and recorded some years later.

In-house publication was decided upon, with all new scores being newly originated. In 2007, two new very fat volumes were produced: Music for Violin



and "Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf" (a large format volume).



marking the 150th anniversary of Elgar's birth.

One volume that had never been envisaged by Novello in their original proposals was the Music for Powick Asylum, first published in 2008.



Further volumes have come at regular intervals since then, with two in 2010 -

[



Music for String Orchestra (2011) meant that the edition had passed the halfway point.



2012 brought two new volumes:





Just one volume in 2013:



but in 2014, there will be three in total - the large format Overtures volume,



the Secular Part-Songs



and the second, completely revised edition of the Concertos.



Note the new logo on the 2014 volumes.

******

Looking to the future, we await the following 14 volumes:

The Black Knight/The Banner of St George
From the Bavarian Highlands, Pageant of Empire & choral songs with orchestra
Coronation Ode, etc. (large format volume)
Sacred Music with orchestra
Sacred Music with organ/unaccompanied
Grania & Diarmid/Arthur
WWI Recitations/Fringes of the Fleet
Short Orchestral Works
Severn Suite (orchestra); Nursery Suite
Marches (large format volume)
Orchestrations of other composers' works,
Music for Piano
Music for Wind Quintet
Severn Suite (brass band)/Music for Various Ensembles
Sketches for Symphony no. 3 & Piano Concert0
Miscellaneous Sketches

Note that all volumes are either large or medium. The small format was ditched when the Elgar Society took over.

[antongould]

A quite staggering post EA.......very interesting ...

[Roslynmuse]

A quite staggering post EA.......very interesting ...

Seconded...

Just one question - you mention Polonia never having been published until the Elgar Society volume appeared. When I was a student, the University orchestra performed the piece (this was 1984, and of course after Boult's recording had appeared); would the score therefore have been a facsimile of the ms.?

[EdgeleyRob]

A quite staggering post EA.......very interesting ...

Agreed,a monumental post,thanks EA.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Seconded...

Just one question - you mention Polonia never having been published until the Elgar Society volume appeared. When I was a student, the University orchestra performed the piece (this was 1984, and of course after Boult's recording had appeared); would the score therefore have been a facsimile of the ms.?

I was actually wrong about this. The score was engraved by Elkin in 1915 and presumably reoriginated by Novello in 1991/2. The Elkin score was "corrected by Elgar in proof".

And I, in turn, have corrected my earlier posting.

[Roslynmuse]

I was actually wrong about this. The score was engraved by Elkin in 1915 and presumably reoriginated by Novello in 1991/2. The Elkin score was "corrected by Elgar in proof".

Ah, many thanks for the clarification.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A quite staggering post EA.......very interesting ...

- Bravo, Alpie.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

- Bravo, Alpie.

[Roehre]

A quite staggering post EA.......very interesting ...

Thirded (or whatever)
Seems to be the fate of the real collectors of music or composer related series: alive and kicking at the start of a series, possibly old and grumpy (or worse) at the time of its completion.
Beethoven Konversationshefte: 1968-2011
Beethoven Gesamtausgabe: 1958- ????? (not before 2020, or even 2027 )
Bruckner Gesamtausgabe [Nowak]: 1950-2005

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Thirded (or whatever)
Seems to be the fate of the real collectors of music or composer related series: alive and kicking at the start of a series, possibly old and grumpy (or worse) at the time of its completion.
Beethoven Konversationshefte: 1968-2011
Beethoven Gesamtausgabe: 1958- ????? (not before 2020, or even 2027 )
Bruckner Gesamtausgabe [Nowak]: 1950-2005

Or the New Mozart Edition: 1955-2006

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've just updated my missive, having realised there was nothing about the 14 volumes yet to be published.