Cello Concerto (Elgar)

Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, his last notable work, is a cornerstone of the solo cello repertoire. Elgar composed it in the aftermath of the First World War, when his music had already gone out of fashion with the concert-going public. In contrast with Elgar's earlier Violin Concerto, which is lyrical and passionate, the Cello Concerto is for the most part contemplative and elegiac.

The October 1919 premiere was a debacle because Elgar and the performers had been deprived of adequate rehearsal time. Elgar made two recordings of the work with Beatrice Harrison as soloist. The American premiere was given on 21 November 1922 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski with Jean Gerardy, cello. The 'Musical Courier' wrote: "About the Elgar there was no dissenting opinion. It is a long work, and it ambles on and on and on, utterly without distinction, utterly without inspiration." The work did not achieve wide popularity until the 1960s, when a recording by Jacqueline du Pré caught the public imagination and became a classical best-seller. Since then, leading cellists from Pablo Casals onward have performed the work in concert and in the studio.