In February 2012 ElgarWorks was able to announce the publication of a further volume in the Elgar Complete Edition. The main work in the new volume - Vol.21 - is The Sanguine Fan, a work first published by Music Sales in 2002. It is now republished in a
fully-revised academic edition, complete with an appendix of fifteen previously-unpublished
excisions which Elgar himself made from the full score, all but one during rehearsals for the
premi�re production.
But, as often happens, the fascination lies in the lesser
works and sketches, in this case Elgar's incidental music to Beau Brummel. The Minuet
is familiar to all from the orchestral miniature which Elgar extracted from his score for
performance in the concert hall; but the remainder of the music is unknown, Elgar's autograph
score having long been lost. Intensive efforts to track the score down have come to nought.
However, while editing of the volume was under way, a copy of Elgar's original autograph of the
Minuet (the `Theatre version') came up at auction. This proved of considerable interest, differing
from the Concert version not only in its orchestration (and thus revealing more of the
composition of the pit orchestra for which Elgar first wrote his score) but also in its structure.
Both versions are included in full in the volume, along with 11 autograph sketches now held by
the British Library, most of which Elgar has annotated with the name of a character or location
to help place them within the play. And then, within hours of dispatch to the printers, two further
sketches labelled `Brummel' were found in a scrapbook once belonging to Elgar's niece and now
held at the Elgar Birthplace.
The volume is edited by the noted conductor David
Lloyd-Jones, himself Editor-in-Chief of the Walton Complete Edition and the editor of the 2002
Music Sales edition of The Sanguine Fan. His revision of that score is in part informed
by his subsequent recording of the work for Naxos and consequent re-examination of the
manuscript score.
The Volume, which comes complete with the customary apparatus of detailed source descriptions, commentaries and an introductory foreword, can be obtained through all good book stores and
specialist music shops, or directly from the publisher. For details, visit the How to Purchase page. To buy or hire copies of the vocal score or parts, e-mail [email protected].
Series III : Dramatic Works
Publication History
- Publication date : 27 February 2012
- Publisher : ElgarWorks
- ISBN : 978-1-904856-21-4
- Availability : in print
Detailed Description
- Editor : David Lloyd-Jones
- Number of pages : xxxii + 168
- Page size : 250mm x 350mm
- Binding : cloth (hardback)
- Number of illustrations : 11 (monochrome)
- Contents :
- Elgar's full score for The Sanguine Fan ballet
- Elgar's full score of the Minuet from his incidental music to Beau Brummel in both the Concert and Theatre versions;
- 14 previously unpublished passages from The Sanguine Fan full score removed by Elgar before the first performance;
- 13 sketches for Beau Brummel, mostly for passages other than the Minuet;
- plus Editorial Foreword, Source Description, Critical Commentary and Illustrations.
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