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Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61, is one of his longest orchestral compositions, and the last of his works to gain immediate popular success. The concerto was composed for the violinist Fritz Kreisler, who gave the premiere in London in 1910, with the composer conducting. Plans by the recording company His Master's Voice to record the work with Kreisler and Elgar fell through, and the composer made a recording with the teenaged Yehudi Menuhin that has remained in the catalogues since its first release in 1932. Elgar's music was out of fashion in the middle of the twentieth century, but the concerto nevertheless continued to be programmed. By the end of the century, when Elgar's music was restored to the general repertoire, there had been more than twenty recordings of the concerto. In 2010, centenary performances of the concerto were given around the world. == History == Elgar had begun work on a violin concerto in 1890, but he was dissatisfied with it and destroyed the manuscript.〔 In 1907 the violinist Fritz Kreisler, who admired Elgar's ''The Dream of Gerontius'', asked him to write a violin concerto.〔Kennedy, Michael (1984). Liner notes to EMI CD CD-EMX-2058〕 Two years earlier, Kreisler had told an English newspaper:
The Royal Philharmonic Society of London formally commissioned the concerto in 1909. Elgar, himself a violinist, called yet upon W. H. "Billy" Reed, leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, for technical advice while writing the concerto. Reed helped him with bowings, passage-work and fingerings, playing passages over and over again until Elgar was satisfied with them.〔 Kreisler also made suggestions, some for making the solo part more brilliant and some for making it more playable. Before the premiere, Reed, with Elgar playing the orchestral part on the piano, played through the work at a private party. The premiere was at a Royal Philharmonic Society concert on 10 November 1910, with Kreisler and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. Reed recalled, "the Concerto proved to be a complete triumph, the concert a brilliant and unforgettable occasion".〔Reed, p. 103〕 So great was the impact of the concerto that Kreisler's rival Eugène Ysaÿe spent much time with Elgar going through the work. There was great disappointment when contractual difficulties prevented Ysaÿe from playing it in London.〔 The concerto was Elgar's last great popular success. Of his later large-scale works neither the Second Symphony nor ''Falstaff'' nor the Cello Concerto achieved the immediate popularity of the First Symphony or this concerto. Elgar remained particularly fond of the work. His friend Charles Sanford Terry recalled "I have never heard Elgar ''speak'' of the ''personal'' note in his music except in regard to the concerto, and of it I heard him say more than once, 'I love it'."〔Anderson, p. 117〕 Elgar told Ivor Atkins that he would like the ''nobilmente'' theme in the ''andante'' inscribed on his tomb.〔 Even in the 1950s when Elgar's music was unfashionable, the concerto featured frequently in concert programmes.〔See, for example, reviews in ''The Times'', 7 September 1951, p. 8; 3 October 1952, p. 9; 28 September 1954, p. 2; 16 April 1956, p. 3; and 10 October 1958, p. 20〕 By the end of the twentieth century, when Elgar's music was once again in the general repertoire, there were more than 20 gramophone recordings of the concerto. In 2010, the centenary year of the work, the violinist Nikolaj Znaider began a series of performances in venues including Vienna, London and New York, with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and conductors Valery Gergiev and Sir Colin Davis.〔("Schedule" ) Nikolaj Znaider, accessed 2 December 2010〕 Also in 2010 Philippe Graffin gave a performance at the Three Choirs Festival using Elgar's original manuscript,〔Duchen, Jessica, ("Elgar's Other, Dotty Enigma", ) ''The Independent'', 6 August 2010〕 and new recordings were issued by Znaider, Thomas Zehetmair, and Tasmin Little. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Violin Concerto (Elgar)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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