- Elgar’s Sospiri is scored for strings, harp and organ. It was composed 1913-14 and premiered in 1914.1
- Sospiri was dedicated to Elgar’s friend W.H. (“Billy”) Reed, violinist and leader of the LSO. Elgar often asked Reed for technical advice when composing for the violin. After Elgar’s death, Reed wrote a memoir of their friendship, Elgar As I Knew Him.2
- There have been several suggestions for what inspired the sadness of this piece. Elgar composed it in the distressing months leading up to WWI, so that is a possibility.3 Also, Julia Worthington, a dear friend of the Elgars, had died of cancer shortly before Elgar composed this work.4
- Elgar had originally intended the title to be “Soupir d’Amour” (Sigh of Love), making this a companion piece to his popular Salut d’Amour, but changed the title to the more somber “Sospiri” as the piece developed.5
Sources
- Diana McVeagh, “Elgar, Sir Edward,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed September 18, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000008709.
- “Elgar – His Music: Sospiri, op 70,” Elgar Society, accessed September 19, 2019, http://www.elgar.org/3sospiri.htm.
- Ibid.
- “Edward Elgar (1857-1934),” Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra, accessed September 19, 2019, https://www.nottinghamphilharmonic.co.uk/elgar.
- “Elgar – His Music: Sospiri, op 70,” Elgar Society.
Cut IDs
20871 40886