The Music Makers by Elgar
Full steam ahead this week with Elgar’s Music Makers which I’m singing in about 10 days time at Guildford Cathedral. I simply adore singing Elgar so it doesn’t really feel like work having to practice it. It quotes lots of his other works such as Sea Pictures, The Dream of Gerontius, the Violin Concerto and of course, Nimrod – all of which are huge favourites of mine but the vast majority of the work is new. Elgar wrote to Ernest Newman about his composition:
“Please do not insist on the extent of the quotations” and “they form a very small part of the work”
The poem itself often gets criticised as not worthy of Elgar’s music and I have to say I have been struggling with some of it but it’s growing on me. It clearly had huge significance for Elgar. The first line begins:
“We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams”
One thing I can easily relate to though is the way that dreams and music were clearly linked and close to Elgar’s heart. He wrote towards the end of his life:
“I am still at heart that dreamy child who used to be found in the reeds by the Severn side with a sheet of paper trying to fix the sounds and longing for something very great.”
Stay up-to-date; Live Dates & Latest News:
david
6:48 am, June 3, 2010
That sounds hard work but interesting Juliette, best of luck with the concert…. I think the words “I am still at heart that dreamy child” can apply to lots of people and many stages of their lives” …daydreams sre good for the soul
David
Danny
7:35 am, June 5, 2010
Although Elgar is not my favourite composer, I can still enjoy a lot of his work, and hope your concert goes well…Your quotation reminds me of another, by Rudyard Kipling “If you can dream, and not make dreams you master”.
Danny