Elgar - Dream Children Op.43 - New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/Judd

Sir Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934)
Dream Children (Opus 43, composed in the year 1902)
Two Pieces for Small Orchestra
1. Andante
2. Allegretto piacevole
I really love this piece, such a wonderful and calm, beautiful piece! It is one of Elgar's lighter pieces which he wrote at the height of his fame in 1902. By this time, Elgar had already composed his Enigma Variations which had made his name.
It is believed that this piece started off as sketches for a symphony, but instead they turned in to a two part short piece for small orchestra.
I hope you will enjoy this beautiful music as much as I did, and I would love to hear opinions!
Performers:
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
James Judd

[@stephenwhite8347]

I first heard this in 1988 when I was visiting my brother in England and bought it just by chance and totally fell in love. This is music that reaches in and touches you where only God can touch you.

[@harryandruschak2843]

My my, I'm 70 years old, and this is the first time I have heard this work. Well, classical music radio stations in southern California tend to be quite conservative as far as their playlists go. Thank God for You Tube, and its huge selection of wonderful music.

[@jimstokes6742]

+Harry Andruschak Indeed! And very accessible!

[@jimstokes6742]

KZbin forever! I have heard music I would NEVER have heard and by several orchestras! It sure beats buying music and not going broke buying phonograph needles and pickups. CHEERS!

[@stephaniesunderland1974]

'Dream Children' and 'Claire de lune' are my all time favorites. Thanks for the upload!

[@tessrosed]

I love this so much. And the performance seems to really get to the heart of it and convey its essence (to me the tempi feel perfect). Thank you!!!

[@legendtype1]

Sublime beauty...

[@sevcik2]

Beautiful piece...great performance! Thank you for uploading!

[@deBASHmode]

A bit of the andante was used in in the film "A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia" that was this slow and wistful, but performed by a smaller ensemble. It was a perfect addition to the scene.

[@somyod2u]

Some years ago the BBC used the second of these two pieces as the title music to a serialised dramatisation of Charles Dickens ' David Copperfield'.

[@grengaskell8355]

Elgar was inspired by living in this wonderful town named Malvern. Who wouldn't be? They speak of Mozart, Elgar, Bach, I listen with surprise. There was no Mozart, Elgar, Bach Where I was, down there in the dark No music, symphony or lark. One’s spirit almost dies

[@alger3041]

Try Beethoven. This piece is an extraordinary reminder of the middle movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 25, Op. 79. Has anyone else ever noticed it?

[@Killoea]

great piece

[@libramoon2]

Beautiful....

[@gnikcohs]

Wistful, sad, elegant little masterpiece. The piece is based on Charles Lamb's sad Dream Children: A Reverie. It's on the internet and a VERY short read. Love the painting. Going to try some of the faster versions of this.

[@gregorsamsa9264]

A gorgeous essay. One of Lamb's finest.

[@Leon1949Green]

From a contrebombarde: www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/40573, performance of the organ transcription by Ivor Atkins: These two pieces were written in 1902, when Elgar was approaching the peak of his fame and popularity. Unusually for Elgar they were not written to any commission. Michael Kennedy suggests that they may have been retrieved from the unused material for a symphony celebrating General Gordon which Elgar had been working on since 1898. They are not complete symphonic movements, but it was Elgar's practice to work in small sections and then put them together into a whole. The orchestral score and parts were originally published by Joseph Williams Ltd. (London) in 1902, then in 1911 by Schott & Co. with the title "Enfants d'un Rêve" and the translation below this "(Dream-Children)". The first performance was at the Queen's Hall on 4 September 1902, conducted by Arthur W Payne. They are "dream sketches" based upon the writings of the essayist Charles Lamb (1775-1834), and the text of what inspired them is given in the First Comment. The pieces are inspired by ‘Dream-Children ; A Reverie’, one of the "Essays of Elia" by Charles Lamb published in 1822,[3] and Elgar inscribed on the score the following excerpt from the essay. The essay is in one paragraph of over four pages: the writer imagines telling his 'little ones', called Alice and John, some tales of their great-grandmother Field and her house, and of his own courtship, in hope and eventual despair, for another Alice before, at the end of the essay, mysteriously * * * And while I stood gazing, both the children gradually grew fainter to my view, receding, and still receding till nothing at last but two mourn- ful features were seen in the uttermost distance, which, without speech, strangely impressed upon me the effects of speech: "We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all. * * * * We are nothing; less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been." * * * The most striking thing shown in the essay is that Lamb, though a lifelong bachelor, longed for family life which he was incapable of attaining. In a strange fit of passion he imagined all this in a dream-like state. The name 'Alice' was important in Elgar's life: not only was his great friend Alice Stuart-Wortley his muse, but his wife was also Alice. ‘What might have been’ reflects a constant nostalgia throughout Elgar’s music, and is the predominating mood of both the Dream Children pieces, particularly the wistful No 1. No 2 is more smiling in tone, but reverts to nostalgia at the end, where it quotes the theme which began No. 1.

[@mokiloc]

beautiful piece!!! I maybe going to play this with my orchestra! Do you know the instrumentation? thx for uploading!!!!

[@all1rog]

This is played much too slowly

[@timweather3847]

all1rog Initially I agreed with you, but then did some research. Elgar marked the 1st movement andante, but also marked dotted crotchet=48. That must be near enough the speed James Judd takes it, so is what Elgar wanted. It must be the slowest andante I have ever heard, but still beautiful at whatever speed.