Elgar Conducts Elgar: Cello Concerto (1928) Beatrice Harrison

Sir Edward Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor, I. Adagio - Moderato (0:08) II. Allegro molto (7:08) III. Adagio (11:40) IV. Allegro - Moderato - Allegro, ma non troppo (15:41) Beatrice Harrison, cellist Sir Edward Elgar, conductor London Symphony Orchestra Recorded on March 23/ April 13, 1928 in London Sir Edward Elgar had promised to write a Cello Concerto as early as 1900, but did not actually get around to it until 1919. After getting his tonsils removed, the inspiration for the theme in the first movement came to him in the hospital, and he retired to his cottage in Sussex, where he completed the concerto. The premiere with the London Symphony Orchestra was a disaster as a result of inadequate rehearsal time. The work never actually came into its own until the 1960s, when British cellist Jacqueline Du Pre made her legendary recording of it. Since that time the work is regarded as Elgar’s final masterpiece, and has become one of the most