Sospiri HD 1080p

‘Sospiri’, Op. 70 - Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), transcribed by Jonathan Scott. David Briggs plays the Walker Technical Company Organ at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York. Elgar’s hauntingly beautiful ‘Sospiri’ allows us into a sphere which is perhaps very close to the innermost echelons of Elgar’s soul. He conceived the piece as a soulful Adagio for string orchestra and harp, in the tortuous months leading up to the beginning of World War I. Elgar originally intended it for violin and piano, as a companion piece to ‘Salut d’Amour’ and had in mind the title ‘Soupir d’Amour’ (French for "Sigh of Love"). While composing it he realised that he was writing something more intense, and so chose an Italian word, ‘Sospiri’, meaning "sighs”. The work was first performed on 15 August 1914 in the Queen's Hall in London, conducted by Sir Henry Wood, and was dedicated to Elgar's long-time friend, the violinist W. H. "Billy” Reed. Here at St John the Divine, we are again enjoying the ‘Father’ Walker digital organ, for a relatively short period of four or five months, whilst our glorious Aeolian-Skinner (Opus 150A) is receiving some TLC to it’s blowing plant and outdated copper wiring mechanisms. The Walker continues to sound remarkably subtle and effective in our 10-second acoustic. I hope you will enjoy this performance which I recorded last week - the music seems uncannily close to the spirit of Gustav Mahler (moments like 4:16 remind you of the extraordinary emotions of Mahler's Ninth Symphony, just 5 years earlier). I’m very curious about how much Sir Edward knew about Mahler’s output, and if it permeated his musical consciousness, which was, without a shadow of doubt, sensitively impressionable.