The Music Makers, Op. 69 for Contralto Solo, Chorus, and Orchestra

Edward Elgar (1857-1934) began work on The Music Makers, Op. 69, a work for solo contralto, mixed chorus, and orchestra, in 1903 and completing it in 1912. It sets the entirety of Ode by Arthur O’Shaughnessy to music, a text that likely appealed to Elgar’s sense of an artist’s life and relationship to society. (The text begins with, “We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams.”) Perhaps given the kinship he felt to the text, Elgar’s music is almost autobiographical in ways, quoting music from some of his own most popular works, including: The Dream of Gerontius, the Violin Concerto, “sea-breakers” from Sea Pictures, “Nimrod” from the Enigma Variations, Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, the Violin Concerto, Rule, Britannia, and La Marseillaise. Despite the many quotations, most of the music is original. It premiered on October 1st, 1912 at the Birmingham Festival, with Muriel Foster singing the alto solo, and Elgar himself conducting the Festival Chorus and Orchestra. Instrumentation: Alto Solo, Mixed Chorus: 2+Picc.2+EH.2+BCl.2+CBsn: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(2-3): Hp(2).Org: Str (4-4-3-3-3 in set).Detailed Instrumentation: Alto Solo, Mixed Chorus: 2+Picc.2+EH.2+BCl.2+CBsn: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(2-3): Hp(2).Org: Str (4-4-3-3-3 in set)