Anastasia Kobekina (cello)

The Cello Concerto was Edward Elgar’s last major work. Its premiere took place on 27 October 1919 in London under the baton of the composer, the solo being performed by Felix Salmond. In an analogy with a famous work by Benjamin Britten, the concerto is frequently referred to as Elgar’s “war requiem.” It stands apart from compositions from previous years for its severity of tone and unchanging seriousness.
It is as if the composer were returning to the musical style of the time of his youth – to the traditions of Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and Grieg. Elgar began work with the cello recitative that opens the concerto. This recitative subsequently returns as the composer’s voice several times. The main theme of the first movement, given to unaccompanied violas, is a symbol of emptiness and loneliness. The second movement (scherzo) brings to mind Anton Rubinstein’s words about the finale of Chopin’s Second Sonata: “night winds sweeping over churchyard graves.” The brief third movement is as if a beautiful recollection of happiness that is over too quickly and too unexpectedly. There are widely differing interpretations of the finale, even optimistic ones, but the piercing slow section, followed by a return of the recitative from the first movement, disperses any such illusions.
Anna Bulychova