I am currently arranging some of Elgar’s less well known works for wind ensemble.(wind quintet and wind dectet)
(They adapt well for wind ensemble.)
(Sir Edward William Elgar, (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs.)
Two of his lesser known works are his Nursery Suite and his 2 Wand of Youth Suites.
Both are based on sketches made in his childhood
Nursery Suite
The composition of the Nursery Suite came about when Elgar mentioned in September 1930 to William Laundon Streeton of HMV (the Gramophone Company) that he had lately run across a box of musical sketches from the days of his youth. Streeton suggested that, as Master of the King's Musick, he might suitably draw on them for a work to mark the recent birth of Princess Margaret Rose (then fourth in line to the throne).
The suite was dedicated to Princess Margaret, her older sister Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and their mother (the Duchess of York).
I have arranged the following mvts for wind dectet
I. Aubade
IV. The Sad Doll
Wand of Youth
Like most children, Edward and his brothers and sisters engaged in fantasy games, but theirs were more ambitious and purposeful than most. At tender ages (Edward was eleven at the time), they staged a play based on their fantasy world from which adults, lacking an understanding and appreciation of children, were banned. Elgar composed a few simple tunes to be played as incidental music by an improvised band using whatever instruments the Elgar children could lay their hands on. A few years later, Elgar committed the tunes to one of his sketchbooks.
We do not know what sort of reception the play or its music received but it clearly made a lasting impression on Elgar. Some 40 years later, having passed his fiftieth birthday, he dug out his sketchbooks and set to work turning the incidental music into these two charming suites.
I have arranged the following mvts for wind quintet:
Suite 1
Overture
Serenade
Minuet
Sun Dance
Suite 2
Moths and Butterflies
The Tame Bear
and for wind dectet:
March
Check out ALL of my Elgar arrangements here