Elgar/Payne - The Crown of India / Elgar - Marches | Chandos CHAN105702

Elgar/Payne - The Crown of India / Elgar - Marches

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Label: Chandos

Cat No: CHAN105702

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 2

Release Date: 26th October 2009

Contents

Artists

Clare Shearer (mezzo-soprano)
Gerald Finley (baritone)
Barbara Marten (narrator)
Deborah McAndrew (narrator)
Joanne Mitchell (narrator)
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor

Sir Andrew Davis

Works

Elgar, Edward

Coronation March, op.32
Empire March
Imperial March in B flat major, op.32
The Crown of India (with narration), op.66 (orch. A Payne)
The Crown of India, op.66 (orch. A Payne)

Artists

Clare Shearer (mezzo-soprano)
Gerald Finley (baritone)
Barbara Marten (narrator)
Deborah McAndrew (narrator)
Joanne Mitchell (narrator)
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor

Sir Andrew Davis

About

Chandos are delighted to present the first complete recording of the masque The Crown of India, performed here by Clare Shearer and Gerald Finley, with the BBC Philharmonic and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis

Completed by Anthony Payne in 2008, the work conveys all the pomp and pageantry with which Elgar is associated. The work is presented on 2 CDs. Disc 1 includes the entire masque with narration, whilst Disc 2 contains only the music and Marches.

This recording is also the first with Sir Andrew Davis, now signed exclusively to Chandos. Sir Andrew’s fascination with Elgar goes deep, including taking the symphonies all over the world. He says of The Crown of India, ‘He’s [Payne] done a terrific job. This is from Elgar’s mature period, the time of the Violin Concerto and Sospiri. There’s a ‘March of the Moguls’ which is the only march I know in three time and an exquisite interlude with solo violin.’  

The elaborate pageant and theatrical presentation, The Crown of India was first staged in 1912 to celebrate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Delhi for their coronation as Emperor and Empress of India. Elgar wrote the music as his Op.66, with a libretto by Henry Hamilton. Sadly the score was only published in a piano-vocal version and the remaining orchestral parts were destroyed in the 1960s. In 2007, the Elgar Society set about a commission for Anthony Payne to complete the orchestration of the music, with the orchestral suite and marches.
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