Listen here to lost Elgar tune that turned up in autograph album

Listen here to lost Elgar tune that turned up in autograph album

main

norman lebrecht

March 08, 2019

An unknown melody by the English composer has been identified in an album that was delivered to a Staffordshire auction house.

It will go on sale at The Lichfield Auction Centre, Fradley Park, Staffordshire, on March 26.

The autographs were collected by collected by Lydia Tabb (1897-1983), a matron at Barnardos orphanages.

More here.

Comments

  • Jack says:

    You might want to correct Lydia’s date of death to 1983.

  • Colin G says:

    “My dad would mow the lawn while we would sit with her eating sandwiches and watching the wrestling,” …

    Those were the days!

  • Simon Hall says:

    That was a tune?

  • Peter Owen says:

    I do think even Anthony Payne would throw in the towel with this one.

  • Simon Baggs says:

    Clearly not penned in 1924, only signed in 1924 – this is apparent not only from the differential in ink, but in recognition to an earlier, more studential style in Elgar’s earlier jottings. This 6 bar sketch is nothing but a 3 part canon over a trilled pedal bass and in no way suggests it was ever destined to become another ‘masterpiece’. It doesnt even suggest ‘string quartet’ – so much music is in essence purely 4 part harmony. To the untrained eye and ear, yes, Elgar’s Fourth Symphony (sic) has been discovered, or perhaps Elgar’s 2nd String Quartet – or maybe even his first quartet for bagpipes? To the musicologist – a neat premium has been paid for an early jotting – clever marketing indeed!

  • MOST READ TODAY: