Reading Elgars The Music Makers: Reputation, Poetry and Expression

Elgars The Music Makers, for contralto solo, choir and large orchestra, has experienced a chequered reputation. Following its premiere at the Birmingham Festival in 1912 the work received significant adverse criticism which re-emerged over time. Criticism was levelled at the poem which Elgar chose for his setting, an ode by Arthur OShaughnessy, a poet whose reputation was later tarnished by T.S. Eliot in his What is Minor Poetry?, a literary critique long misinterpreted. We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers, Of the world for ever, it seems. Misunderstanding of Elgars innovatory compositional procedure was the other main reason for the negative responses. The poetic imagery in music has been used by many composers, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss included. Elgars compositional method of integrating the poetic language with musical self-borrowings throughout the work not only transforms the words but offers to perceptive listeners enhanced emotion at the highest artistic level. All aspects of melody, rhythm, orchestration, leitmotiv, and tonality combine to produce one of Elgars greatest and least understood masterworks. Reading Elgars The Music Makers brings to the fore a prime example of how first musical performances can be misunderstood, how reception and understanding can change over time, and how the work is as relevant today as ever it was.