In 1994, a unique recording of Elgar's music on his own piano was made by Anthony Goldstone, sponsored by The Cobbe Foundation and The Elgar Society.
At Hatchlands Park in Surrey, Alec Cobbe has assembled a collection of historical keyboard instruments (among them, some of the finest examples of their kind) many of which are kept in permanent playing order. The collection (and Hatchlands Park itself) is open to the public. In 1994, while producing programmes for BBC Hereford & Worcester (Elgar's local radio station?) I heard that the composer's 1844 box Broadwood piano had been restored, and that it could now be seen by the public. A recording of this instrument did not exist, so (hoping for something for my programme) I approached the Cobbe Foundation to see if a tape might be made at a possible future concert. However, funds were made available (by the Foundation, Booz Allen & Hamilton, and The Elgar Society) for a complete CD, and pianist Anthony Goldstone (as a known performer of Elgar and other English music) was approached.
To my surprise, he had just been contemplating what to do with his copy of Elgar's own piano arrangement of his Enigma Variations. Today, it is still published by Novello from the original plates, but the score omits to state that Elgar himself arranged it, an attribution that is visible in the first edition. Anthony then assembled a seventy-minute collection of Elgar piano works (including both original pieces and arrangements), which we recorded at Hatchlands Park in the Summer of 1994. Sadly, we left out the Concert Allegro because its highest note (a G) did not exist on the Elgar piano keyboard, which only reaches an F.
The pieces are:
The original finale of the Variations was printed in the earliest editions; Elgar's friend Jaeger later suggested a re-working. Listeners to the CD may programme their players to select either the newer or the old ending.
The disc itself may be purchased from The Elgar Birthplace (at Lower Broadheath near Worcester) or directly from The Cobbe Foundation at Hatchlands Park (telephone 01483 222482).
In these Real Audio files, you can hear part of Anthony Goldstone's interpretation. In my opinion, the attraction of this recording (apart from the pianist's superb musicianship and his approach, which trancends any limitations that an inexperienced performer might find on this 150-year-old instrument) is that one may imagine oneself at Birchwood (Elgar's summer home, to the north of the Malvern Hills) enjoying the composer's invitation to hear his latest work. Please read the small print.
You will need the Realplayer on your system in order to hear these files. The audio has suffered a data-reduction process so that you can receive it over the Internet in a reasonable time. Therefore, the quality you hear on your computer is in no way representative of the disc itself, which is a digital stereo recording. You might need to download the files before playing them (if your Internet connection to this site is slow). After downloading them (and making a note of their names), you will need to start your Realplayer, go to the 'File' menu, and select "Open File..."; now enter the filename that you would like to hear.
PLEASE NOTE: These files are presented as illustrative material for the purposes of elucidating the foregoing comments within the meaning of "fair dealing for the purpose of review or criticism" as defined by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and as tested by the High Court in 1991. The recordings are Copyright (C) 1994 Cobbe Collection Recordings. All rights of the producer and of the owner of the work are reserved. Unauthorised copying, public performance and broadcasting of the work are prohibited.
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