Evening Masterworks: Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto in e-minor Op. 85 for June 12, 2024

In many ways, Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto is a reaction to the First World War. He composed it in 1919, and it embodies a realization that life in Europe would never be the same. Elgar composed almost nothing during the war. But then, from August 1918 to August 1919, he poured his feelings into four brand new compositions. The final one, his Cello Concerto, represents the composer’s sadness and longing for a lost world. We’ll hear it tonight at 7, our Evening Masterwork, on Classical WSMR 89. 1 and 103.9.