Elgar'S Third Symphony

Commissioned in 1932 by the BBC, Elgar's Third Symphony was fragmentary and disorganized when he died two years later. Elgar's family eventually asked composer Anthony Payne to make a full-length realization of the work, and the result, first performed in February 1998, is presented in this book.

---

Commissioned in 1932 by the BBC, Elgar's Third Symphony was fragmentary and disorganized when he died two years later. He had despairingly asked for the sketches to be destroyed, ordering that "no one must tinker with it", but he continued to talk about the symphony and, shortly after his death, his friend W.H. Reed published many of the sketches in facsimile, allowing a glimpse of the composer's final thoughts. This meant that the published sketches would eventually come out of copyright, allowing anyone to "tinker with it". Before this could happen, Elgar's family asked composer Anthony Payne to make a full-length realization of the work. The result, first performed in February 1998, is presented in this book.