Cello Concerto in E minor, op. 85

Elgar composed the concerto in the summer of 1919 at Brinkwells, the isolated cottage in Sussex where in earlier years he had heard the artillery in France at night. After a throat operation in London in 1918 he came round from the anaesthetic and wrote down a melody that became the concerto's first theme. He described the work as an expression of the fear, disillusion and thoughts of death that had taken hold of him. The premiere on 27 October 1919 was ruined by lack of rehearsal, and the piece went unheard for over a year. Felix Salmond was the soloist at that first performance, in a programme whose remaining works Albert Coates conducted; Elgar held Coates responsible for taking the rehearsal time. The score is dedicated to Sir Sidney and Lady Frances Colvin, friends of the family. The concerto reached a wide public only in the 1960s, through Jacqueline du Pré's recording with the London Symphony Orchestra under John Barbirolli.