Cockaigne (In London Town)

Cockaigne (In London Town), Op. 40, also known as the Cockaigne Overture, is a concert overture for full orchestra composed by the British composer Edward Elgar in 1900-01.

The success of the Enigma Variations in 1899 was followed by the initial failure of The Dream of Gerontius, which caused composer Edward Elgar to become dispirited and declare that God was against art. Nevertheless, he received a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Society and began work on a new piece and soon reported that it was "cheerful and Londony, 'stout and steaky'...honest, healthy, humorous and strong, but not vulgar."

The first performance was in the Queen's Hall, London at a Royal Philharmonic Society Concert, on June 20, 1901, conducted by the composer. The composer dedicated the work to his "many friends, the members of British orchestras." The music was an immediate success and became one of Elgar's most popular works. It has been performed in the concert hall less frequently in recent decades, though a performance conducted by Britain's then Prime Minister, Edward Heath, at a gala London Symphony Orchestra concert at the Festival Hall in November 1971, pictured, brought Cockaigne to much wider attention than usual.

In its 15 minutes or so the overture gives a lively and colourful musical portrait of Edwardian London. 'Cockaigne' was a term used by moralists at that time as a metaphor for gluttony and drunkenness, while Britain adopted the name humorously for London. There is no narrative programme, but the work presents various aspects of turn-of-the-century London and Londoners. It begins with a quiet but bustling theme which leads into an unbroken sequence of snapshots: the cockneys, the church bells, the romantic couples, a slightly ragged brass band (perhaps the Salvation Army) and a contrastingly grand and imperious military band. The broad theme representing Londoners is, Michael Kennedy states, the first occurrence of Elgar’s trademark direction, 'nobilmente.'. The work ends in a characteristically Elgarian blaze of orchestral sound.

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