Salut d'Amour

Salut d’Amour, Op. 12, is a musical work composed by Edward Elgar in 1888, originally as a short piece for piano or for violin solo with piano accompaniment.

History

Elgar finished the piece in July 1888, when he was engaged to be married to Caroline Alice Roberts, and he called it "Liebesgruss" ('Love’s Greeting') because of Miss Roberts’ fluency in German. When he returned home to London on 22nd September from a holiday at the house of his friend Dr. Charles Buck, in Settle, he presented her with it as his engagement present. Alice, for her part, offered him a poem called "The Wind at Dawn" which she had written years before and which he soon set to music. [Jerrold Northrop Moore has found resemblances between the two works] The dedication was in French "à Carice". The first forms of the work were then for piano solo and for violin accompanied by piano.

It was not published (by Schott & Co.) until a year later, and the first editions were for piano solo, violin and piano, cello and piano, and for small orchestra. Few copies were sold until Schott’s changed the title to "Salut d’Amour" with "(Liebesgruss)" as a sub-title, and the composer’s name as 'Ed. Elgar'. The French title, Elgar realised, would help the work to be sold not only in France but in other European countries: Schott's was a German publisher, with offices in Mayence (Mainz), London, Paris and Brussels.

The first public performance was of the orchestral version, at a Crystal Palace concert on 11th November 1889, conducted by August Manns.

Arrangements

"Salut d’Amour" has certainly been published in more different forms and arrangements than any other work of Elgar’s.

As early as 1901, the list is substantial: Many arrangments have been made since. For example, the song can also be found in Swedish as "Violer" "("Violets")".

Recordings

* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sarah-Chang-Debut/dp/B000002RSJ Sarah Chang (violin) - Debut] This 1992 CD recording includes Salut d'Amour
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nigel-Kennedy-plays-dAmour-Favourites/dp/B000000AD3 Nigel Kennedy] Chandos
* [http://www.aamrecordings.com/AAM102.htm David Halen and Peter Henderson] AAM 040102
* [http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp;jsessionid=E1D32E33F94713E86096DC37E3980272?album_id=136320 Kyung Wha Chung and Phillip Moll] Eloquence #476755
* [http://www.elgarfoundation.org/trolleyed/2/10/index.htm Elgar Society] Several recordings available

Performances on Video

A selection
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=b5rehLpWZmA&NR=1 Alvaro Siviero] Piano solo.
* [http://violpaul.blogspot.com/2008/01/elgar-salut-damour-sarah-chang.html Sarah Chang (violin)] [When violinist Yehudi Menuhin first heard Sarah Chang perform he called her "the most wonderful, perfect, ideal violinist I've ever heard." She started studying violin when she was four, and by the age of six, was the youngest-ever student at Juilliard.] Violin and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dFMiZDHhVDA&feature=related Joanna Westers (violin)] Violin and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tMewjAJHPTg&feature=related Helen Cho (violin), Harold Wu (piano)] Violin and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ycnYHhaU13I&NR=1 Young-nim Ma (violin), Miyang Kim (piano)] Violin and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xCEohPR1v-s&feature=related Valerie (9) (violin), Dominique(11) (piano)] Violin and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=N32FUoQQtcw&feature=related Ferenc "Pepe" Mocsár (cello) and cimbalom] Violin and cimbalom.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nFpvmpm2ZGQ&feature=related A. Usami (flute)] Flute and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aadykaHZ4dI Karen Constant (violin), Yleesh Constant (cello), Elena Semenets (piano)] Violin, cello and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y3_9mPu5J4&feature=related Danny Takagi (violin), Yumiko Moro-oka (cello), Mariya Ando (piano)] Violin, cello and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lm6YxUk25QI Attila Lakatos (violin), Kriszti Magyar (flute), Ond Székely (cello), Kulcsár Janka (piano)] Violin, flute, cello and piano.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gErbvvLoN4M&feature=related Li Chuanyun (violin), Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra] Violin and orchestra.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=o9GZQZpX4ow Daiske Nagamine (conductor), TSU Philharmony Orchestrea] Orchestra.
* [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWzWB2mat8 Harmonie Köln] Mandoline orchestra.

References

*Kennedy, Michael, "Portrait of Elgar" (Oxford University Press, 1968) ISBN 0193154145
*Moore, Jerrold N. "Edward Elgar: a creative life" (Oxford University Press, 1984) ISBN 0193154471

Notes