The Black Knight (Elgar)

The Black Knight, Op. 25 is a cantata for symphony orchestra and chorus written by Edward Elgar in 1889-1893. The librettist borrows from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s translation of the ballad ‘‘Der Schwarze Ritter’’ by Ludwig Uhland.

Purpose

Basil Maine, a leading Elgar biographer, believes the purpose of the work is to create a close mix of vocal and instrumental tones . Elgar’s need to organize the loose format of the cantata by shaping it to a more rigid form is also apparent. For example, Elgar divides the text into four contrasting scenes similar to the movements of a typical symphony. [Maine, 10.]

ynopsis

Elgar’s "The Black Knight" tells story of a medieval jousting competition held in honor of Pentecost. In the jousting competition, the stalwart’s son beats everyone in the lists until a mysterious knight arrives. The strange knight beats all his opponents and wins undefeated. Later that night the king holds a feast and during the feast, the black knight arrives and begins to dance with the king’s daughter. As they dance, the flowers in her hair mysteriously die. Later, noticing the paleness of the heirs, the black knight offers a toast to the king’s children. They collapse and die soon after drinking the knight’s wine. The old king begs the knight to kill him as he has nothing left to live for. The black knight, however, refuses.

Musical Analysis

In the first scene, “The Tournament”, Edward Elgar uses a buoyant, “open-air” [Maine, 11.] theme to depict the happy crowd at the tourney. Here the composer uses a triplet figure that falls on the third beat. The second scene begins with the orchestra playing at a piano dynamic. Then the orchestra begins to play the knights theme louder as he appears. Throughout the scene, the composer uses many diminished sevenths which represent the knight and foreshadowing disastrous events. The chorus, representing the crowd, demands to know the knight’s name. There is utter silence before the knight answers. In the “Dance,” themes are light and graceful. Initially, the chorus enters to describe the king’s feast, but the music changes as the black knight’s theme replays as he enters the hall. During the knight’s dance with the king’s daughter, his theme becomes chaotic. For example, the orchestra replays the original diminished seventh again as the flower in her hair died. [McVeagh, 109.] “The Banquet” begins frantically as the knight proposes a toast. Then, as the children die the orchestra calms and plays softly. Abruptly the chorus and the king erupt with a dramatic cry as the children die. The knight’s refusal to kill the king is portrayed with unaccompanied voices. Elgar’s piece dramatically ends with the return of variations on the knight’s themes at forte. At the last seven measures, only two instrument play and then let the sound die away. [McVeagh, 108.]

Composition

Many believe the composer considers the chorus less important the orchestra. For example, the chorus borrows the orchestra’s tunes or will often double the orchestra. The words are often weakly placed and do not seem as important as the underlying music. “Words serve a mechanical purpose ... [there is] no good reason why they should not be removed.” [Ibid.] The orchestral writing, however, is competent and characteristic. For example, fear at the Black Knight is expressed by harmonic sequences and appoggiaturas which resolve downward. The composer also uses Neapolitan sixth chords to express the wickedness of the knight. Due to this unexpected compositional technique, "The Black Knight" is still performed all over the world.

References

#Maine, Basil. "Elgar: His Life and Works". Wiltshire, England: Cedric Chivers LDT, 1933.
#McVeagh, Diana. "Edward Elgar: His Life and Music". Westport, CT: Hyperion Press Inc., 1955.

Notes