''From the Bavarian Highlands'', Op 27 is a work for choir and orchestra by

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

. It is a set of six choral songs Elgar wrote under the collective title ''Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands'', as a remembrance of a holiday the Elgars had enjoyed in

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...

, mostly at

Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the O ...

, in the autumn of 1894. The song lyrics were adapted to Elgar's music by the composer’s wife

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

with words "adapted from the ''

Volkslied Volkslied (literally: folk song) is a genre of popular songs in German which are traditionally sung. While many of them were first passed orally, several collections were published from the late 18th century. Later, some popular songs were also ...

er'' and ''Schnadahüpfler''" imitating the spirit of the dances. Alice gave the songs sub-titles in recollection of favourite places visited during the holiday. It was originally arranged with piano (1895) then later arranged with orchestral accompaniment (1896). It was dedicated to Mr and Mrs Slingsby Bethell, the proprietors of the Garmisch

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

where the Elgars had stayed. The songs were published by Joseph Williams & Co. in December 1895, after first having been rejected by Novello's. The songs were first performed on 21 April 1896, by the

Worcester Festival Choral Society Worcester Festival Choral Society (WFCS) is an independent, SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) choir of around 150 amateur singers that presents classical choral concerts at Worcester Cathedral, Worcester. The conductor is Samuel Hudson (Worcester ...

conducted by the composer image:Garmisch 5.JPG, Mountains viewed from

The six songs are: *1. The Dance (Sonnenbichl) - ''Allegretto giocoso'' *2. False Love (Wamberg) - ''Allegretto ma moderato'' *3. Lullaby (In Hammersbach (Grainau), Hammersbach) - ''Moderato'' *4. Aspiration (Bei Sankt Anton) - ''Adagio'' *5. On the AlmComposer's note: 'A high mountain-pasture.' (True Love, Hoch Alp) - ''Allegro piacevole'' *6. The Marksmen (Bei Murnau) - ''Allegro vivace'' Numbers 1, 3 and 6 were later published as a suite for orchestra with the title

Three Bavarian Dances Three Bavarian Dances, Op. 27, is an orchestral work by Edward Elgar. It is an arrangement for orchestra of three of the set of six songs titled '' From the Bavarian Highlands''. The original song lyrics were written by the composer’s wife A ...

. There have been performances and recordings of both the original version with piano and the revised version with orchestra.

References

Sources

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External links

* * {{Authority control Compositions by Edward Elgar 1896 compositions Choral compositions