The Romance, in D minor, Op 62, is a short work for

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

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 exists also in a transcription for

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

and orchestra made by the composer. Both the bassoon and cello versions date from 1909–10. It is also published with the orchestral part reduced to a piano accompaniment. The Romance was composed for the principal bassoonist of the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

, Edwin F James, who gave the first performance in February 1911 at Hereford, with the composer conducting. The cello transcription remained unplayed until 1985. The work was composed between two of Elgar's most large-scale works, the

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

and the Second Symphony, and is a contrastingly short and gentle piece, lasting under eight minutes in performance. The Elgar expert Michael Kennedy remarks of it that it portrays the bassoon as poet and singer rather than comedian.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra consisting of, besides the solo bassoon, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in B♭, 2 bassoons (2nd ad lib) 3 horns in F, 3 trombones ad lib, timpani, and strings.

Recordings

Both versions have been recorded. * Michael Chapman with the

Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. Since 2004, the o ...

conducted by

Sir Neville Marriner Sir Neville Marriner, (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) was an English violinist and "one of the world's greatest conducting, conductors". Gramophone (magazine), Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another com ...

in 1970 (EMI) *Graham Salvage and the Hallé Orchestra conducted by

Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ba ...

, issued in 2004 on the orchestra's own label *The cello alternative was recorded for

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Julian Lloyd Webber Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme. Early years and education Julian ...

and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by

Sir Charles Mackerras file:Sir Charles Mackerras.jpg, Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conducting, conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Leoš Janáček, Janáček and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart, a ...

in 1986

References

Liner notes to EMI recordings mentioned above, by Michael Kennedy and

. {{Authority control

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 ...

Concertos by Edward Elgar Compositions by Edward Elgar 1910 compositions Compositions in D minor Romance (music)