''King Olaf'' (full title: ''Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf'') is a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

by British composer

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 ...

scored for soloists, chorus and orchestra. It was commissioned for the North Staffordshire Music Festival of 1896, where it was well received. It went on to be performed by choral societies in other parts of the country. Before the success of the ''

Enigma Variations Edward Elgar composed his ''Variations on an Original Theme'', Op. 36, popularly known as the ''Enigma Variations'', between October 1898 and February 1899. It is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar ...

'' in 1899 consolidated his national reputation, Elgar was chiefly known for choral works such as ''The Black Knight'' and ''King Olaf''. These early choral works have since been largely eclipsed, but ''King Olaf'' has been revived in recent years.

Words

The text is an adaptation of

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

's ''

The Saga of King Olaf "The Saga of King Olaf" is a poetic sequence by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1863 as part of his book ''Tales of a Wayside Inn''. Overview "The Saga of King Olaf" is written in twenty-two parts and follows the adventur ...

'', a poem about the historical figure

Olaf Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken (Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King of N ...

, who brought Christianity to Norway. Longfellow's source had been the medieval ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...

''. Longfellow's text was adapted for Elgar by one of his neighbours, H. A. Acworth. Elgar appears to have found Acworth a satisfactory collaborator, as he went on to provide Elgar with another libretto, ''Caractacus'' (1898).

Music

The cantata has a prologue, nine scenes and an epilogue. Of particular note are the forceful first scene (''The Challenge of Thor'') and the lively fifth (''The Wraith of Odin''). In the seventh scene (''Thyri'') there is duet between Thyri and Olaf, 'The Grey Land Breaks to Lively Green', through which they express their love. The chorus, 'A Little Bird in the Air', has been called highly original, "unlike anything else Elgar composed before or since". In the epilogue, the final unaccompanied chorus ''As Torrents in Summer'' has achieved separate popularity as a partsong. As in the case of some other works by Elgar, reviews have noted the influence on ''King Olaf'' of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's music, for example, in the use of ''Leitmotifs''; the ''Guardian'''s music critic Andrew Clements refers to "echoes of Wagner" in the score.

Performance history

''King Olaf'' was first performed in 1896 at the Victoria Hall in

Hanley, Staffordshire Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke ...

, with the composer conducting. The soloists included

Edward Lloyd Edward Lloyd may refer to: Politicians *Edward Lloyd (MP for Montgomery), Welsh lawyer and politician *Edward Lloyd (16th-century MP) (died 1547) for Buckingham * Edward Lloyd, 1st Baron Mostyn (1768–1854), British politician *Edward Lloyd (Colon ...

, a famous tenor of the time who was chosen to give first performances of lead roles in ''Caractacus'' and ''

The Dream of Gerontius ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment b ...

''. The cantata was revived at the Victoria Hall to mark the centenary of its premiere with Donald Hunt conducting the

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at MediaC ...

, the Ceramic City Choir and the three soloists

Susan Chilcott Susan Chilcott (8 July 1963 – 4 September 2003) was an English soprano, considered one of the best of her generation. She died of breast cancer at the age of 40. She had success in many of the major opera houses around the world and was pa ...

, Arthur Davies and

Alan Opie Alan Opie (born 22 March 1945 in Redruth, Cornwall, England) is an English baritone, primarily known as an opera singer. Education He attended Truro School and went to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University as a choral student in 196 ...

. Another place with connections to the work is

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

in Norway. Longfellow knew the violinist

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

who came from Bergen, and their friendship appears to have been a factor in the poet choosing King Olaf as a subject. The

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is a Norwegian orchestra based in Bergen. Its principal concert venue is the Grieg Hall. History Established in 1765 under the name ''Det Musicalske Selskab'' (The Musical Society), it later changed its name t ...

performed the cantata in 2014, under the baton of Andrew Davis, (subscription required) Davis conducted the work again at the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

: despite there being a tradition of performing Elgar at this festival, this was a premiere.

Publication

The score was published by

Novello & Co Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...

, a firm which had already published ''The Black Knight'' and which became Elgar's regular publishers. However, their edition of 1896 has been described as a "relatively cramped" by the

Elgar Society The Elgar Society was founded in 1951 to promote performance of the music of British composer Edward Elgar, especially the more rarely performed items. Registered as a charity on 22 January 1988, It is particularly concerned with introducing the c ...

which published a full score in 2007.

Recordings

The work was recorded for the first time in the 1980s by

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 ...

with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

conducted by

Vernon Handley Vernon George "Tod" Handley (11 November 1930 – 10 September 2008) was a British conductor, known in particular for his support of British composers. He was born of a Welsh father and an Irish mother into a musical family in Enfield, Middles ...

, a specialist in British music. In 2014 the Bergen Philharmonic and three Norwegian choirs recorded the work at the

Grieg Hall Grieg Hall ( no, Grieghallen) is a 1,500 seat concert hall located on Edvard Griegs' square in Bergen, Norway. Grieghallen was named in honor of Bergen-born composer Edvard Grieg, who served as music director of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra ...

for Chandos (a 2 CD set including a shorter work, ''The Banner of Saint George'') under the baton of Andrew Davis.

References

External links

*{{IMSLP, work=Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, Op.30 (Elgar, Edward), cname=''Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf'' Compositions by Edward Elgar Music based on poems Musical settings of poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Works based on sagas