| Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 5 movements |
|---|---|
| Composition Year | 1930 |
| Genre Categories | Suites; For brass band; Scores featuring brass band; |
Contents |
|  |
| Work Title | The Severn Suite |
|---|---|
| Alternative. Title | |
| Name Translations | セヴァーン組曲 |
| Name Aliases | セヴァーン川組曲 |
| Authorities | WorldCat; Wikipedia; VIAF: 174457808; BNF: 139118970 |
| Composer | Elgar, Edward |
| Opus/Catalogue NumberOp./Cat. No. | Op.87 |
| Internal Reference NumberInternal Ref. No. | IEE 72 |
| Key | B♭ major (brass band version); C major (orchestral version) |
| Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 5 movements:
*Scenic movement titles only appeared in the wind band arrangement, presumably with Elgar's approval. |
| Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp. | 1930 |
| First Performance. | 1930 September 27 (brass band version) 1932 April 14 (full orchestra version) |
| First Publication. | 1931 in re-arrangement (see below.) 1991 in orchestral version - Ledbury: Acuta Music |
| Dedication | George Bernard Shaw |
| Average DurationAvg. Duration | 16–20 minutes |
| Composer Time PeriodComp. Period | Romantic |
| Piece Style | Early 20th century |
| Instrumentation | brass band, orchestra |
| External Links | Elgar.org Wikipedia article |
The minuet comes from a 1879 work, so one could say 1879–1930.
Also from Elgar.org: "As Elgar had no particular experience of writing for brass bands, the organisers suggested that Elgar produce a short score for Henry Geehl to arrange. The collaboration proved unsatisfactory, Geehl rejecting most of Elgar's ideas for the arrangement in favour of his own. More recently, a fully scored arrangement for brass band, apparently in Elgar's own hand, surfaced at auction in 1995 (when the score failed to reach its reserve price) and again in 1996." - according to this description (written until 1997), the brass band version that was published by R. Smith of London in 1931 was quite probably Geehl's arrangement (or even, re-writing?) of Elgar's short score, not Elgar's work.
Geehl claimed that he had received from Elgar "a very sketchy piano part with figured bass and a kind of skeleton orchestral score, mostly in two or three parts,“ and he was “responsible for the orchestration of The Severn Suite.” However, according to Robert Kay, Geehl’s assertion is not credible, since the score Geehl wrote was identical to Elgar’s manuscript full score, “apart from a few minor alterations in texture.” ("The Severn Suite: Manuscript, Music and Myths.")
Although a brass band edition drawing on Elgar's manuscript full score (edited by Bram Gay. Novello, 1996) is written in C major, Kay and Philip Maund argue that Elgar intended B-flat major for the brass band version. Elgar's original instrumentation is scheduled for publication in the Elgar Complete Edition.
