It
is not uncommon for music to be left unfinished, whether a composer abandons a
work, or whether death prevents completion. After receiving a commission from
the BBC to write his Symphony No. 3, Elgar began sketching out his ideas. It
wasn’t long after this, however, that he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and
died, leaving his final symphony unfinished. But what ever happened to the
sketches the composer left behind?
During
the 1970s, composer Anthony Payne came across the sketches that Elgar left
behind. He spent years studying the sketches and compiling what he thought may
be the symphony Elgar sought to write. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the BBC
commissioned Payne to complete a symphony based on these sketches. The work was
premiered in 1998.
What
is your opinion of the symphony? Do you think it was wrong of Payne to
take the liberty of writing Elgar’s work based on these sketches? Or do you
think by completing the deceased composer’s work, he helped to carry on Elgar’s
legacy and give voice to something Elgar was never able to finish?
