Sketches from Elgar's Third Symphony

Edward Elgar’s Third Symphony was left unfinished. But why?

It had been quite some time since Elgar composed a major work. He lost motivation after the death of his wife in 1920 and it wasn’t until 1930 that inspiration struck and he produced several works including the Severn Suite, the fifth Pomp and Circumstance march, and the Nursery Suite. After being prompted by critic George Bernard Shaw to write a Third Symphony, Elgar received a commission from the BBC and began sketches for his final symphony—one that would remain unfinished.

The composition process for the Symphony No. 3 moved rather slowly. Elgar worked on The Spanish Lady opera at the same time and also began to suffer from health issues that delayed his progress.

In 1933, Edward Elgar was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He would never complete his final symphony, but left behind plenty of sketches.

The story of Elgar’s Third Symphony does not end there. Join me next time to hear what became of the sketches that the composer left behind. 

An Unfinished Puccini Opera

This month we are looking at famous music throughout history that was left unfinished by its composer. This week, we are specifically looking at the story behind Puccini’s Turandot, which was left unfinished at the time of Puccini’s death in 1924. Last time we learned that Puccini orchestrated Acts I and II before his death, however hadn’t quite achieved what he dreamed for the finale duet scene of Act III.

Following Puccini’s death as a result of a heart attack and throat cancer, Franco Alfano stepped up to complete the final scene of Turandot, doing his best to stay true to Puccini’s intentions for the opera. The project was overseen by Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the world premiere of the opera. During the first performance of Turandot, Toscanini left out Alfano’s finale and ended the opera where Puccini had left things at his death.  

What do you think? Would you prefer Turandot to suddenly end unfinished where the composer left off at his point of death? Or would you prefer the story to wrap up using Alfano’s ending? You can listen here. 

Unfinished Music: The Mystery Remains

This month on Clef Notes, our topic is Unfinished Music: The Mystery Remains. We’ve discussed this topic once before, but we only touched the surface of music that falls into this category. Let’s continue to explore the topic over the next few weeks.

Throughout history, there are many examples of compositions by well-known composers that, for various reasons, were left unfinished. For obvious reasons, this idea of unfinished music by some of the “greats” in music history is intriguing which is why scholars seek to find answers for their abandonment. While historians have been able to find adequate answers for many incomplete works, others still leave us with a sense of speculation.

The unfinished work I’d like to look at this week has a very obvious reason why it was abandoned—the composer’s death. Giacomo Puccini's (1858–1924) final opera, Turandot, used Carlo Gozzi’s play Turandotte as its source. The story is set in China and based on folk stories of a princess who uses riddles to test her suitors and to deem whether or not they are worthy to have her hand in marriage. For those who answer any of the riddles incorrectly, she has them killed. The opera is one of Puccini’s greatest, containing some of the most beloved opera arias of all time including “Nessun dorma!”

Puccini worked alongside two librettists for his Turandot: Renato Simoni and Giuseppe Adami. After completing the orchestration for the first two acts by 1924, including a large orchestra with organ and exotic Chinese themes, Puccini decided he was unhappy with the text for the final love duet in Act III. He envisioned the finale to his opera to be grand, with a big, memorable duet scene. The text the librettists provided just wasn’t what he had in mind for the powerful ending he hoped to achieve.

Unfortunately, Puccini died before he ever had the opportunity to work with his librettists to complete the ending to Turandot. After undergoing surgery to help fight throat cancer in 1924, Puccini suffered a heart attack and died. But what would happen to his masterpiece that he left unfinished? Join me next time for the rest of the story.