by GRAHAM GODFREY
Relayed from Carr's Lane Church, Birmingham
JOAN WHITEHOUSE (Contralto)
ELGAR'S Imperial March is one of several works in which he has given expression to his patriotic feelings, the occasion which inspired it having been the celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It is a fine example of its class, broad, dignified, and impressive ; gratefully free from the commonplace which is only .too often to . be found in compositions of this kind, and at the same time straightforward and effective.
Its opening theme is properly pompous and emphatic, and not less so is the second, marked
'strepitoso,' and ending in an energetic upward run; but contrast is provided by the third, of a more flowing and melodious type and of a typical Elgarian cast. With what skill and resourcefulness, and what wealth of instrumental colour, all three are subsequently developed and worked out, listeners will have no difficulty in perceiving for themselves.