Elgar: Give Unto the Lord

Sir Edward Elgar drew inspiration from British culture, particularly matters constitutional and ceremonial, as well as the English landscape. Having no formal training except that which he had gleaned from watching his father play the organ, and from lessons taken locally from a piano teacher, at the age of 15 he took menial work in a solicitor’s office. At 16 he left to become a freelance musician and never held secure employment or a salaried position again. He learnt to play the violin, and played and taught locally, eventually playing in an orchestra in Birmingham, which was to become the newly-formed CBSO. He began composing in the early 1880s and quickly acquired technique and a style based on his own study of the contemporary, forward-looking continental composers such as Wagner and Bruckner. After a period of time in London, during which he married, and failed to gain regular work or recognition, he moved back to Worcestershire, where he resumed work as a local freelancer. In 1890 Novello published his first major work, and the rest, as they say, is history. Composition took over, leading to public recognition, widespread acceptance and a string of prestigious performances; prestigious opportunities and a knighthood followed. In 1899 Gerontius was published and, by 1911, his Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma) was widely regarded as the most distinguished British orchestral work of all time.

Give Unto the Lord was written in the spring of 1914 for the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. The Festival takes place each year and dates back to the very origins of the charity “Sons of the Clergy” in 1655. The first fund-raising event was a service on 8^th November 1655 in the old pre-fire of London St Paul's Cathedral.A collection was taken at the service on behalf of the families of clergy who had remained loyal to the Crown following the execution of Charles I and who had been deprived of their livings by Cromwell, thus being left, in many cases, penniless. The service was followed by a dinner in the Merchant Taylors' Hall at which a further collection was taken. The service and dinner became a regular annual event, which still continues to this day – almost 360 years later. The format of the festival service has changed little over the years, and today it is still notable for a fine sermon from an eminent preacher, wonderful music from the Choir of St Paul’s, and pageantry.The service also symbolises the coming together of church and state, with bishops processing with the aldermen of the City of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury processing in state with the Lord Mayor.

This psalm setting, one of Elgar’s later works since he wrote almost nothing following the death of his beloved wife Alice in 1924, contains all of Elgar’s hallmarks: lengthy and satisfying melodies, extensively detailed requirements for expression, articulation and phrasing, word setting that is both vivid and sensitive, frequent changes to tempo and mood and a rich harmonic language inherited from the late German Romantic language.

Give Unto the Lord (Op 74). Edward Elgar

Give unto the Lord O ye Mighty,
Give unto the Lord Glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thundereth, it is the Lord that ruleth the sea;
The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty;
The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars,
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
Yea, the voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire,
Yea, the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness, and strippeth the forests bare.
In His temple doth every one speak of His glory.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The Lord sitteth above the waterflood; and the Lord remaineth a King for ever;
The Lord shall give strength unto His people; the Lord shall give His people the blessing of peace.

Words from Psalm 29.