"Crown of India"

Radio Record, Volume VI, Issue 17, 4 November 1932, Page 5

"Crown of India"

Colourful Music from 4YA {t must have been wholly for music's good that Elgar was self-taught-he was able to sound that new note in English music by reason of his own genius and his freedom from a rigid academic training. He is now 75 and our "Musical Laureate of Empire." His "Crown of India" Suite, arranged from the Imperial Mosque, written in 1912 to celebrate H.M. the King’s visit to India, is music that cannot fail to appeal by nature of its directness and simplicity. The consummate art of the orchestration makes the composer's genius manifest. The suite, which is to be played from 4YA on Monday, November 7, is as follows: Introduction and dance of Nautch girls, minuet, warriors’ dance, and, lastly, march of. the Mogul Emperors. After the first declamatory bars of the introduction there are some delicious fragments for strings and woodwind that meander along in whimSical fashion, without apparent purpose, beyond providing for that "tranquil solitude" of the mind beloved of Shelley. We are not allowed to muse overmuch, however, for the dance of the Nautch girls cuts in, providing sharp contrast, full of the voluptuous rhythm of the Hast, bringing this side to an exciting close. The melodic line of the minuet is exceedingly graceful, and must be a perpetual delight to the ear. In the warriors’ dance there are some particularly fiery passages for strings that electrify, and the march of the Mogul Bmperors makes a musical peroration of massive proportions that only genius can produce. The London Symphony Orchestra, under’ the composer’s baton, gives a magnificent performance that every admirer of Higar will fully appreciate. Our greatest living British composer has always played a leading part in giying voice to the feelings of the masses of the people on national occasions, A deep strain of patriotism has run unswervingly through his career as a composer. It was this spirit that led him to compose his "Six Military Marches." "If the soldiers march to music," said he, "then let it be a proud kind of music, that draws men to die, moving in victory, with solemn noise, with worship and with conquest,"