Description
Elgar’s choral and orchestral setting of The Holly and the Ivy was written in late 1898 (whilst he was working on his Enigma Variations) and performed for the first time, with Elgar conducting, on 7th January 1899 by the Worcestershire Philharmonic. Elgar’s publishers showing no interest in publishing it and his manuscript for the piece was lost for over 70 years before it was rediscovered in 1970, still in its Victorian wrappers. It was revived in 2005 by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as part of the Worcester Three Choirs Festival.
Elgar chose to base his The Holly and the Ivy on an old French carol rather than the mid-19th century version we are more familiar with today. It has an appealing, lilting compound time melody in a minor key and Elgar deftly deals with the numerous verses with inventive variations in the underlying accompaniment.
