Hearing Andrew Davies' dramatic delivery of Vaughan Williams' 4th symphony in this evening's Prom, I was reminded of a question that had been lurking in the back of my mind for some time: what did Sir Edward Elgar make of the younger composers emerging in his wake? He certainly would not have liked the fourth, which shocked even many VW devotees at the symphony's first performance . Fortunately, Sir Edward had died in the year before . Incidentally, it is good to see it taking its place in the repertoire after so many years of comparative neglect. It is now able to be viewed objectively.
As it happens, the question posed above was answered in a talk in the interval of last Saturday's Prom. The answer was: not much. Indeed, the only new music on disc which the elderly composer rushed out to by was that of Eric Coates. However, he did make an exception in the case of Coleridge Taylor. Perhaps he recognised both men as outsiders, as he had been.
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