Edward Elgar - Sea Pictures/Music Makers (Naxos Audio CD)

Conductor: Simon Wright

Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Choir: Bournemouth Symphony Chorus

Written for the striking contralto Clara Butt, who gave the work’s première in a dress said to resemble a mermaid, Sea Pictures is Elgar’s only song cycle with orchestra. These exquisite miniatures depict the sea in all its guises, peaceful and storm-tossed by turns.

The heartfelt Where Corals Lie is perhaps the most remarkable three minutes in all of Elgar. Inspired by the notion that artists are the real creators and the true makers of history and society (‘We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams’), The Music Makers is a largely intimate and nostalgic work, which quotes several times from Elgar’s other compositions.

The Music Makers, Op. 69

Connolly, Sarah, mezzo-soprano
Beardsell, Greg, choirmaster
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Wright, Simon, Conductor


I. Introduction: Moderato
II. We are the music makers
III. With wonderful deathless ditties
IV. We, in the ages lying
V. A breath of our inspiration
VI. They had no vision amazing
VII. And therefore today is thrilling
VIII. But we, with our dreaming and singing
IX. For we are afar with the dawning
X. Great hail! We cry to the corners

Sea Pictures, Op. 37

Connolly, Sarah, mezzo-soprano
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Wright, Simon, Conductor


I. Sea Slumber - Song
II. In Haven (Capri)
III. Sabbath Morning at Sea
IV. Where Corals Lie
V. The Swimmer

"A powerful Elgar pairing with Sarah Connolly in shining form throughout . . . Sea Pictures demands to be heard." --Gramophone, December 2006

"It's easy to understand why Naxos wanted a chance to record the velvet-voiced Sarah Connolly in Sea Pictures. For while she's best known in Baroque and classical repertoire (especially Handel), this rising star turns out to be a persuasive Elgarian too, shaping the phrases with a supple rythmic ebb and flow, with finely shaded dynamics, and with a seductive range of color" --Fanfare, May/June 2007