The idea of chivalry, constructed in a Wagnerian mold as self-denying idealism through which society can be regenerated, is central to Edward Elgar’s conception of English music. In his Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 55, and symphonic study Falstaff, Elgar engages with Wagnerian chivalry and reaffirms its idealism. The opening theme of Elgar’s First Symphony (marked nobilmente in the score) recalls the Prelude to Parsifal as well as the opening of Elgar’s oratorio The Apostles, which draws heavily on Parsifal. The third movement of Elgar’s symphony also strongly resembles Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, which in turn resembles the Good Friday music of Parsifal in melodic contour. The allusions to Parsifal in Elgar’s symphony represent an application of Parsifal’s transcendent idea. While English critics early on did not note the connection to Parsifal, they did understand Elgar’s symphony to be an optimistic and idealist work of English imperial nationalism, casting Elgar as a redeemer of English music. Elgar further reaffirms the ideals of chivalry in Falstaff, especially when compared to Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote. Strauss effectively undermines the chivalric ideal in Don Quixote and presents the idea of Wagnerian nobility to be anachronistic in modern Germany. Despite this shift in the German reception of Wagner’s ideas, Elgar still modeled his chivalrous works on Wagner and championed a noble English music ideal.

Works: Edward Elgar: Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 55 (261-67), The Apostles (261-62), The Dream of Gerontius (261-62)

Sources: Wagner: Parsifal (261-67); Edward Elgar: The Apostles (261-62), The Dream of Gerontius (261-62)

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Matthew Van Vleet