Performed by Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, Higgins

This is the first professional recording of Elgar’s The Fringes of the Fleet since 1917.

It is a patriotic song-cycle with words by Rudyard Kipling – intended as a morale-raising headline act in variety theatres up and down the country, as World War I reached its climax in 1917. Premiered on 11 June that year at the London Coliseum, and conducted throughout its run by Elgar himself, the work was performed by four baritones appearing in fishermen’s costumes outside a pub. The four initial songs – ‘The Lowestoft Boat’, ‘Fate’s Discourtesy’, ‘Submarines’ and ‘The Sweepers’ – proved so popular that two weeks after the premiere, Elgar added a fifth, unaccompanied song, ‘Inside the Bar’, to words by Sir Gilbert Parker.

Tom Higgins said: ‘Among the considerable amount of music Elgar specifically wrote for the “war effort”, The Fringes of the Fleet is generally considered to be his best work. The revival of interest in the music sheds light on a period in Elgar’s creative life which generally suffers from neglect, but also on a genre seldom employed by the composer: secular songs with orchestra. This music has been overlooked for too long.’

This CD also includes recordings of other rarely heard repertoire, including John Ansell’s overtures Plymouth Hoe and Windjammer, and the fiftieth anniversary recordings of Haydn Wood’s Manx Overture and Elizabeth of England as well as new arrangements and orchestrations of songs by Elgar, John Ireland and Edward German. A feast for all lovers of British music!