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The idea for the Introduction and Allegro was
first put to Elgar by August Jaeger - Nimrod of the
Enigma Variations -
who suggested that he write a piece for the recently
founded London Symphony Orchestra. Jaeger's proposal was for "a
brilliant, quick scherzo", an apt description for this
exhilarating work.
Elgar's normal method of composition included the use of themes which he had
jotted down in his sketchbooks as they occurred to him, often years earlier, waiting for the right
work in which to use them. The Introduction and Allegro contains one such theme in particular,
what Elgar himself referred to as the 'Welsh tune'. It had come to him in August 1901 when the
Elgars had been on holiday in Cardiganshire, West Wales, supposedly inspired by the distant
singing of Welsh folk tunes. Elgar believed it to capture a Welsh musical idiom and had planned
to use it in a projected Welsh Overture. That work never materialised, however, so
Elgar used the theme in this work instead.
Despite a number of early champions, the work took many years to gain the popularity and
esteem it has today. After an initial handful of performances which were generally coolly
received, the work remained largely ignored for the next thirty years or so. Perhaps the
complexity of the work deterred performers, for it was only with the general improvement in the
standard of orchestral string sections since the Second World War that the work gained a foothold
in the concert repertoire. Today, its position is secure.
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