The Saddest Concerto of All Time

Concertos aren't particularly well known for being sad, so in this video I talk about a piece I think is probably the Saddest Concerto ever written. I explain how it flips the norms of the concerto genre.

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VIDEOS
Jacqueline du Pre & Daniel Barenboim - Elgar Cello Concerto

Elgar - Cello Concerto - Sheku Kanneh-Mason [BBC Proms 2019]

Yo Yo Ma Plays Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

Arabella Steinbacher : Beethoven Violin Concerto

Vivaldi | 'Storm' | Cole Rolland, Angel Vivaldi, Kristina Schiano

Vivaldi Four Seasons: Winter (L'Inverno), original version. Freivogel & Voices of Music RV 297

Elgar - Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 (Land of Hope and Glory) (Last Night of the Proms 2012)
#elgar #cello #concerto

[jean]

*_This is the first time in my life that I heard someone describing music with such clarity and free of jargon. I am not knowledgeable about classical music theory and I never learned how to play an instrument. Nevertheless, I learned what a concerto is and something of the nature of a cello being a shy personal instrument unlike a piano or violin. This man is a good teacher. I am a retired man of 75 with a belief that it is never to late to learn. I am grateful for this lesson by David Bruce. I am an invalid, virtually bedridden, unable to attend a concert so YouTube is my window on the world. This video is a stupendous example of what good can be done by the internet._*

[warddrennan]

Jacqueline's Elgar performance was brilliant indeed. An amazing talent who left us way too soon.

[js.villagran]

I saw Jacqueline du pré, read the title and knew it was Elgar's cello concerto! My favourite cello concerto!
You can feel all the feeling he got through the time of the first world war. He even though the World would never be as great as it was before that war.

Thanks to Jacqueline for making it popular!

[metabeard]

When I was a kid, about a year after I started playing cello, I got to participate in a Q&A with Yo-Yo Ma. I was struggling with the cello at the time and debating whether to stick with it or switch to another instrument. I asked him why when he started, he chose the cello of all instruments. His answer: "To me, the cello sounds the most like the Earth." which I found pretty inspiring and continued with it for another 7 years.

[coenvo]

Im a young cellist myself. Started when I was 11 but I never really practiced in between lessons and stuff. It was just something I did besides school. Then I found this piece, and it just absolutely changed my entire world. Classical music has been the most important thing to me ever since and I have been practising my passion intensely. When I was little this piece was the most intimidating thing for me to try and play, now I am proud to say that I will be auditioning for an orchestra with this piece :) what a long and emotional journey it has been, and to finally be able to pour myself out into playing this piece has been the most cathartic and transformative experience ever.

[verdiguy]

I've always seen the cello concerto as a requiem for the generation of young men who failed to return from the trenches. Thank you for a lovely assessment of this moving work.

[dionbaillargeon]

As a cellist I find myself disagreeing for the first time with David Bruce regarding the Dvorak cello concerto. I don't think there's really any tension between the instrument and the idea being conveyed. The passage at 5:16 is meant to be bold and noble, which perfectly fits the character of the instrument, and not just "happy". And besides, you just have to listen to Bach's 6th suite gavotte or Haydn's C major concerto third movement to realize the cello is perfectly suited to convey pure, unabated, joy as well. As for the saddest cello concerto: Elgar is fine, but I'd rather go with Shostakovich's second cello concerto. While Elgar was simply talking about death, Shostakovich is expressing what was actually killing him. I recommend you check Sol Gambetta's rendition with the Frankfurt Symphony orchestra and Pablo Heras Casado here on Youtube. She quite literally dies while playing at the end. While it's true that a good Elgar's performance may leave me in a melancholic and pensive state, a good Shostakovich makes me feel just devastated. There's a huge difference between the two.

[jonathanbeeson]

Thanks! Loved this video about one of my favorite pieces of music. The concerto inspired me to visit Elgar's home in the Malvern Hills when I was a young man !

[Kate-zlzl]

Thank you. One of the most interesting, enlightening and beautiful YouTube videos I’ve ever seen.

[tullochgorum]

Insightful! I was lucky enough to hear du Pré perform the Elgar with Barenboim shortly after their marriage. I've seen many of the greats, but never have I seen anyone throw themselves into a performance like du Pré. An unforgettable experience.

Strangely just yesterday I was talking with an old friend who had studied with her at the Guildhall. She said that everyone was in love with her, but not a little jealous of her verve and talent. My friend was recalling how she was devastated by du Pré's early illness and death, feeling that the world was robbed of an all-time great, and also one of the loveliest souls she had ever known ...

[shipsahoy]

Excellent Presentation Dave !! Great work !!
RIP Jacqueline du Pre.. !!
We ❤️ You !!

[annegoodreau]

Jacqueline du Pre! Yes, yes, yes! I absolutely love her playing, but I don't listen often any more because it makes me cry. There is no one like her. During the Covid period I looked at some great musicians from before my time to see who they really were, what made them great. I just fell in love with her playing and was so grieved about her story. It seems like we had her for one brief, spectacular moment. Thank you so much for remembering her.

[telemachus]

I agree 100%. I always fill with tears watching JDP playing with such emotion and sensibility, with her husband conducting. Little did either of them know what was to be.

[christopherfinezeo]

Very interesting! Love this! However, Jacqueline du Pre is much much more than just a sad story. As a musical genius and one of the greatest cellists of all time it’s a bit unfair to characterize her based on the illness which (albeit sad) caused her untimely death. She put the Elgar Concerto on the map, made the benchmark recording of the piece and performed it with all the finest orchestras around the world. While her career was brief, she won the hearts of millions around the world and paved the way for the younger generation of players. She was the pioneer. Her passionate style of playing and body movements were highly criticized at the time, but are emulated even today, I’d have loved to have seen more of her performance in this. Just sayin’ 🙂

[perastro]

Magnificent, eloquent speech and storytelling, thank you David.

[wnhlz]

I just saw the Elgar Concerto a few days ago. It absolutely ripped me apart! I wasnt prepared for that first movement at all. Brilliant, brilliant and emotional piece. The Essener Philharmoniker with Johannes Debus and Camille Thomas did a great job!

[MI-wcnk]

while not a cello, i always found sibelius violin concerto as a very sadness/anger/melancholy provoking piece.
thank you for these great vids.

[ginger-a]

My first concerto with Jacqueline DuPre was her playing Elgar… I love her declared passion to this piece and I melt each time I hear her play it …years after her departure. God bless recordings and film footage that was archived.

[ZQBeChill]

David I love it when you tell story around a piece.

[JohnTobin-lp]

I first heard this concerto in 1992 on a tape I was listening to while I was driving the car. It was a recording of Jaqueline du Pre. On hearing it I started to cry. This has never happened to me before because I just don’t cry. It was one of the four times in my long life I think I cried since early childhood. What an amazing piece of music.