Elgar, Lytton, and the 'Piano Quintet op84'

Edward Elgar's Piano Quintet, Op. 84 has been viewed by several critics as problematic, both in relation to the nature of its musical material and the particular succession of musical events. After discussing the critical reception of the Quintet, I explore the suggestion by its dedicatee, Ernest Newman, that there was an unstated quasi-programme behind the work. In the search for a possible source that might account for the Quintet's problematic features, Alice Elgar's diary reference to Edward Bulwer Lytton's occult novel at A Strange Story proved potentially significant. Not only does the arrival of Lytton's novels at Brinkwells represent a significant event in the Quintet's gestation, but there are a number of striking parallels between the atmosphere and narrative detail of Lytton's A Strange Story and Elgar's approach to musical style and structure. Given that the issue of abstract versus programme music was a prominent feature of the ElgarNewman relationship, the adoption of such a quasi-programme would have represented a fitting tribute to the Quintet's dedicatee.