The slow third movement, in its distant key of B flat major, remains apart, like a brief dream that reaches no conclusion. But Elgar does not leave it at that: towards the end of the finale the ...

Reed, later to become Leader of the London Symphony Orchestra ... typical of Elgar in its sweeping energy, and soon afterwards a delicate third theme for the soloist with lightly scored accompaniment.

After his wife’s death in 1920, Elgar lost the urge to create (he tried hard, though unsuccessfully, to complete a Third Symphony). He was made Master of the King’s Music in 1924 and given a baronetcy ...