Edward Gardner conducts Elgar 2 - Academy Symphony Orchestra

Alumnus Edward Gardner returned to the Academy of conduct Elgar’s celebrated Symphony No 2, a work he recorded with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2018. This recording is of the Larghetto movement.

Gardner is Sir Charles Mackerras Chair of Conducting at the Academy, a position he holds alongside his role as Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. In demand as a guest conductor all over the world, he will take up the position as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from September 2021.

Elgar’s Symphony No 2 was his last finished symphony; he died before he could complete his third. The piece explores personal emotions, as well as places he visited prior to its completion in 1911. The words ‘Venice and Tintagel’ are inscribed at the bottom of the score.