It is curious to reflect that for decades, Elgar's name was known on the continent solely on account of this little piece, due to the fact that it was turned down by Novello (“this class of music is practically unsaleable”, they replied with singular absence of foresight) but accepted by Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig who also had an office in central London. It was evidently a success, for Breitkopf went on to publish further smaller works by Elgar such as Sospiri.

sources

(A  Autograph full score, lost, perhaps discarded by Breitkopf after printing)

E,P  First edition of score and parts, published by Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig in 1893; the numerous reprints remain textually identical, except for one staccato in P Vl 2 which vanished when the parts were reprinted in Wiesbaden

Ub  Urtext edition, edited by Christopher Hogwood and published by Bärenreiter in 2010. Hogwood used an earlier version of the present report, and all the errata in section 1 below are corrected