Music with Ease > Classical Music > Concert Guide: Turn of the 20th Century > Concert Overture, "Cockaigne (In London Town)". Op. 40. - Elgar

The concert overture, "Cockaigne," presents a panorama of London street scenes. According to the composer's program he intends to describe "the sights a pair of lovers encounter during an afternoon's stroll in that city." The overture opens with a picture of the life and animation of the streets. Then follows a section devoted to the ardor of the lovers themselves as they turn aside into one of the parks and enjoy themselves in a sequestered spot. Their loving conversation is interrupted by gamins who discover them. They seek the streets again and watch the approach of a military band whose music is heard in the distance, grows louder, and gradually dies away. Then they enter a church where the organ is being played, but as the noise from with out penetrates the church the rest of the overture is of a mixed secular and religious character. Passing once more into the street, our lovers find all their former experiences repeated and intensified.