Salut d'Amour (Love's Greeting) Op.12 by Edward Elgar - for Piano Solo (in E)

Salut d'Amour does not sound like a typical work by its composer Edward Elgar, perhaps because he was young and in love at the time. It was written as an affectionate gift to the woman who was to become his wife with the dedication "To Carice", an abbreviation for "Caroline Alice". It was originally given its German name Liebesgruss because she spoke German fluently, but it is now best-known under the French title "Salut d'Amour" though its German and English titles are also sometimes used. It is a song-like sentimental work with a strong melody which flows passionately. Although Elgar's original work was for Violin and Piano in E major, he also created several arrangements of it for different combinations of instruments. All the arrangements have subtle yet interesting differences to make the music more suitable for their respective instruments. On mfiles in addition to the original version and this one for Piano Solo, we also have the version for Cello and Piano (in D) although other arrangements are also commonly heard and recorded.

On the piano version note that the off-beat accompaniment notes are in smaller type, to help the main theme stand out more. This printing technique is similar to that used for the arpeggios in Mendelssohn's Song Without Words called "Spring Song", and a similar lightness of touch is implied for those smaller notes. For this arrangement you can download the sheet music, midi and mp3 files using the links on the left hand menu. Below is a video to illustrate this arrangement. Below that you can play the mp3 file or view the sheet music.