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Salut d'Amour, Op. 12

Edward Elgar (1857–1934) · sheet music

  • Key E major
  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 10
  • Passages 1

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Edward Elgar, English romantic (1857–1934). The reading release has 1 passage from this piece at level 10; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 93–96 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 93–96 at level 10.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Salut d'Amour, Op. 12.

  1. Hands together · bars 93–96 level 10

How to play Salut d'Amour, Op. 12

  1. Tempo:Aim for a gentle, flowing speed, not a slow crawl. The melody should sound like a violin line that never loses its forward motion.
  2. Right hand:Treat the right hand as a singer would. Shape each phrase with a slight swell toward its highest note, then let it fall away.
  3. Left hand:Keep the left-hand accompaniment quiet and even. It supports the tune and should never compete with it.
  4. Hands together:Practice the melody and bass alone first, then together at a slow pace. Listen for where the harmony changes under a held melody note.
  5. Pedal:Use the pedal in small changes with each harmony and release it at phrase ends. This keeps the singing tone without blurring the accompaniment.
  6. Dynamics:Elgar's marks are a guide for a soft, intimate piece. Build slowly toward the middle and keep the final phrase quieter than the first.
  7. Reading:The key signature has four sharps. When the middle section turns to G major, many of those sharps are canceled by naturals, so read each accidental rather than relying on the signature.
  8. Practice:Sing the tune aloud while playing it. If you find yourself running out of breath, your phrasing is probably too choppy.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the accompaniment grow as loud as the melody. Fix: Practice the left hand at a whisper and bring the right hand clearly above it.
  • Slowing so much at each bar that the tune stops moving. Fix: Play with a steady underlying pulse and give only small, shared pauses at phrase ends.
  • Carrying the four sharps into the G major middle section where naturals cancel them. Fix: Before playing, circle every natural in the middle section and play its G major scale once.
  • Overpedaling so chord changes smear. Fix: Change the pedal each time the harmony changes.

Structure: ternary (A-B-A) with coda

A short song without words: a conversational melody in four-bar phrases over a light, flowing accompaniment, a middle section that moves from E major to G major, then the opening tune again and a brief coda. The page presents this shape as a piano arrangement.

A · Opening melody (E major)
A broad, lyrical tune over a gently moving accompaniment. The reading task is to hear one long line while the left hand keeps the harmony turning underneath.
B · Middle section (G major)
The music shifts to G major, so expect naturals against the four-sharp signature and a slightly higher, more urgent line.
A' · Return (E major)
The opening tune comes back in the home key, and the melody you already know makes this the easiest stretch to read.
Coda · Closing bars
A short tail that lets the tune settle and fade.

About Salut d'Amour, Op. 12

Edward Elgar finished Salut d'Amour in July 1888 and gave it to Caroline Alice Roberts, his former piano pupil and now fiancée, as an engagement present that September. He called it Liebesgruss, or Love's Greeting, and the dedication reads à Carice, a blend of her two names that was later given to their daughter.

Elgar wrote it for violin and piano. The German publisher Schott brought it out in 1889 in several versions, including piano solo, cello and piano, and small orchestra. Sales were slow until Schott retitled the piece Salut d'Amour, with Liebesgruss as a subtitle and the composer credited as Ed. Elgar. Elgar reportedly saw that a French title would help it sell across Europe.

An orchestral version was played at the Crystal Palace in London on 11 November 1889 under August Manns. The tune has since been arranged for cello, voice, and many other instruments, and it is one of Elgar's most widely played short pieces.

  • The dedication "a Carice" combined Caroline Alice's names into one word, years before their daughter Carice was born.
  • Sales picked up only after the publisher swapped the German title for a French one, and Elgar reportedly understood why that would help.
  • A cello and piano transcription was recorded by Auguste van Biene in 1907.
  • The piece turns up in the film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, where it plays from a gramophone.

Why the first passage is level 10

That passage is level 10 rather than 9 because a hand plays several notes at once.

This is a piano arrangement of a violin song. The tune sits in the upper part of the keyboard and the accompaniment is spread across the left hand, so read the melody first.

Questions about Salut d'Amour, Op. 12

How hard is Salut d'Amour, Op. 12 to play?
Its passages grade from level 10 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 93–96 at level 10.
Is there an easy part of Salut d'Amour, Op. 12 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 10, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 93–96 for both hands together, the level-10 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 10 because a hand plays several notes at once.
What key and time signature is Salut d'Amour, Op. 12 in?
Salut d'Amour, Op. 12 is in E major, 4 sharps. The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Salut d'Amour, Op. 12?
Edward Elgar, English romantic (1857–1934). Edward Elgar finished Salut d'Amour in July 1888 and gave it to Caroline Alice Roberts, his former piano pupil and now fiancée, as an engagement present that September.
Can I practice Salut d'Amour, Op. 12 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the one graded passage from Salut d'Amour, Op. 12 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Who was Salut d'Amour written for?
It was an engagement present for Caroline Alice Roberts, given in September 1888; she and Elgar married on May 8, 1889.
What does Liebesgruss mean?
It is German for Love's Greeting, Elgar's original title. Schott's French title, Salut d'Amour, carries the same meaning.
Was Salut d'Amour written for piano?
It was written for violin and piano, but a piano solo version was among the first editions Schott published in 1889.
What level is the Henle piano solo edition?
Henle rates its Urtext edition of the piano version at level 4, in its medium band. That is the publisher's own scale, not an exam board grade.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades one passage of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 10
bars 93–96 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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