This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of English composer Edward Elgar. Anyone who has participated in an American or British high school or university graduation would recognize his processional Pomp and Circumstance with the famous trio section known as "Land of Hope and Glory". He was largely self-taught as he grew up with and experimented on the various musical instruments in his father's music shop in Worcester. This practical musical environment along with the culture and landscape of his own country inspired him to create a significant amount of symphonic literature.
At the age of 16, he officially became a freelance musician. His activities included organist of St. George's Roman Catholic Church, violinist with the Worcester Amateur Instrumental Society and the Worcester Philharmonic (1879), conductor of the Glee Club, bassoonist in a wind quintet, violin teacher, and coach and conductor of the staff at the County Lunatic Asylum at Powick. He played violin in the Three Choirs Festival which involved the townspeople as well as the Anglican cathedral choirs of Worcester. He still devoted an inordinate amount of time to composition.
Although he struggled for many years to gain recognition and respect for his work, fame eventually came with the masterful Variations on an Original Theme (‘Enigma’) in 1899. One of his greatest religious pieces was The Dream of Gerontius, based on John Henry Newman's English Catholic poem. His Symphony #1 of 1908 gave him the praise that he so desperately needed. His productivity continued with the 1910 Violin Concerto in B minor performed by the virtuoso Fritz Kreisler. His Symphony No. 2 of 1911, which was dedicated to the memory of King Edward VII, did not garner the same acclaim and accolades as its predecessor.
After World War I, he createe the Violin Sonata in E minor, the String Quartet in E minor, the Piano Quintet in A minor, and the glorious Cello Concerto in E minor. In 1932, he recorded his Violin Concerto with the 16-year-old wunderkind Yehudi Menuhin. Two years later he died of a malignant tumor.
For further information, the Library recommends Robert Anderson's Elgar.