Edward Elgar
(1857–1934)
Who Was
Edward Elgar?
A Brief Introduction
Edward Elgar was one of the foremost British composers of his time. Equally at home in learned and more popular styles, he became a well-known and respected figure, who could receive an international postcard simply addressed “Edward Elgar, England.” Elgar’s musical style blends Romantic lyricism with structural clarity and rich orchestration. He balanced classical forms with a personal, expressive voice that was elegant, introspective, and emotionally resonant—a voice that bridged the 19th and 20th centuries. Works that have become part of the standard repertory outside the United Kingdom include his Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36 (or “Enigma” Variations), Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D major, Op. 39, Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, as well as his String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83, and Quintet in A minor for Piano and String Quartet, Op. 84.
Early Life: Education and Musical Apprenticeship
Throughout his life, Elgar saw himself as a perpetual outsider. Although he was born into a musical family, his parents were both converts to Catholicism in a country where the Church of England dominated politics, culture, and even access to musical employment. Instead of growing up in cosmopolitan London, with its musical opportunities, Elgar spent his formative years in the area around Worcester: a small, sleepy cathedral town in the West of England. Elgar also came from a tradesman’s family, not a professional- or middle-class one—his father was an itinerant piano tuner who owned a shop. Finally, Elgar was an autodidact, partly because his family did not have the money to procure him training. Elgar felt that all four of these elements were stacked against him, particularly in comparison to the famous musicians of the time, like Arthur Sullivan, who were Protestant, conservatory-trained urbanites from professional families.
Much of Elgar’s early musical training was experiential: he studied scores and music books from his father’s shop, though he did have a few violin lessons with Adolf Pollitzer in London. Elgar steadily built a reputation as a violinist, a Catholic-church organist, and a music teacher. Ever the autodidact, he also learned how to play bassoon and trombone. Until he met poet and novelist Caroline Alice Roberts, Elgar’s career seemed destined for the provinces. Once Alice and Elgar married in 1889 (she converted to Catholicism to do so), he began to compose more frequently and confidently, including his first “hit,” Salut d’amour (1888)—a popular parlor tune originally written for violin and piano, but later arranged for many other instrumental combinations—as well as works in larger forms.
Much of Elgar’s early musical training was experiential: he studied scores and music books from his father’s shop, though he did have a few violin lessons... Elgar steadily built a reputation as a violinist, a Catholic-church organist, and a music teacher. Ever the autodidact, he also learned how to play bassoon and trombone.
Middle Period: National and International Success
Elgar started to become famous in 1899 and was on his way to being a household name in Great Britain. His Op. 36 Enigma Variations (1898–99) was well regarded when first performed and opened the door for repeat performances of other works. From this point until 1914, Elgar received numerous commissions in all the major late-Romantic genres. He composed three Wagnerian-style oratorios—The Dream of Gerontius (1900), The Apostles (1903), and The Kingdom (1906)—the concert overture Cockaigne (In London Town) (1901), two symphonies (1904 and 1911), a violin concerto (1910), and the tone poem Falstaff (1913). Part of his 1902 Coronation Ode (a setting of the trio from his first Pomp and Circumstance March) became an unofficial second national anthem for a time as “Land of Hope and Glory.” During this time, Elgar was also making inroads as a conductor; he was the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1905 and from 1911 to 1912. Elgar was also briefly appointed a Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham, and was given various honorary doctorates (including Cambridge, Durham, Oxford, and Yale universities), knighted in 1904, and given an Order of Merit in 1911. Many of his works were played throughout Europe and North America; an oft-repeated anecdote states that his first symphony was performed 100 times across the globe in the year after its premiere.
Elgar started to become famous in 1899 and was on his way to being a household name in Great Britain... Many of his works were played throughout Europe and North America; an oft-repeated anecdote states that his first symphony was performed 100 times across the globe in the year after its premiere.
Valedictory: Late Style
The Elgars moved to London in 1912, and his new social life there, as well as increased requests for him to conduct his earlier works, considerably slowed his composition. During World War I, he composed several works meant to both celebrate and memorialize those fighting, including The Spirit of England (1914–17) and other works as suitable for the Music Hall as the concert hall, such as The Fringes of the Fleet (1917). Leaving London for summer retreats in the country in 1918 and 1919, Elgar began composing some of his last complete large works: the Violin Sonata in E minor (1918), the Piano Quintet in A minor (1918–19), the String Quartet in E minor (1918), and the Cello Concerto in E minor (1919).
Elgar: Quartet in E minor for Strings, Op. 83
After this post-war rush, composition of Elgar’s newer, larger works slowed, especially following his wife Alice’s death in 1920. Elgar continued to sketch within large genres: an oratorio to complete the trilogy he began with The Apostles and The Kingdom, an opera on a play by Ben Jonson called The Spanish Lady, and a third symphony commissioned, at his friend George Bernard Shaw’s urging, by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Elgar finished none of these works. Instead, much of Elgar’s time was spent conducting and recording his own works throughout the UK. He also received numerous honors in his old age: he was made Master of the King’s Musick in 1924 and was created a baronet in 1931.
Elgar was diagnosed with cancer in late 1933 and died in February, 1934. He is buried in the graveyard of St. Wulstan’s Roman Catholic Church in Little Malvern, about 12 miles from where he was born.
Legacy
Elgar’s legacy is complicated. He never trained any other composers, even when they specifically sought him out for instruction. In historiography, he has become known as the first significant and internationally popular British composer after the death of Henry Purcell, though this was not true, even in Elgar’s own time: both Arthur Sullivan and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor were as popular internationally. Elgar’s music persists in the concert hall today, perhaps because, as British musicologist Diana McVeagh noted, “Elgar’s voice is individual, instantly recognizable… in his music he gave permanence to his visions.” By the 1960s, Elgar’s music became defined as “quintessentially English,” and his romanticism and nostalgic outlook began to be celebrated by listeners throughout the world. His music is frequently used for poignant scenes in films, and composers of film, television, and videogame music still study his orchestration.
By the 1960s, Elgar’s music became defined as “quintessentially English,” and his romanticism and nostalgic outlook began to be celebrated by listeners throughout the world.
Watching and Listening
Elgar composed chamber music for many instrumental and vocal combinations, two of which can be found in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Digital Archive. This includes a performance of Elgar’s String Quartet in E minor, Op. 83, by the Escher String Quartet. A more recent performance of Elgar’s Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84, includes an excellent talk by Bruce Adolphe with live musical illustrations about the work. Both works are excellent examples of Elgar’s late style: they are at once Romantic-sounding, full of long, spun-out melodies and lush harmonies, but with a modern sensibility.
