Edward Elgar
English late Romantic whose Enigma Variations revived British music
1857
1934
English
Romantic
Enigma Variations, Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Cello Concerto
Early life
Edward Elgar was born on 2 June 1857 near Worcester, England, the son of a piano tuner and music shop owner. Largely self-taught, he learned the violin, organ, and bassoon, and absorbed music by studying scores in his father's shop and playing in local orchestral and chamber ensembles. He had no formal conservatoire training — an unusual background for a major composer, and one that contributed to a lifelong sense of being an outsider in the English musical establishment, which was then dominated by academically trained figures.
Career and major works
Elgar's breakthrough came with the Enigma Variations (1899), a set of orchestral variations in which each variation portrays a friend or family member, identified only by initials or nicknames. The work's warm humanity, orchestral brilliance, and the still-unsolved 'enigma' of its hidden theme made it an immediate success. The oratorio The Dream of Gerontius (1900), a setting of Cardinal Newman's poem about the journey of a soul after death, confirmed his status as a composer of the first rank, though its premiere in Birmingham was poorly prepared and the work initially found greater appreciation in Germany. His subsequent orchestral masterpieces — the two symphonies (1908, 1911), the Violin Concerto (1910), the symphonic study Falstaff (1913), and the Cello Concerto (1919) — form the backbone of the English orchestral repertoire. The Pomp and Circumstance Marches, particularly the first (1901) with its 'Land of Hope and Glory' trio, became inextricably linked with British national identity.
Musical style and legacy
Elgar's music is characterised by nobility of utterance, long-breathed melodic lines, rich orchestral texture, and an emotional directness that can shift from exuberance to profound melancholy within a few bars. His orchestration is often compared to that of Richard Strauss for its opulence and precision. After the death of his wife Alice in 1920, he composed very little. He died in Worcester on 23 February 1934, leaving an unfinished Third Symphony.