Edward Elgar Biography Quotes 2 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Edward William Elgar was born on 2 June 1857 in the village of Lower Broadheath, near Worcester, in the English Midlands. His father, William Henry Elgar, kept a music shop in Worcester and worked as a piano tuner and organist; his mother, Ann (nee Greening), encouraged reading and a reflective, often solitary love of the countryside. From his father he absorbed the craft of practical music-making, handling instruments and scores from an early age. He had little formal conservatory training, instead teaching himself harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration by studying scores and by playing in local ensembles. The provincial musical life of Worcester and the nearby Three Choirs Festival supplied a living laboratory, exposing him to choral traditions and the symphonic repertory that would shape his own voice.

Apprenticeship and Early Career
As a young man Elgar worked as a violinist, teacher, and conductor for amateur societies. He served as organist at St. George's Roman Catholic Church in Worcester, an experience that honed his command of choral textures and liturgical pacing. He played in regional orchestras, absorbing rehearsal technique and the mechanics of orchestral color from within the ranks. He also began to compose occasional pieces for local performers. These years were a slow apprenticeship rather than a rapid ascent, but they cultivated the practical knowledge and meticulous ear that later distinguished his orchestral writing.

A crucial personal and artistic turning point came with his marriage in 1889 to Caroline Alice Roberts, known as Alice, a poet and writer who staunchly believed in his gifts. Alice became his closest confidante, adviser, and tireless advocate, helping him navigate publishers, concert agents, and critics. Their daughter, Carice, born the following year, completed a small household that balanced Elgar's inward temperament with Alice's steady encouragement.

Breakthrough and International Recognition
Elgar's breakthrough arrived in 1899 with Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma Variations). Each variation portrayed a friend or colleague, embedding a network of personal tributes in a symphonic canvas. The work was premiered by Hans Richter, who became a major champion; its success brought Elgar wide renown. Among the friends represented was August Jaeger of the publishing house Novello & Co., immortalized as "Nimrod", whose counsel and friendship sustained Elgar through periods of doubt. Other figures within that affectionate gallery included Dora Penny ("Dorabella") and the philanthropist Frank Schuster, emblematic of a circle that emotionally and practically sustained him.

His choral masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius (1900), based on the poem by John Henry Newman, initially stumbled at its Birmingham premiere, hampered by limited rehearsal and choral fatigue. Yet subsequent performances in Germany under Julius Buths, and the advocacy of Richard Strauss, secured its standing as a landmark of modern oratorio. Soon followed the concert overture Cockaigne (In London Town), the Introduction and Allegro for Strings, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, and the oratorios The Apostles and The Kingdom. The first Pomp and Circumstance March later gained words by A. C. Benson and became widely associated with public ceremony, though Elgar's own feelings about its ceremonial uses were complex.

Major Works and Collaborations
The first decade of the twentieth century was Elgar's most dazzling. His Symphony No. 1 (1908) was greeted with extraordinary acclaim, quickly taken up by orchestras across Britain and abroad; Symphony No. 2 (1911) followed, more elusive in character yet increasingly admired. His Violin Concerto in B minor (1910) stands among the great concertos of the repertory, written with an intimate knowledge of the instrument and premiered by the Spanish virtuoso Fritz Kreisler with Richter conducting. Conductors such as Henry Wood brought his music to Promenade audiences, broadening his base beyond the provincial and the elite.

Elgar's network of collaborators deepened as his career matured. At Novello, Alfred Littleton provided steady publishing support while Jaeger offered aesthetic companionship until his early death. Among performers, leaders like W. H. "Billy" Reed of the London Symphony Orchestra became indispensable, assisting with bowings and orchestral practicalities and later documenting their partnership. In these years Elgar received public honors, including a knighthood in 1904 and election to national orders that reflected his status as the foremost English composer of his generation.

Personal Life and Character
Though publicly feted, Elgar remained a sensitive, often self-critical personality. He was attached to the landscapes of Worcestershire and the Malvern Hills, drawing inspiration from their vistas and from countryside walks with Alice. Conversations with friends like Jaeger and Schuster, and exchanges with admirers including George Bernard Shaw, nourished his intellectual life, while the discipline of teaching and rehearsing kept his craft grounded. Alice's diaries and letters attest to her central role in steadying him during creative lulls and discouraging health episodes. Their family life was private and protective, a shelter against the professional pressures of fame.

War, Late Style, and Recording Pioneer
World War I unsettled Elgar. He produced patriotic works and commemorations, including The Spirit of England and orchestral pieces shaped by wartime sentiment. Retreating from London to a rented cottage at Brinkwells in Sussex, he experienced a late burst of chamber creativity: the Violin Sonata, String Quartet, and Piano Quintet. In 1919 he unveiled the Cello Concerto in E minor, a profoundly introspective score that initially suffered from under-rehearsal but later achieved iconic status, notably through performances and recordings by Beatrice Harrison with the composer conducting.

Alice's death in 1920 was a devastating blow, ushering in a quieter phase marked by sporadic composition and growing engagement with the gramophone. Elgar became a pioneering recording conductor, working extensively with producer Fred Gaisberg to document his symphonies, concertos, and shorter pieces. These recordings, made with London orchestras and distinguished soloists, fixed an authoritative performing tradition. He also collaborated with rising talents such as the young Yehudi Menuhin, who recorded the Violin Concerto with him, lending the work a new generation of listeners. Conductors including Adrian Boult and Landon Ronald promoted his scores in the concert hall and on the airwaves.

Last Years, Honors, and Unfinished Projects
In the 1920s and early 1930s Elgar accepted public roles and honors that acknowledged his preeminence. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924 and received further distinctions that capped a long public career. He continued to write occasional works, including the Nursery Suite, and revisited earlier materials with new orchestral finesse. In his final years, encouraged by friends like W. H. Reed and supported by the British Broadcasting Corporation, he sketched a Third Symphony and returned intermittently to an opera project, The Spanish Lady. Ill health overtook these ambitions, leaving substantial, tantalizing fragments rather than completed scores.

Death and Legacy
Elgar died on 23 February 1934 in Worcester after a period of illness. He left behind a body of work that helped redefine English music at the turn of the century, combining Continental symphonic technique with a distinctive lyricism and a deep feel for choral tradition. His friendships and collaborations were integral to that achievement: Alice Elgar's unwavering support; August Jaeger's creative counsel; conductors such as Hans Richter, Henry Wood, and Adrian Boult; performers like Fritz Kreisler, Beatrice Harrison, and Yehudi Menuhin; and advocates abroad, including Julius Buths and Richard Strauss. Through them his music traveled, took root, and survived changes in taste.

The Enigma Variations, The Dream of Gerontius, the two symphonies, and the Violin and Cello Concertos remain central to concert life. They reflect a composer who transformed private sentiment and personal relationships into public art of durable eloquence. In the century since his birth, Elgar's recorded legacy as a conductor, his formative role in British musical institutions, and the continuing life of his greatest works have secured his place as one of the key composers of the English-speaking world.

Our collection contains 2 quotes who is written by Edward, under the main topics: Music - Art.

Other people realated to Edward: Ernest Newman (Critic), A. C. Benson (Author), Algernon H. Blackwood (Writer)