In 1857, Edward Elgar was born in a village in the English West Midlands – north-west of London, in the heart of England. He was born into a world of music, as his father traded in musical instruments and accessories.
A musician and self-taught from an early age
Little Edward tried his hand at the instruments, pilfered music books and studied them at night under the covers. When he travelled with his father in a horse-drawn cart to wealthy families to tune their pianos, Edward was allowed to show off his skills on the instruments. Later, he toyed with the idea of studying at the Leipzig Conservatoire, but this was far too expensive. And so Edward Elgar remained self-taught. Apart from the occasional violin lesson, he taught himself music.
A few shillings from music lessons, choirs and orchestras
The profession he had trained for, as a notary’s assistant, could scarcely have been less suited to Elgar. So the young musician found ways to earn money from his passion: He taught the violin, played the bassoon, succeeded his father as church organist in Worcester, led singing circles and, at the age of 22, conducted an orchestra in which nursing staff played music for patients. For every polka and quadrille he composed, he received a few shillings. In this way, the name Edward Elgar became known as far afield as Birmingham. He performed at festivals such as the Three Choir Festival – the oldest classical music festival in the world still in existence today.
Attempts to make a name for himself in London proved unsuccessful
In 1889, Edward Elgar married his piano pupil Alice. She recognised her husband’s genius, supported him unwaveringly and made it possible for them to move to London. There he composed songs, violin pieces and organ works, but the hoped-for success failed to materialise. The couple moved back to Worcestershire.
“Let him carry on”
In 1890, Elgar received a commission for the Three Choir Festival, and his orchestral overture “Froissart” impressed both the audience and the press. The Daily Telegraph wrote: “Let him carry on. He will make his mark one day.” However, another ten years were to pass before that happened, during which Elgar worked tirelessly. Among other works, the “Scenes of the Bavarian Highlands” were composed during this period. The Elgars loved the mountains of southern Germany. According to the researcher Florian Czismadia, Elgar described the years before his breakthrough as follows: “I am burning with work and composing like mad”.
An evening in the depths of depression brought the idea
At the end of 1898, Elgar was in an emotional low. After a day’s work as a violin teacher, he relaxed at the piano and improvised. Alice liked one melody so much that Elgar began to vary it to entertain his wife. Each variation was reminiscent of certain acquaintances – including his wife, Elgar himself and his publisher Augustus Jaeger. Jaeger was a friend whom Elgar humorously called ‘Nimrod’, in reference to the ‘mighty hunter before the Lord’ from the Bible. The famous ninth variation, a deeply emotional piece, also bears this name. It recalls the conversation in which Jaeger encouraged the depressed Elgar to continue composing.
“Enigma Variations” – an unsolved mystery
A total of 14 variations were composed. Elgar gave them the title “Enigma”, meaning “puzzle”. The reason: he claimed that all the variations were based on a mysterious theme that ran through the work without ever being played. To this day, this mystery remains unsolved.
…whose quality Hans Richter recognised
Influential figures in Elgar’s circle – some say Jaeger himself – sent the score to the famous Austrian conductor Hans Richter. He was music director of the Vienna Philharmonic and had already premiered works by Brahms and Wagner. At that time, Richter was conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, amongst others, and immediately recognised the quality of Elgar’s composition.
Overnight fame
In 1899, the ‘Enigma Variations’ were premiered under Richter’s baton at St James’s Hall in London. Overnight, they established Elgar as a leading English composer, celebrated for his masterful orchestration and emotional depth. Performances followed across Europe and the USA. A year later, ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ was composed.
“England’s gratitude rained down upon the composer”
From 1901 onwards, Elgar created another masterpiece: the “Pomp and Circumstance Marches”. In 1902, at the coronation of Edward VII, the first march in the series was performed. It made Elgar popular beyond the world of classical music and is still regarded today as England’s unofficial national anthem. From then on, “the nation’s gratitude rained down upon the composer”, as the German weekly newspaper “DIE ZEIT” wrote. “He was awarded academic degrees, a knighthood and a three-day festival of his music at Covent Garden.”
Finally arrived
Following his breakthrough, Elgar was knighted in 1904 and celebrated a worldwide success with his First Symphony in 1908. This was followed by masterpieces such as the Violin Concerto (1910) and the Second Symphony (1911). He was one of the first major composers to record his own works for the gramophone.
A turning point in the First World War
Until 1914, Elgar’s creative energy remained unbroken. But the First World War marked a turning point. Elgar wrote: “I cannot do any real work with that terrible shadow hanging over us.” It was only after the war ended that he was able to compose again.
Elgar recognised the end of his era
In 1919, he completed his famous Cello Concerto. As if he had sensed that this would be his last great work, he wrote at the end of the score: “Finis. R.I.P.”, meaning “Rest in Peace”. Unlike other composers of his generation, Elgar had realised that his era was over. The Victorian-Edwardian world he had accompanied musically no longer existed in that form. Of the Cello Concerto, the composer Ian Parrott said: “It is a peculiar work, composed by a lonely man during the war years, who realises that the artistic values of his world have irrevocably changed”.
Alice’s death and unfinished works in the 1920s
Shortly after the performance of the Cello Concerto, Alice fell seriously ill and died in 1920. Elgar subsequently withdrew largely from public musical life. His creative energy flared up only once more, when he planned a third symphony and the opera ‘The Spanish Lady’. Both remained unfinished. Elgar died in 1934 following a brief, serious illness.
A unique encounter with Yehudi Menuhin
Two years before his death, Elgar met the young violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin. Menuhin was 16 at the time and had performed Elgar’s Violin Concerto as a soloist. Decades later, Menuhin still recalled “the lyrical beauty of the landscape, the green hues of the English summer, the humour, pride and charm of this people” that he had felt during the concert. At that time, he declared Edward Elgar to be his musical grandfather.
This unique encounter has been preserved in its original form and documented as a historic gramophone recording. So it is still possible to listen to it today.
