|
More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
|
Edward Elgar
|
|
(1857–1934, kt 1904) Widely thought of as the most English of composers. He was born in Lower Broadheath near Worcester (where the house of his birth is kept as a museum) and his first success was local, with works for choral societies and for the *Three Choirs Festival. In the early 1890s he and his wife moved to Malvern, where for a while he taught the violin in a girl's school. Wider recognition came with *Enigma Variations (1899) and The *Dream of Gerontius (1900). A tune from the first of his *Pomp and Circumstance marches (1901) reappeared in 1902 as Land of Hope and Glory. He was appointed *Master of the King's Music in 1924; his orchestral Nursery Suite (1931) was dedicated to the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, daughters of the future *George VI. One reason for the great appeal of his music is his ability to treat large themes in an exhilarating and popular style.
|
|
|
|