Sir Edward Elgar GCVO OM 1st Baronet
(1857-1934)

Died aged c. 77

Elgar has the honour of being on the Abbey Road Studios

OpenPlaques

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (/ˈɛlɡɑːr/; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924. Although Elgar is often regarded as a typically English composer, most of his musical influences were not from England but from continental Europe. He felt himself to be an outsider, not only musically, but socially. In musical circles dominated by academics, he was a self-taught composer; in Protestant Britain, his Roman Catholicism was regarded with suspicion in some quarters; and in the class-conscious society of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, he was acutely sensitive about his humble origins even after he achieved recognition. He nevertheless married the daughter of a senior British Army officer. She inspired him both musically and socially, but he struggled to achieve success until his forties, when after a series of moderately successful works his Enigma Variations (1899) became immediately popular in Britain and overseas. He followed the Variations with a choral work, The Dream of Gerontius (1900), based on a Roman Catholic text that caused some disquiet in the Anglican establishment in Britain, but it became, and has remained, a core repertory work in Britain and elsewhere. His later full-length religious choral works were well received but have not entered the regular repertory. In his fifties, Elgar composed a symphony and a violin concerto that were immensely successful. His second symphony and his cello concerto did not gain immediate public popularity and took many years to achieve a regular place in the concert repertory of British orchestras. Elgar's music came, in his later years, to be seen as appealing chiefly to British audiences. His stock remained low for a generation after his death. It began to revive significantly in the 1960s, helped by new recordings of his works. Some of his works have, in recent years, been taken up again internationally, but the music continues to be played more in Britain than elsewhere. Elgar has been described as the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Between 1914 and 1925, he conducted a series of acoustic recordings of his works. The introduction of the moving-coil microphone in 1923 made far more accurate sound reproduction possible, and Elgar made new recordings of most of his major orchestral works and excerpts from The Dream of Gerontius.

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Commemorated on 20 plaques

Sir Edward Elgar 1857-1934 composer lived here 1890-1891

51 Avonmore Road, Hammersmith and Fulham, W14, London, United Kingdom where they lived (1890-1891)

Edward Elgar 1857-1934 Composer Often stayed and composed in this house

Long White Cloud, Monkey Island Lane, Bray, Maidenhead, United Kingdom where they stayed

Sir Edward Elgar composer (1857-1934) stayed here on his honeymoon May 1889

3 Alexandra Gardens, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom where they stayed

Sir Edward Elgar composer 1857-1934 opened and recorded in these studios on 12th November 1931

Abbey Road Studios, Abbey Road, London, United Kingdom where they opened and recorded

Sir Edward Elgar lived in a house on this site 1911 1921 Here he composed The Music Makers Falstaff The Spirit of England

44 Netherhall Gardens, Frognal, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom where they lived

Near this spot occurred, in 1898, the incident depicted in Variation No.11 of Sir Edward Elgar's Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma). Dan, a bulldog belonging to Dr. George Robertson Sinclair, Organist of the Cathedral, fell in the river during a walk with "G. R. S." and his friend, the composer.

south bank of River Wye, Hereford, United Kingdom where they walked

Sir Edward Elgar, composer, was a frequent guest of Alfred E. Rodewald owner of this house C.1900

Church Road, Saughall, Chester, United Kingdom where they was a frequent guest

Sir Edward Elgar, composer, became the University’s first Professor of Music in 1905

Bramall Concert Hall, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom where they was

Sir Edward Elgar, who rose from obscurity to become England's greatest composer for 200 years, was born on 2nd June 1857 at Broadheath near Worcester. He was organist, violinist, teacher, conductor and self-taught composer. After 1900 his compositions won International recognition, the best known being The Dream of Gerontus, The Enigma Variations, The Two Symponies, The Concertos for violin and cello, and Land of Hope and Glory. He drew his inspiration from the English countryside, saying "Music is in the air all around us". From 1878 to 1933 he was associated with the Three Choirs Festivals held in Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester. The statue shows him at the age of 54 in the robes of a Doctor of Music which he often wore when conducting at these festivals. Knighted 1904, Freeman of Worcester 1905, O.M. 1911, K.C.V.O. 1928, Baronet 1931, G.C.V.O. 1933, Master of the King's Musik 1924-1934. He died in Worcester on 23rd February 1934. This tablet was laid on the Fifthieth anniversary of the composer's death.

High Street (in front of the statue of Edward Elgar), Worcester, United Kingdom where they is commemorated

Edward Elgar 1857-1934

High Street (near the statue of Edward Elgar), Worcester, United Kingdom where they is commemorated (1981)

363 Oxford Street July 1921 - April 2000 HMV Site of the original HMV store Opened by Sir Edward Elgar in July 1921, the HMV store shaped the way people bought music for nearly a century In 1962 it played a significant role in the career of The Beatles. A 78RPM demo disc of the band was cut in the store's recording studio. This led to the Beatles' long-term recording contract with EMI The world's most famous music store

363 Oxford Street, W1, London, United Kingdom where they opened (1921)

The Kursaal. Harrogate Council's 1898 competition for the design of a Kursaal or "Cure Hall" was won by London architect Robert Beale, who worked with Frank Matcham, England's most celebrated theatrical designer. The Kursaal was opened by Sir Hubert Parry on 28th May 1903 and is the only remaining building of its type in the country. Intended to complement the town's other spa facilities the Kursaal contained many innovations that provided great flexibility of use. Renamed the "Royal Hall" in 1918, the building has been host to the greatest artists of the day - from Sir Edward Elgar to The Beatles. Following a complete restoration from 2006-8, Matcham's spectacular interior now contains more gold leaf than any similar auditorium in England. The much-loved building was reopened by HRH The Prince of Wales, patron of the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, on 22nd January 2008.

Ripon Road, Harrogate, United Kingdom where they played

Plas Gwyn Home of Sir Edward Elgar 1904-1911

On the corner of Hampton Park Road and Vineyard Road, Hereford, United Kingdom where they lived (1904-1911)

The Elgar Walk. To commemorate Sir Edward Elgar's many visits to Harrogate from 1912 to 1927 and his regular walk between the Hotel Majestic and Bog Field, this path was named the Elgar Walk in 1989. The first provincial performance of his second symphony took place in Harrogate in 1911.

Elgar Walk, Elgar Gardens, Harrogate, United Kingdom where they walked (1912-1927)

Hotel Majestic. The Hotel Majestic opened on 18 July 1900 as the finest hotel of the world's greatest spa. Built by Frederick hotels and designed by London architect G. D. Martin, the majestic has, for over a century, been the preferred address of visitors such as Winston Churchill, Edward Elgar, Errol Flynn, 'James Herriot', G. B. Shaw and several Prime-Ministers. Bombed on 12 July 1940, the Hotel Majestic served as an RAF Reception Centre during the Second World War. It was extensively refurbished between 1998 and 2002.

Ripon Road, Harrogate, United Kingdom where they stayed

Edward Elgar was Organist of this church from 1885 to 1889. For which he composed many of his earlier sacred works

St George's Catholic Church - Sansome Walk, Worcester, United Kingdom where they was organist (1885-1889)

Sir Edward Elgar (2 June 1857-23 February 1934) Master of the King's Musick composer of Land of Hope and Glory and the Enigma Variations lived here

2 College Precincts, Worcester, United Kingdom where they lived

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) famous composer often stayed here as the guest of his friend Dr Charles William Buck

Market Place, Settle, United Kingdom where they stayed

Edward Elgar 1857-1934 composer, lived here 1861-1863

2 College Precincts, Worcester, United Kingdom where they lived (1861-1863)

Sir Edward Elgar Britain's Greatest Composer Sir Edward Elgar 1857-1934 a devoted Wolverhampton Wanderers Supporter

Molineux Stadium Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton WV1 4QR England, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom where they was