He began composing at the early age of 10 when he composed the music for a play written and performed by the Elgar children. Elgar and his father were both active members of the Worcester Glee Club and it was here that he accompanied the singers on violin, and composed works.

Sir Edward Elgar 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.

Elgar is probably best known for the first of the five Pomp and Circumstance Marches, which were composed between 1901 and 1930. It is familiar to millions of television viewers all over the world every year who watch the Last Night of the Proms, where it is traditionally performed.

Edward Elgar composed his Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, popularly known as the Enigma Variations, between October 1898 and February 1899. It may be understood that these personages comment or reflect on the original theme & each one attempts a solution of the Enigma, for so the theme is called.

30 variations

English

Caroline Alice Elgarm. 1889–1920

Although Elgar is often regarded as a typically English composer most of his musical influences were not from England but from continental Europe. Elgar’s best works include the Enigma Variations, The Dream Of Gerontius, the Pomp and Circumstances Marches, concertos for violin and cello and two symphonies.

Elgar met the woman that was to become his wife, Caroline Alice Roberts, in 1886. She was from good stock and very wealthy, and was to become a hugely dominant force behind Elgar’s creativity. He dedicated several pieces to her, including Salut d’Amour, which he composed as an engagement present.

Frederick Joseph Elgar

Raiding, Austria