ELGAR, HIS HOMES AND HIS MUSIC - BY Dr WILLIAM LEONARD REED (Transcribed from Will’s original lecture notes by Barbara Judge, Will’s niece, 16 March 2007, slides transferred by Nicholas Thompson, Will’s nephew, edited by William Sterling)

That Pomp and Circumstance March is music with the unmistakable fingerprint of the greatest British composer since Purcell - perhaps, as some maintain, the greatest British composer of all time.

Just outside Worcester, on the Bromyard Road, you will see this road sign. A road sign in England pointing to the birthplace of a composer is rather rare. Walking up the lane for about half a mile through lovely open country we come to Broadheath and to Elgar's birthplace.

Here, on June 2nd. 1857, Edward, the fifth of seven children, was born to William and Anne Elgar. William was a native of Dover, who, after coming to London to work in a music firm, decided to settle in Worcester as an organist, piano tuner and owner (with his brother Henry) of a music shop. It was in Worcester that he met his future wife, Anne Greening, and they were married in 1848.

Here, in a tiny room on the first floor at the back of the house (the left hand side) the future great musician was born. The Elgars occupied the cottage for only a short time before returning to Worcester, but the building is of importance to every Elgar lover, as it has now been acquired as a permanent memorial to Elgar. Here you can see his decorations, his academic diplomas and distinctions, his furniture, books, photographs and manu-scripts.

In this photograph is the former curator Alan Webb, who as a young man visited Elgar with his father.

And here is the old well, from which they used to draw their water supply. Nowadays they have main drainage and other ‘mod cons', of course.

And here is another reminder of those far-off days 'Coach House and stables built by W. H. Elgar and Henry Elgar.'

A word about Elgar's mother, from whom he inherited much of his character. Basil Maine writes “She was a remarkable woman. She walked with such grace of movement as to seem out of touch with the earth. In spite of the cares of the household and of seven children she was unusually well read. The best of British authors and translations from Latin and Greek were

known to her...It was through the reading of books that her mind found escape… It was in these rather lonely surroundings that Edward was born. He was perhaps called Edward after the then sixteen-year old Prince of Wales, it proved to be a happy choice for a name, for it was during the Edwardian era that he was destined to win great renown as a composer." The time at Broadheath was short-lived and the family moved back to Worcester.

And it is Worcester that held first place in Elgar's affections and where, as we shall see, he ended his days. This picture shows the view from the bridge over the Severn with the cathedral tower in the distance. This glorious building dominates the entire city and it is the influence of this cathedral and its tradition that dominated much of

Elgar's work, because - although he himself was a Catholic - much of his music was produced at the Three Choirs Festivals, based on the cities of Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester.

As mentioned above, William Elgar and his brother Henry were owners of a music shop in Worcester. This was situated at 10, High Street, very close to the cathedral - but alas! It is now no more.

In 1964 instead of the row of shops there was this.

Still later it has become this.

One of the buildings associated with Elgar’s early days is Littleton House, just outside Worcester

In this pleasant building a Mr Francis Reeve had a school of about thirty pupils and Elgar was a pupil there until he was fifteen.

There are two stories about his school days which are worth telling. One day a new master asked Elgar; ‘What’s your name?’ He replied, ‘Edward Elgar.’ ‘Say SIR!’ demanded the master ‘SIR Edward Elgar’, replied the boy, prophetically.

On another occasion Mr. Reeve was giving his pupils a scripture lesson, he remarked that at the time of their calling the Apostles were young men, extremely poor. 'Perhaps' he added 'before the descent of the Holy Ghost they were no cleverer than some of you here.’ From this remark the idea germinated in the mind of the young Edward that grew into the oratorio 'The Apostles', which he completed in 1903.

In these early days his gift for composition was struggling to express itself. There is a story that when he was nine or ten years old he was discovered on a river bank holding a pencil and a piece of paper on which five parallel lines were ruled. He was trying, he said to write down what the reeds were singing. Family occasions would bring forth a song or a composition for violin. Elgar's father was a competent violinist and played in the local orchestras, and Edward inherited his father's talent for the instrument. One of the family occasions produced a play with music composed by Elgar when he was about fourteen. The plot concerns an aged, rather grumpy pair whose grandchildren contrive to lure them across the stream that divides drab daily life from the land of fantasy. There, the Wand of Youth brings them all kinds of fun and joy, and the old folk return wiser and kinder. Very many years later, Elgar worked some of these tunes into two delightful ‘Wand of Youth’ suites.

This is the Crown Hotel in Broad Street, Worcester. It was here that the meetings of the Worcester Glee Club were regularly held. Elgar's father was a prominent member of the Club. The meetings were devoted not only to glee singing, but to instrumental concerts. Later Elgar himself became a member, and at these informal gatherings several of his compositions received their first performance. As a tribute to him, his friends had a wall painting made

With an inscription recording their gratitude for the pleasure his music had given them on numerous occasions. When the room was redecorated, the painting went, and in its new garb this place had been called 'The Elgar Bar.' Above the bar was painted the opening bars of 'Land of Hope and Glory' - such is fame! Unfortunately the Crown hotel was demolished in 1977.

Elgar threw himself into as many local musical activities as possible, as violinist, pianist, composer, conductor and teacher. In this last connection it is worth noting that he was attached to the Worcester College for the

Blind.

One of his pupils there was William Wolstenholme. When in due course he went to Oxford to sit for his Bachelor of Music degree, Elgar went with him and acted as his amanuensis. Wolstenholme passed the examination and later became famous as an organist and composer, both here and in America. In later life Elgar would often refer to another episode in his early life in Worcester by opening a conversation rather

startlingly with “when I was at the lunatic asylum.....”

It was then known as the Powick Lunatic Asylum and later called the Powick Hospital, just outside Worcester. Elgar was engaged there as director of orchestral concerts, which were given regularly for staff and patients. Every Friday a dance was held for the inmates and for these occasions Elgar wrote a lot of popular dance music - quadrilles, polkas, lancers etc. He received about £32 a year for the job, plus 5/- extra for each dance he composed. The Band was formed from among the

staff. He was also engaged as 'Leader and Instructor of the Worcester Amateur Instrumental Society'. It is interesting that Elgar's first published work (a Romance for Violin and Piano) was dedicated to a violinist in this orchestra - a certain Oswin Grainger, who was a local grocer.

In later years Elgar was elected to the rare honour of the freedom of the City of Worcester at the fine Guildhall (right) – among other recipients have been Lord Nelson, Lord Baldwin and Sir Winston Churchill. There is a fine portrait of Elgar in the building, as well as a Philip Burne-Jones portrait.

This is the church where Elgar was organist - St. George's Catholic Church, Sansome Place.

Elgar's father had been organist of the church for over thirty years when Elgar took over from him in 1885. While there he wrote a good deal of church music, most of which has been recorded. There is a story told that when the organ tuner some years ago went into the

instrument to do a thorough cleaning job, he found on several pipes the initials EE had been scratched. Some adventurous person had been there before him.

The year 1889 was a decisive year in Elgar's life, because on May 8th he was married at Brompton Oratory to Caroline Alice Roberts. She had been his pupil for some time. She was the daughter of Major General Sir Henry Gee Roberts, who had spent his life serving in India, where Sir Charles Napier commended him as ‘the best officer in the Bombay Army and perhaps in India.' To her father’s fighting qualities Alice added a charm and tactfulness that made her the ideal companion for Elgar, and it is certainly her encouragement that helped him to develop his genius fully.

One of the wedding presents Elgar received, from Father Knight of St George's Church, Worcester, was a copy of Cardinal Newman's poem 'The Dream of Gerontius ’. This was a wise choice, as we shall see. After their marriage, the Elgars decided to try their fortune in London, and first set up house in 3 Marloes Road, Kensington

This house is now, incidentally, a British Council Hostel for Commonwealth students. But these were hard and disappointing days for the Elgars. Edward suffered a lot with his eyes, his throat and with headaches. He submitted his works to many publishers, who either refused them or bought them outright for very small sums. For example, his famous piece ‘Salut d’Amour’, written as a present for his wife and first performed at a Crystal Palace concert on November 11th 1889, was sold outright to Schott, the publishers, for two guineas! Think of the thousands they must have made from it! Things got so bad that Alice had to sell her

pearls. They then moved to 51 Avonmore Road, West Kensington.

This house can still be seen, with the blue plaque erected by the LCC to record the fact that Elgar lived here in 1890 and 1891.

And it was here that he composed his first substantial orchestral piece that shows those unmistakable fingerprints that we can justly call Elgarian. It was the Froissart Overture. It received its first performance at the Worcester festival later in the year (1890) and was accepted for publication by Novello. These events, together with the birth of their daughter Carice on August 14th were no small compensations for the difficult times the Elgars were facing. A quotation from Keats heads the score of the overture

‘When chivalry lifted up her lance on high’.

This gives the key to the romantic idealism of the music and in this work it is not only chivalry's lance that is being lifted up, but (as Basil Maine points out) Elgar's own.

But the optimism of this music was in utter contrast to the frustration of hopes and ambitions that the Elgars continued to experience in London. And so they decided to return to Worcestershire. In 1891 they moved to Malvern where they were to remain until 1904. This was a wise move. It brought a definite break in the misfortunes of Elgar's life. Now began a

number of friendships that were to grow in strength with the years, and with these, and with the never-failing devotion of his wife, the full flowering of his creative spirit appeared. The compositions of these years include the cantatas 'The Black Knight’, 'King Olaf,’ 'The Banner of St. George’ and 'Caractacus'. The oratorio ‘The Light

of Life' and the exquisite 'Serenade for strings.' This was composed in 1892 and published by the German firm, Breitkopf and Hartel in 1893. It seems incredible that this evergreen and ever popular work had to wait thirteen years for its first public London performance.

It is this house in Malvern called FORLI which has a claim to fame and affection in the hearts of all

Elgar lovers; because it was here that the famous Enigma Variations were completed in 1899. This work is a turning point, if not the turning point in the history of modern English music. It was the first work of Elgar's to establish his international reputation, and is in the repertoire of most of the leading orchestras in the world. Basil Maine writes; 'The idea of the work occurred to him on an occasion when he was entertaining his wife by extemporizing at the piano. He was devising portraits of a number of his friends in terms of music, and was curious to discover if his wife could recognise them. He wrote to his friend Jaeger as follows; 'Since I've been back I have sketched a set of variations on an original theme and...I've labelled 'em with the nickname of my particular friends - you are Nimrod. I've liked to imagine each friend writing the variation him or herself and have written what I think they would have written - if they were asses enough to compose.' Here is one Enigma then - you have to guess who the friend is. They have, incidentally, all been identified long ago.

Another Enigma consists in a tune that Elgar said could be played with the main theme, but he refused to disclose what it was. The most likely and appropriate solution would appear to be Auld Lang Syne. Elgar also pointed out that there is yet another Enigma, 'a theme that runs through all the variations but is never played.' This is possibly not a musical theme at all, but an abstract theme or idea like 'friendship’ or’ the composer’s personality or (a recent theory) some reference to scripture. Anyhow, this superb music doesn't depend on the solution of puzzles for its appreciation, as this excerpt should show.

If the performance of the Enigma Variations in 1899 can be regarded as a watershed as far as modern British orchestral music is concerned,1900 has every claim to be one for modern British choral composition, as this year saw the creation of Elgar's oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, which some regard as his masterpiece, the idea of setting this poem of Cardinal Newman's had been germinating in Elgar's mind ever since he had received it as a wedding

present, and the occasion of a commission for a work for the Birmingham Festival in 1900 gave the impetus and drove him to a white heat of inspiration, in the quietness of the woods near Malvern this noble work grew into being, and it was at Birchwood Lodge, this humble cottage, that the work was written

In a letter at this time Elgar writes; 'The trees are singing my music. Or have I sung theirs? I suppose I have? It is too lovely here.' He finished the orchestration on August 3rd, and

wrote at the end of the score a quotation from Ruskin's 'Sesame and Lilies’; ‘This is the best of me. For the rest I ate, I drank, I slept, I loved, I hated as another. My life was as a vapour, and is not. But this is what I saw, and know. This, if anything of mine, is worth your memory.'

This little plaque over the cottage door records

the fact of Elgar’s presence

While still retaining Birchwood Lodge the Elgars moved to another house in Malvern called CRAEG LEA, a detached house with a wide view over the Severn plain.

The name of the house is an anagram on C A E ELGAR (C for Carice his daughter, A for Alice his wife, and E for Edward himself). You will notice that in this case the house is wrongly spelt CRAIG LEA, the subsequent owner thinking, no doubt, that CRAEG had been a misspelling - but later the local members of the Elgar Society had evidently exerted their influence and it is now spelt as the Elgars intended.

The Elgars remained here until 1904, and so it was here that the oratorio ‘The Apostles' was written. In 1904, feeling the need of a larger house, the family moved to Hereford, where they remained until 1912.

We may well call these years the golden years of Elgar's achievement, in which some of his greatest works were composed, as for example ‘Introduction and Allegro for Strings’, ‘The Kingdom’ (Oratorio), Symphony No. 1 in A flat, Violin Concerto, Symphony No. 2 in E flat

And what have all these works to do with this small river? Well, this is the River Lugg, a tributary of the Wye, and this shows Mordiford Bridge, which crosses the river here.

Elgar would often cycle to this bridge with his notebook and listen as he did as a boy of ten to the music that, as he said, 'is in the air all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.' It was in such lovely country surroundings that many of his inspirations were given to him.

He was particularly devoted to the Wye Valley. An example of a work inspired by such scenes is the Introduction and Allegro for Strings, voted by many critics to be one of the finest string works in existence. Its warmth, exuberance, emotional sweep and contrasts of tone reveal Elgar's highly individual personality

As a typical Englishman, Elgar loved to travel, and in the course of his life visited a good deal of Europe, as well as North and South America. One country to which he was particularly devoted was Italy, and in one splendid work he gives a picture of his impressions of that country. In the winter

of 1903-04 he visited Alassio, on the Italian Riviera, and while there composed much of his In the South Overture (subtitled Alassio). This work was inspired by the scenery around Alassio, particularly the valley of Andora.

In connection with the work Elgar quotes these lines of Tennyson;'What hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine,In lands of palm, of orange blossom,Of olive, aloe and maize and wine.'

and from Byron; ‘…a land which WAS the mightiest in its old commandAnd IS the loveliest;Wherein were cast....the men of Rome:Thou art the garden of the world. ‘

There is exuberance and Italian sunshine in the opening bars. There follows a quieter, pastoral scene. The powerful and discordant middle section is intended to portray the wars and glories of ancient

Rome, and this leads to an interlude, during which an Italian popular song is played against a still, summer evening background. After this the work moves along with a dramatic sweep to a triumphant close. Of this piece Elgar himself admitted; ‘I love it. It's alive'.

This work is a favourite of mine and I was curious to find the house - the villa San Giovanni - where it was composed. I wrote to the Mayor of Alassio and had a reply from a member of the City Council, informing me that the house WAS still there, but that it had changed its name. On arriving

in Alassio I proceeded to the house and took a picture of it

I met the owners and told them about Elgar's stay in the house and the work he had composed there. They were delighted to know of this association with Elgar (of whom, incidentally, they had never heard!) and to hear the recording by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra that I had taken out with me. I then presented the record to them.

You may also be interested to know that Dr. Mazzini, the owner of the house, asked me to send him a photograph of Elgar that he could frame and display in the house for his visitors. I was also informed that the Town Council had also suggested that a street in Alassio be named after Elgar. And this suggestion was carried out. This street is adjacent to the main station.

The Elgars returned to England earlier than they intended, and it was a royal summons that recalled them. Edward Elgar became Sir Edward Elgar. In March 1904 the King and Queen patronised a special Elgar Festival held for three days at Covent Garden - the first time a modern British composer had been so honoured. The new IN THE SOUTH Overture was given its first performance on the third day.

The imposing house in Hereford, Plas Gwyn (White Place), overlooking the River Wye is where Elgar lived while the great works I previously mentioned, were being planned and composed.

Of these works the First Symphony was completed in 1908, the Violin Concerto in 1910 and the Second Symphony in 1911. There are many recordings obtainable of these compositions, and anyone who wants to appreciate Elgar fully is recommended to get these records and study the music. As representative of the Edwardian era, but even more, as representative of all that is greatest in the British character, these works of genius are national artistic monuments of which we can be justly proud. The Violin Concerto was recorded by Yehudi Menuhin at the age of sixteen, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Elgar himself in 1932

This work too presents an enigma. The score is prefaced by a quotation 'Here is enshrined the soul of .....' (five dots) What the five dots stand for is anybody's guess; perhaps for Alice,

Elgar’s wife; another Alice; another friend Elgar himself; 'music’ or 'the violin'. In any case, it is the music that matters most.

It was the demands of social life that caused the Elgars reluctantly to leave Hereford in 1912 and move to London. Unfortunately, their Hampstead home, called Severn House was demolished in the thirties, and new houses have been erected on the site. London was to be their centre for the next ten years. Works written during the pre-war years include The Music Makers (a choral work produced at the Birmingham Festival in 1912) and one of Elgar's finest instrumental compositions Falstaff

(played first at the Leeds Festival of 1913).

At the outbreak of the First World War Elgar enrolled in the Special Constabulary and the Volunteer Service. He was appointed Constable Staff Inspector of his district and wrote to a friend; ‘I am sure others could do the work better, but none with a better will.’ The war evoked a good deal of patriotic music from his pen, the finest work in this vein undoubtedly being ‘The Spirit Of England’, a choral work in three parts, one of these is called ‘For The Fallen’, and especially associated with Armistice Day.

In 1917, in order to escape from the pressures and anxieties of war-time London, the Elgars moved to a small, isolated cottage called Brinkwells at Fittleworth in Sussex. Elgar was thoroughly at home here. 'The cottage was set high on a hill in thick woods with a view down to the River Arun and across to the south Downs.

‘In the old country garden was a studio where Elgar worked. But the river and the woods provided distraction. Elgar writes; 'The axe claims me and I make huge fires in the wood.’ His wood chopping was welcome when the frequent sea mists rolled up over the cottage and he became skilled enough to make hoops for barrels.' (McVeagh).

In these surroundings he turned his attention to chamber music, and composed three significant works - the Sonata for Violin and Piano, the string Quartet and the Piano Quintet. Urgency and poignancy, sunlight and darkness, mystery and openness are beautifully woven into these scores.

The final composition of these Sussex years was the Cello concerto - which has an almost chamber music quality when compared with the Violin concerto composed nine years back. It is one of Elgar's most beautiful and deeply felt works. Back in London in 1919, the Elgars decided to sell Severn House, but as the negotiations were going through Lady Elgar was taken ill and in April 1920 she died. Elgar never fully recovered from this blow and although he lived for another fourteen years his latter years, without the guidance and stimulus he had received from her, were relatively unproductive. The house was eventually sold and in 1921 Elgar moved into a flat at 37 St. James's Place near Piccadilly and devoted most of his time to his London friends and his clubs. In November 1923 he took a cruise to South America and sailed 1000 miles up the Amazon. In 1924 he wrote music for the Wembley exhibition, which included an ‘Empire’ March, and in May became Master of the King's Musick. During these years he became very friendly with George Bernard Shaw. Shaw had always been a great champion of Elgar’s music and it was a fitting tribute on Elgar’s part to dedicate his ‘Severn’ Suite for Brass Band to him. This was written in 1930 especially for the Crystal Palace Brass Band Festival.

In the summer of 1929 Elgar bought this house in Worcester - Marl Bank - and this is where he remained until his death in 1934. Sad to relate, the house has been demolished and a block of flats built on the site. One of the works written here was the charming and nostalgic ‘Nursery’ Suite. This was completed in 1931 and dedicated to the Duchess of York and the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. In May 1933 he paid a visit to the blind and paralysed English composer Delius at his home

just outside Paris. The two composers, so temperamentally unlike, developed a most cordial relationship. Delius said of Elgar; 'He was very genial and natural and altogether quite unlike what I had expected him to be.’ Of Delius Elgar wrote; 'I left him in a house surrounded by roses, and I left with a feeling of cheerfulness. To me he seemed like the poet who, seeing the sun again after his pilgrimage, had found complete harmony between will and desire’. Later in the year Elgar became ill and the projected Third Symphony and opera were never brought to fulfilment.

He died at Marl Bank on February 23rd 1934 and was buried beside his wife at the Church of St. Wulstan, Little Malvern, overlooking the lovely Severn plain. There was no

mourning and no music at the ceremony and his final resting place is strikingly humble.

And now, a few remarks about Elgar's character: The first thing that strikes us is his complete sincerity and genuineness. Then he was a person of the widest interests, and one of the best read men of his day. He was entirely self-taught in music, and probably worked harder than any academic student in order to master his craft. He was not ashamed to weep openly at something that moved him, yet he could be as down-to-earth and unpredictable as you like. A story is told that after a most moving performance of ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ at one of the Three Choirs Festivals, when most of the audience and performers alike were reduced to tears, someone came up to him and expressed their intense admiration for the work and profound gratitude for the experience they had just had. Elgar acknowledged their thanks and then asked; 'Oh, by the way, who won the 2.30?'

He was generous of heart in so many ways. We have already heard how he helped the blind organist Wolstenholme. On another occasion an organist at one of the Three Choirs cathedrals was in desperation, because a work he had promised for the Festival was only just finished in vocal score and the task of orchestrating it in time was impossible for him. Elgar immediately offered to do the work for him. The situation was saved, and Elgar would not accept a penny for his pains, though those were lean years for him financially. Then there is the story that some of you may know, that years later, when his fame established, he heard a poor violinist scraping away at ‘Salut d'Amour’ to earn a few coppers from the theatre queue. Elgar went up to him, took & half-a-crown from his pocket - a lot of money in those days -and said; 'Here you are, my good fellow'! That's more than the composer ever made out of it!'

His patriotism was intense (what more glorious examples of this are there than the ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ Marches?), yet it was never ingrowing. He was not so much inspired by the British folk-song revival as were other famous composers like Holst and Vaughan Williams. His models were the great continental composers - Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Dvorak and Wagner. He was intensely devoted to Handel, who he considered to be 'the greatest figure in religious music’. It is a fact that Germany acknowledged the greatness of ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ before England did, and that the first performance of the ‘Enigma’ Variations was conducted by the German Hans Richter. Elgar was British in temperament yet European in outlook. (I wonder what he would have made of the EEC?!)

He was a sincere and loyal Catholic, yet not in the strictly dogmatic sense. In 1927 he wrote a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury (Randall Davidson), who was celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of his Primacy, in which he remarks;

‘Bred in another form of religious observance I stand aside, unbiased, from the trivialities with which controversies are mostly informed; whatever differences exist there remains the clear, wide and refreshing Christianity, desired by all men, but obscured by the little darkness of their own imperfect vision. To the better understanding of such broad Christian feeling I am thankful to have been permitted, in a small way it is true, to exercise my art; in this spirit and in a spirit of humble fellowship I offer this tribute of deep respect - to an ideal great churchman, a staunch friend, and an embodiment of all that is good and true in Christianity past mere forms and observances.

With every respect Believe me to beVery sincerely and affectionately Your Grace's obedient servant

Edward Elgar’

This spirit of 'humble fellowship’ is surely an apt expression to describe what OUR feelings are toward Elgar when we enter into sustained communication with the deepest things in his art. We are able and are privileged to share in the vision that was vouchsafed to him. And it is encouraging that more and more people are turning to his music for inspiration and refreshment.