Elgar, Edward

One of the most significant English composers in the late Romantic period. As a son of a father who owned a music shop with musical scores, he learned the principles of composition by himself. He earned his living as an violinist, organist and teacher, until he was able to move to London as a composer. But his success came years later, after returning to the West of England.

Being an auto-didact (a self-learned person) he suffered a lack of confidence all his life, due to his being musically uneducated, yet gained vast success as a composer, especially his "Enigma Variation", in which the riddle is the source of the theme on which the variations are based. The popularity he enjoyed with the variations led to a wave of interest in his earlier works, including the Pomp and Circumstance Marches.

Another popular and famous piece he wrote, is the poignant Cello Concerto, his last important work. Many years after Elgar's death, the concerto will become most popular under the proficient technique and powerful interpretation of the English cellist Jacqueline Du Pré.

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