Edward Elgar’s (Midland) Musical Footprints
My, that’s a fine moustache!
Edward Elgar may not be a familiar name to many, but it’s likely you know some of his compositions. He wrote ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and the Pomp and Circumstance March that’s often played at Last Night of the Proms. If you think you don’t know it – you do! Take a listen.
One of the first composers to embrace recorded music, he wrote a lot of his music in Hertfordshire. Happily married to his wife (who was cut off from her family for marrying a Catholic), his granddaughter married the pioneer of the Sunday School movement.
Elgar first discovered Herefordshire as a young man. He often travelled by bicycle from his home in Worcester, soaking in the rural scenery. Locals still remember stories of Elgar sitting under the trees, jotting down themes that would appear in his music.
Edward was what we would today call an ‘English eccentric’. He named his bicycle (Mr Phoebus) and created handmade soap (a bit dangerous, due to caustic soda).
He was an avid fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers, and would cycle 40 miles from his home in the Malverns, to watch them play. He even wrote England’s first national anthem (no doubt more lyrical than ‘It’s coming home, it’s coming home, football’s coming home!)
