Edward Elgar

A concise illustrated biography of the famous composer, from a leading expert. Elgar was one of Britain's greatest composers, but his fame was hard-won. The son of a modest piano-tuner, born in a tiny cottage in rural Worcestershire, brought up as a Roman Catholic in Protestant England and denied the benefits of wealth, university education and formal music training, he overcame those disadvantages to become the most famous British composer of his generation, receiving many of the highest honours his nation could bestow upon him. While commonly associated with old-fashioned concepts of 'Empire' and nationalism for his best-known piece Land of Hope and Glory, and most admired for his Enigma Variations of 1899, Elgar in fact produced a stream of oratorios, symphonies, concertos, smaller orchestral pieces and chamber works - musical masterpieces that are still enjoyed today. This illustrated biography charts his turbulent life and extraordinary achievements.