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Sir Edward Elgar Essay

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“There is music in the air, music all around us, the world is full of it and you simply take as much as you require”-Sir Edward Elgar. Elgar was one of the 19th century’s most famous composers. He devoted his life to writing musical pieces such as Enigma Variations, The Dream of Gerontius, and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. Certain personality aspects of Elgar, such as his wit and creative humor, are found in his music and set him apart from the other composers of his time. Elgar was born in the small village Lower Broadheath England to a music dealer. He was the 4th of 7 siblings and was very precocious. Elgar grew up reading the writings of Voltaire and Longfellow, and began taking piano and violin lessons at age 8. Elgar …show more content…

Interestingly enough Elgar enjoyed working for the asylum. Elgar soon traveled to Leipzig Germany and Paris France where he spent most of his time attending concerts. During his travels he became greatly influenced by Richard Wagner who was a famous composer of the time. This inspired Elgar to increase his following and to publish some of his pieces. He often found himself financially unable to accomplish this goal. At age 29 he met Caroline Alice Roberts who was the daughter of General Sir Henry Roberts. She began taking music lessons from him and they married 3 years later. Although she was 8 years older than Elgar, and her parents did not approve, she had faith in him and married below her “class”. With his wife’s support he kept pursuing his dreams of becoming a famous composer. After several unsuccessful music ventures Elgar began to become popular in the 1890s. Most of his work came from choral festivals and such, but his fame did not arise until his first major orchestral work the Enigma Variations. Elgar wrote several other pieces that I mentioned earlier, but I will focus on the enigma variations because it is my favorite. This piece is especially unique because it is made up of 14 variations which each represent a friend of Elgar’s. The piece uses music to describe each individual, or as Elgar stated “my friends pictured within”-Sir Edward Elgar. For example, the first variation describing

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