Edward Elgar (1857 - 1934)
British
composer of choral, orchestral, chamber, and instrumental music.
Known for the oratorio "The Dream of Gerontius" (1900) and the tone
poem "Enigma Variations" (1899). A chronological list of Elgar's
works is like an autobiography of his interior life within English society,
from the early choral works about the "hero" bringing new vision and even
a childlike sense of wonder ("The Black Knight" op. 25, 1889), to the mysterious
tone poems that, while they lack a specific program, often contain musical
portraits of friends and family in the process of self-discovery (Enigma
Variations), and finally to the stark landscape and lone-survivor solos
of the "Concerto for Cello & Orchestra in e minor" (1919). He is known
for developing a unique variation technique for symphonic writing and for
the popular Pomp and Circumstance March no. 1.