Editing Edward Elgar (section)

===Early years===
Edward Elgar was born in the small village of [[Broadheath, Worcestershire|Lower Broadheath]], near [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], England, on 2 June 1857. His father, William Henry Elgar (1821–1906), was raised in [[Dover]] and had been apprenticed to a London music publisher. In 1841 William moved to Worcester, where he worked as a [[Piano tuning|piano tuner]] and set up a shop selling sheet music and musical instruments.<ref name=dnb>{{cite encyclopedia|author-link=Michael Kennedy (music critic)|last=Kennedy|first=Michael|title=Elgar, Sir Edward William, baronet (1857–1934)|encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32988}}</ref> In 1848 he married Ann Greening (1822–1902), daughter of a farm worker.<ref name=grove>McVeagh, Diana, [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000008709 "Elgar, Edward".] ''Grove Music Online''. Retrieved 20 April 2010 {{subscription}}. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323113507/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000008709 |date=dmy}}</ref>

Edward was the fourth of their seven children.{{refn|His siblings were Henry John ("Harry", 1848–1864), Lucy Ann ("Loo", 1852–1925), Susannah Mary ("Pollie", 1854–1925), Frederick Joseph ("Jo", 1859–1866), Francis Thomas ("Frank", 1861–1929), and Helen Agnes ("Dot", 1864–1939).<ref>Moore (1984), p. 14</ref>|group= n}} Ann Elgar had converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before Edward's birth, and he was baptised and brought up as a Roman Catholic, to the disapproval of his father.{{refn|William Elgar was evidently sceptical of ''any'' branch of the church: he wrote of "the absurd superstition and play-house mummery of the Papist; the cold and formal ceremonies of the Church of England; or the bigotry and rank hypocrisy of the Wesleyan".<ref>''Quoted'' in Moore (1984), p. 6</ref>|group= n}} William Elgar was a violinist of professional standard and held the post of organist of [[St George's Church, Worcester|St George's Roman Catholic Church, Worcester]], from 1846 to 1885. At his instigation, masses by [[Luigi Cherubini|Cherubini]] and [[Johann Nepomuk Hummel|Hummel]] were first heard at the [[Three Choirs Festival]] by the orchestra in which he played the violin.<ref name=mt00>"Edward Elgar", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', 1 October 1900, pp. 641–48</ref>

All the Elgar children received a musical upbringing. By the age of eight, Elgar was taking piano and violin lessons, and his father, who tuned the pianos at many grand houses in Worcestershire, would sometimes take him along, giving him the chance to display his skill to important local figures.<ref name=dnb/>
[[File:William-and-Ann-Elgar.jpg|thumb|left|alt=images of an elderly man in Victorian costume, seen in right profile, and of an elderly woman also in Victorian clothing, smiling towards the camera|Elgar's parents, William and Ann Elgar]]
Elgar's mother was interested in the arts and encouraged his musical development.<ref name=grove/> He inherited from her a discerning taste for literature and a passionate love of the countryside.<ref>Moore (1984), p. 11 and Kennedy (ODNB)</ref> His friend and biographer [[William Henry Reed|W. H. "Billy" Reed]] wrote that Elgar's early surroundings had an influence that "permeated all his work and gave to his whole life that subtle but none the less true and sturdy English quality".<ref>Reed, p. 1</ref>{{refn|Elgar himself later said, "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",<ref>In conversation in 1896, ''quoted'' by Buckley, p. 32</ref> and "The trees are singing my music – or have I sung theirs?"<ref>Beck, Frank, [http://www.elgar.org/3gerontt.htm "Elgar – His Music: ''The Dream of Gerontius'' – A Musical Analysis"], The Elgar Society. Retrieved 6 June 2010.</ref>|group= n}} He began composing at an early age; for a play written and acted by the Elgar children when he was about ten, he wrote music that forty years later he rearranged with only minor changes and orchestrated as the suites titled ''[[The Wand of Youth]]''.<ref name=grove/>

Until he was fifteen, Elgar received a general education at Littleton (now Lyttleton){{refn|1=It is spelt "Littleton" by all the Elgar authorities cited; however, some current sources, for example [http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1389994&resourceID=5 English Heritage], spell it "Lyttleton".|group= n}} House school, near Worcester. His only formal musical training beyond piano and violin lessons from local teachers consisted of more advanced violin studies with [[Adolf Pollitzer]], during brief visits to London in 1877–78. Elgar said, "my first music was learnt in the [[Worcester Cathedral|Cathedral]]&nbsp;... from books borrowed from the music library, when I was eight, nine or ten."<ref name=ODNBquote>''Quoted'' by Kennedy (ODNB)</ref> He worked through manuals of instruction on organ playing and read every book he could find on the theory of music.<ref name=mt00/> He later said that he had been most helped by [[Hubert Parry]]'s articles in the ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]''.<ref>Reed, p. 11</ref>

Elgar began to learn German, in the hope of going to the [[University of Music and Theatre Leipzig|Leipzig Conservatory]] for further musical studies, but his father could not afford to send him. Years later, a profile in ''[[The Musical Times]]'' considered that his failure to get to Leipzig was fortunate for Elgar's musical development: "Thus the budding composer escaped the dogmatism of the schools."<ref name=mt00/> However, it was a disappointment to Elgar that on leaving school in 1872 he went not to Leipzig but to the office of a local solicitor as a clerk. He did not find an office career congenial, and for fulfilment he turned not only to music but to literature, becoming a voracious reader.{{refn|A profile in ''The Musical Times'' reported that Elgar "read a great deal at this formulative period of his life.&nbsp;... In this way he made the acquaintance of [[Philip Sidney|Sir Philip Sidney]]'s ''[[Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia|Arcadia]]'', [[Richard Baker (chronicler)|Richard Baker]]'s ''Chronicles'', [[Michael Drayton]]'s ''[[Poly-Olbion|Polyolbion]]''", and the works of [[Voltaire]]."<ref>"Edward Elgar", ''The Musical Times'', 1 October 1900, pp. 641–48; and "Elgar, the man," ''[[The Observer]]'', 25 February 1934, p. 19</ref>|group= n}} Around this time, he made his first public appearances as a violinist and organist.<ref>Moore (1984), pp. 57, 67</ref>

After a few months, Elgar left the solicitor to embark on a musical career, giving piano and violin lessons and working occasionally in his father's shop.<ref name=dnb/> He was an active member of the Worcester [[Glee club]], along with his father, and he accompanied singers, played the violin, composed and arranged works, and conducted for the first time. Pollitzer believed that, as a violinist, Elgar had the potential to be one of the leading soloists in the country,<ref>"Edward Elgar", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 24 February 1934, p. 16</ref> but Elgar himself, having heard leading virtuosi at London concerts, felt his own violin playing lacked a full enough tone, and he abandoned his ambitions to be a soloist.<ref name=dnb/> At twenty-two he took up the post of conductor of the attendants' band at the [[Powick Hospital|Worcester and County Lunatic Asylum]] in [[Powick]], {{convert|3|mi|km|abbr=out|spell=on|sigfig=1}} from Worcester.<ref name=mt00/> The band consisted of: piccolo, flute, clarinet, two cornets, euphonium, three or four first and a similar number of second violins, occasional viola, cello, double bass and piano.<ref>Young (1973), p. 47</ref> Elgar coached the players and wrote and arranged their music, including [[quadrille]]s and polkas, for the unusual combination of instruments. ''The Musical Times'' wrote, "This practical experience proved to be of the greatest value to the young musician.&nbsp;... He acquired a practical knowledge of the capabilities of these different instruments.&nbsp;... He thereby got to know intimately the tone colour, the ins and outs of these and many other instruments."<ref name=mt00/> He held the post for five years, from 1879, travelling to Powick once a week.<ref name=dnb/> Another post he held in his early days was professor of the violin at the [[New College Worcester|Worcester College for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen]].<ref name=mt00/>

Although rather solitary and introspective by nature, Elgar thrived in Worcester's musical circles.<ref name=grove/> He played in the violins at the Worcester and [[Birmingham Triennial Music Festival|Birmingham]] Festivals, and one great experience was to play [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]]'s [[Symphony No. 6 (Dvořák)|Symphony No. 6]] and ''[[Stabat Mater (Dvořák)|Stabat Mater]]'' under the composer's baton.<ref name=maine>Maine, Basil, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/32988 "Elgar, Sir Edward William"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626095210/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/32988 |date=26 June 2013 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' archive, Oxford University Press, 1949. Retrieved 20 April 2010 {{subscription}}.</ref> Elgar regularly played the bassoon in a wind quintet, alongside his brother Frank, an oboist (and conductor who ran his own wind band).<ref name=mt00/> Elgar arranged numerous pieces by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]], and others for the quintet, honing his arranging and compositional skills.<ref name=mt00/>

[[File:schumann-brahms-rubinstein-wagner.jpg|thumb|left|alt=composite image of four head and shoulders images of nineteenth century men. Two are clean shaven, one has a full beard and one has side-whiskers.|[[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] and [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], ''top'', [[Anton Rubinstein|Rubinstein]] and [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], ''bottom'', whose music inspired Elgar in [[Leipzig]]]]
In his first trips abroad, Elgar visited Paris in 1880 and Leipzig in 1882. He heard [[Camille Saint-Saëns|Saint-Saëns]] play the organ at the [[Église de la Madeleine|Madeleine]] and attended concerts by first-rate orchestras. In 1882 he wrote, "I got pretty well dosed with [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] (my ideal!), [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], [[Anton Rubinstein|Rubinstein]] & [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], so had no cause to complain."<ref name=ODNBquote/> In Leipzig he visited a friend, Helen Weaver, who was a student at the Conservatoire. They became engaged in the summer of 1883, but for unknown reasons the engagement was broken off the next year.<ref name=dnb/> Elgar was greatly distressed, and some of his later cryptic dedications of romantic music may have alluded to Helen and his feelings for her.{{refn|Kennedy (ODNB) mentions the 'Romanza' variation (no.&nbsp;13) in the ''Enigma Variations'' and the Violin Concerto as possible examples, the former being headed "****" and the latter being inscribed as enshrining an unnamed soul.|group= n}} Throughout his life, Elgar was often inspired by close women friends; Helen Weaver was succeeded by [[Lady Mary Trefusis|Mary Lygon]], [[Dorabella Cipher#Background|Dora Penny]], Julia Worthington, Alice Stuart Wortley and finally Vera Hockman, who enlivened his old age.<ref>Moore (1984), pp. 96, 264, 348, 512, 574, and 811</ref>

In 1882, seeking more professional orchestral experience, Elgar was employed as a violinist in [[Birmingham]] in [[William Stockley's Orchestra]],<ref>Moore (1984), pp. 95–96</ref> for whom he played every concert for the next seven years<ref>Young (1995), p. 87</ref> and where he later said he "learned all the music I know".<ref>Moore (1984), p. 325</ref> On 13 December 1883 he took part with Stockley in a performance at [[Birmingham Town Hall]] of one of his first works for full orchestra, the ''Sérénade mauresque'' – the first time one of his compositions had been performed by a professional orchestra.<ref>Reed, pp. 17−18</ref> Stockley had invited him to conduct the piece but later recalled "he declined, and, further, insisted upon playing in his place in the orchestra. The consequence was that he had to appear, fiddle in hand, to acknowledge the genuine and hearty applause of the audience."<ref>''Quoted'' in "Edward Elgar", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', 1 October 1900, pp. 641–48</ref> Elgar often went to London in an attempt to get his works published, but this period in his life found him frequently despondent and low on money. He wrote to a friend in April 1884, "My prospects are about as hopeless as ever&nbsp;... I am not wanting in energy I think, so sometimes I conclude that 'tis want of ability.&nbsp;... I have no money&nbsp;– not a cent."<ref>Kennedy (1987a), p. 15</ref>