Editing Edward Elgar (section)

===National and international fame===
[[File:JHNewman.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=head and shoulders portrait of an elderly man looking directly at the painter. He wears the red cassock and skull cap of a Roman Catholic cardinal|[[John Henry Newman|Cardinal Newman]], author of the text of ''The Dream of Gerontius'']]
Elgar's biographer Basil Maine commented, "When Sir Arthur Sullivan died in 1900 it became apparent to many that Elgar, although a composer of another build, was his true successor as first musician of the land."<ref name=maine/> Elgar's next major work was eagerly awaited.<ref>Reed, p. 59</ref> For the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival of 1900, he set Cardinal [[John Henry Newman]]'s poem ''[[The Dream of Gerontius]]'' for soloists, chorus and orchestra. Richter conducted the premiere, which was marred by a poorly prepared chorus, which sang badly.<ref>Reed, p. 60</ref> Critics recognised the mastery of the piece despite the defects in performance.<ref name=dnb/> It was performed in [[Düsseldorf]], Germany, in 1901 and again in 1902, conducted by [[Julius Buths]], who also conducted the European premiere of the ''Enigma Variations'' in 1901. The German press was enthusiastic. ''The Cologne Gazette'' said, "In both parts we meet with beauties of imperishable value.&nbsp;... Elgar stands on the shoulders of Berlioz, Wagner, and [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]], from whose influences he has freed himself until he has become an important individuality. He is one of the leaders of musical art of modern times." ''The Düsseldorfer Volksblatt'' wrote, "A memorable and epoch-making first performance! Since the days of Liszt nothing has been produced in the way of oratorio&nbsp;... which reaches the greatness and importance of this sacred cantata."<ref>"The German Press on Dr. Elgar's 'Dream of Gerontius{{' "}}, ''The Musical Times'', 1 February 1902, p. 100</ref> Richard Strauss, then widely viewed as the leading composer of his day,<ref name=reed61>Reed, p. 61</ref> was so impressed that in Elgar's presence he proposed a toast to the success of "the first English progressive musician, Meister Elgar."<ref name=reed61/>{{refn|Strauss and Elgar remained on friendly terms for the rest of Elgar's life, and Strauss paid him a warm obituary tribute in 1934.<ref name="mt322"/>| group= n}} Performances in Vienna, Paris and New York followed,<ref name=grove/><ref>"First Performances in Foreign Countries", ''The Musical Times'', April 1934, p. 318</ref> and ''The Dream of Gerontius'' soon became equally admired in Britain. According to Kennedy, "It is unquestionably the greatest British work in the oratorio form&nbsp;... [it] opened a new chapter in the English choral tradition and liberated it from its Handelian preoccupation."<ref name=dnb/> Elgar, as a Roman Catholic, was much moved by Newman's poem about the death and redemption of a sinner, but some influential members of the Anglican establishment disagreed. His colleague, [[Charles Villiers Stanford]] complained that the work "stinks of incense".<ref>Grogan, Christopher, "Elgar, Newman and 'The Dream of Gerontius'", ''Music & Letters'', Vol. 77, No. 4 (November 1996), pp. 629–32</ref> The [[Dean (Christianity)|Dean]] of [[Gloucester Cathedral|Gloucester]] banned ''Gerontius'' from his cathedral in 1901, and at Worcester the following year, the Dean insisted on expurgations before allowing a performance.<ref>Lewis, Geraint, "A Cathedral in Sound", ''Gramophone'', September 2008, p. 50. Retrieved 1 June 2010.</ref>

[[File:Clara-butt-crop.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Head and shoulders shot of an Edwardian woman with dark hair, looking towards the camera|[[Clara Butt]], first singer of Elgar's "Land of Hope and Glory"]]
Elgar is probably best known for the first of the five ''[[Pomp and Circumstance Marches]]'', which were composed between 1901 and 1930.<ref name=kpc>Kennedy (1970), pp. 38–39</ref> It is familiar to millions of television viewers all over the world every year who watch the [[Last Night of the Proms]],<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/09_september/07/proms.shtml "Last Night of the Proms set to reach largest ever global audience"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319060540/https://edigitalsurvey.com/l.php?id=INS-642345567&v=7038&x=1600&y=1000&d=24&c=null&ck=1&p=%2Fpressoffice%2Fpressreleases%2Fstories%2F2009%2F09_september%2F07%2Fproms.shtml&fu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fpressoffice%2Fpressreleases%2Fstories%2F2009%2F09_september%2F07%2Fproms.shtml&xdm=edr&xdm_o=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk&xdm_c=edr0 |date=19 March 2021 }}, BBC, 7 September 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2010</ref> where it is traditionally performed. When the theme of the slower middle section (technically called the "[[Ternary form|trio]]") of the first march came into his head, he told his friend Dora Penny, "I've got a tune that will knock 'em&nbsp;– will knock 'em flat".<ref>Kennedy, Michael, Liner note (orig. 1977) to EMI CD CDM 5-66323-2</ref> When the first march was played in 1901 at a London Promenade Concert, it was conducted by [[Henry Wood]], who later wrote that the audience "rose and yelled&nbsp;... the one and only time in the history of the Promenade concerts that an orchestral item was accorded a double encore."<ref>Wood, p. 154</ref> To mark the [[coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra|coronation of Edward VII]], Elgar was commissioned to set [[A. C. Benson]]'s ''Coronation Ode'' for a gala concert at the Royal Opera House on 30 June 1902. The approval of the [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|king]] was confirmed, and Elgar began work. The [[contralto]] [[Clara Butt]] had persuaded him that the trio of the first ''Pomp and Circumstance'' march could have words fitted to it, and Elgar invited Benson to do so. Elgar incorporated the new vocal version into the Ode. The publishers of the score recognised the potential of the vocal piece, "[[Land of Hope and Glory]]", and asked Benson and Elgar to make a further revision for publication as a separate song.<ref>Moore (1984), pp. 364–67</ref> It was immensely popular and is now considered an unofficial British national anthem.<ref name=dnb/> In the United States, the trio, known simply as "Pomp and Circumstance" or "The Graduation March", has been adopted since 1905 for virtually all high school and university graduations.<ref name=grad>[http://www.elgar.org/3pomp-b.htm "Why Americans graduate to Elgar"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706025349/http://www.elgar.org/3pomp-b.htm |date=6 July 2011 }}, The Elgar Society. Retrieved 5 June 2010.</ref><ref>Hoffman, Miles, [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1273081 "''Pomp and Circumstance'': Familiar Standard Marches Ahead of Competitors"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319060555/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1273081 |date=19 March 2021 }}, NPR Music. Retrieved 25 October 2010.</ref>

In March 1904 a three-day festival of Elgar's works was presented at Covent Garden, an honour never before given to any English composer. ''[[The Times]]'' commented, "Four or five years ago if any one had predicted that the Opera-house would be full from floor to ceiling for the performance of an oratorio by an English composer he would probably have been supposed to be out of his mind."<ref name=times150304>"Concerts", ''The Times'', 15 March 1904, p. 8</ref> The king and [[Alexandra of Denmark|queen]] attended the first concert, at which Richter conducted ''The Dream of Gerontius'',<ref name=times150304/> and returned the next evening for the second, the London premiere of ''[[The Apostles (Elgar)|The Apostles]]'' (first heard the previous year at the Birmingham Festival).<ref>"The Elgar Festival", ''The Times'', 16 March 1904, p. 12</ref> The final concert of the festival, conducted by Elgar, was primarily orchestral, apart for an excerpt from ''Caractacus'' and the complete ''[[Sea Pictures]]'' (sung by Clara Butt). The orchestral items were ''Froissart'', the ''Enigma Variations'', ''[[Cockaigne (In London Town)|Cockaigne]]'', the first two (at that time the only two) ''Pomp and Circumstance'' marches, and the premiere of a new orchestral work, ''[[In the South (Alassio)|In the South]]'', inspired by a holiday in Italy.<ref>"The Elgar Festival", ''The Times'', 17 March 1904, p. 8</ref>

[[File:Mason Science College.png|thumb|right|alt=drawing of exterior of Victorian neo-gothic building|[[Mason College]], which housed the Faculty of Arts at the [[University of Birmingham]] when Elgar was Peyton Professor of Music]]
Elgar was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] at Buckingham Palace on 5 July 1904.<ref>"Birthday Honours", ''The Times'', 24 June 1904, p. 12</ref> The following month, he and his family moved to Plâs Gwyn,<ref>[https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/738652 "Elgar Court, once known as Plas Gwyn"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605021920/http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/738652 |date=5 June 2011 }}, Geograph. Retrieved 29 October 2010</ref> a large house on the outskirts of [[Hereford]], overlooking the [[River Wye]], where they lived until 1911.<ref name=dnb/> Between 1902 and 1914, Elgar was, in Kennedy's words, at the zenith of popularity.<ref name=dnb/> He made four visits to the US, including one conducting tour, and earned considerable fees from the performance of his music. Between 1905 and 1908, he held the post of Peyton Professor of Music at the [[University of Birmingham]].<ref name=grove/> He had accepted the post reluctantly, feeling that a composer should not head a school of music.<ref>Moore (1984), p. 446</ref> He was not at ease in the role,<ref>Reed, p. 92</ref> and his lectures caused controversy, with his attacks on the critics<ref>Reed, p. 89</ref>{{refn|Elgar's principal target was [[John Alexander Fuller Maitland|J.A. Fuller Maitland]], music critic of ''The Times'', whose patronising obituary of Arthur Sullivan repelled Elgar;<ref>Fuller Maitland, J. A., "Sir Arthur Sullivan", ''[[Cornhill Magazine]]'', March 1901, pp. 300–09</ref> in his Birmingham lectures he alluded to it as "the shady side of musical criticism&nbsp;... that foul unforgettable episode."<ref>Young (1971), p. 264</ref>|group= n}} and on English music in general: "Vulgarity in the course of time may be refined. Vulgarity often goes with inventiveness&nbsp;... but the commonplace mind can never be anything but commonplace. An Englishman will take you into a large room, beautifully proportioned, and will point out to you that it is white – all over white – and somebody will say, 'What exquisite taste'. You know in your own mind, in your own soul, that it is not taste at all, that it is the want of taste, that is mere evasion. English music is white, and evades everything." He regretted the controversy and was glad to hand on the post to his friend [[Granville Bantock]] in 1908.<ref>Reed, p. 97</ref> His new life as a celebrity was a mixed blessing to the highly strung Elgar, as it interrupted his privacy, and he often was in ill-health. He complained to Jaeger in 1903, "My life is one continual giving up of little things which I love."<ref>Kennedy (1987a), p. 144</ref> Both [[W. S. Gilbert]] and [[Thomas Hardy]] sought to collaborate with Elgar in this decade. Elgar refused, but would have collaborated with [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw]] had Shaw been willing.<ref>Anderson, pp. 115–16</ref>

Elgar paid three visits to the USA between 1905 and 1911. His first was to conduct his music and to accept a doctorate from [[Yale University]].<ref name=grove/>{{refn|This was the occasion on which the American tradition of playing the trio of the first Pomp and Circumstance March at graduation ceremonies originated. On that occasion Elgar met [[Horatio Parker]], composer and Dean of the Department of Music at Yale, who then played "Pomp and Circumstance" on the organ.<ref>Moore (1987), p.462</ref> It may have been this meeting that lead to an invitation to contribute some songs to a specially designed series of music instruction books for children of which Parker was principal editor.<ref>''The Progressive Music Series, Books One, Two, Three & Four'', Silver, Burdett & Co., 1914</ref> For that series Elgar wrote three little songs: ''The Merry-go-round'', ''The Brook'', and ''The Windlass Song''.|group=n}} His principal composition in 1905 was the ''[[Introduction and Allegro (Elgar)|Introduction and Allegro for Strings]]'', dedicated to [[Samuel Sanford]]. It was well received but did not catch the public imagination as ''The Dream of Gerontius'' had done and continued to do. Among keen Elgarians, however, ''The Kingdom'' was sometimes preferred to the earlier work: Elgar's friend [[Leo Frank Schuster|Frank Schuster]] told the young [[Adrian Boult]]: "compared with ''The Kingdom'', ''Gerontius'' is the work of a raw amateur."<ref>Kennedy (1987b), p. 29</ref>

As Elgar approached his fiftieth birthday, he began work on his first symphony, a project that had been in his mind in various forms for nearly ten years.<ref>Reed, p. 96</ref> His [[Symphony No. 1 (Elgar)|First Symphony]] (1908) was a national and international triumph. Within weeks of the premiere it was performed in New York under [[Walter Damrosch]], Vienna under [[Ferdinand Löwe]], St Petersburg under [[Alexander Siloti]], and Leipzig under [[Arthur Nikisch]]. There were performances in Rome, Chicago, Boston, Toronto and fifteen British towns and cities. In just over a year, it received a hundred performances in Britain, America and continental Europe.<ref name="mt1209">"Elgar's Symphony", ''The Musical Times'', 1 February 1909, p. 102</ref>

[[File:Kreisler.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=photograph of a middle aged man with a small moustache and bow-tie, looking towards the camera|[[Fritz Kreisler]], dedicatee of Elgar's Violin Concerto]]
The [[Violin Concerto (Elgar)|Violin Concerto]] (1910) was commissioned by [[Fritz Kreisler]], one of the leading international violinists of the time. Elgar wrote it during the summer of 1910, with occasional help from W. H. Reed, the leader of the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] (LSO), who helped the composer with advice on technical points. Elgar and Reed formed a firm friendship, which lasted for the rest of Elgar's life. Reed's biography, ''Elgar As I Knew Him'' (1936), records many details of Elgar's methods of composition.<ref>Reed, p. 102</ref> The work was presented by the [[Royal Philharmonic Society]], with Kreisler and the LSO, conducted by the composer. Reed recalled, "the Concerto proved to be a complete triumph, the concert a brilliant and unforgettable occasion."<ref name=reed103>Reed, p. 103</ref> So great was the impact of the concerto that Kreisler's rival [[Eugène Ysaÿe]] spent much time with Elgar going through the work. There was great disappointment when contractual difficulties prevented Ysaÿe from playing it in London.<ref name=reed103/>

The Violin Concerto was Elgar's last popular triumph. The following year he presented his [[Symphony No. 2 (Elgar)|Second Symphony]] in London, but was disappointed at its reception. Unlike the First Symphony, it ends not in a blaze of orchestral splendour but quietly and contemplatively. Reed, who played at the premiere, later wrote that Elgar was recalled to the platform several times to acknowledge the applause, "but missed that unmistakable note perceived when an audience, even an English audience, is thoroughly roused or worked up, as it was after the Violin Concerto or the First Symphony."<ref name=reed105>Reed, p. 105</ref> Elgar asked Reed, "What is the matter with them, Billy? They sit there like a lot of stuffed pigs."<ref name=reed105/> The work was, by normal standards, a success, with twenty-seven performances within three years of its premiere, but it did not achieve the international ''furore'' of the First Symphony.<ref name=mason/>