Sir Edward Elgar was English, as you may have guessed by the "Sir." To be called by the title "Sir," a man must be "knighted" by the sovereign. Elgar was knighted in 1904 in recognition of his contribution to English music. 

When Queen Victoria died in 1901 her eldest son became King Edward VII. Elgar was asked to provide music for Edward's coronation. He composed Pomp and Circumstance. It is music made for ceremonies and great occasions. That is why you will hear it at almost every grade school, high school, and college graduation.

Elgar composed violin and cello concertos and two symphonies. He also composed a work known as the Enigma Variations. (An enigma is a puzzle.) There were fourteen variations. Each variation, except the last, was dedicated to a friend. He dedicated the last variation to himself. According to Elgar, there is a theme that underlies the whole work. The puzzle or "enigma" is this: What is the underlying theme?

Elgar produced many fine works, two symphonies, the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, several oratorios, several concert overtures, and chamber-music works. At the height of his success as a composer, he suddenly would write no more. His beloved wife had died and it destroyed his will to create.

For ten years Elgar did not compose. Finally in 1934 he wrote a hymn of prayer for the recovery of George V, then seriously ill. He had decided that he would work again and began writing his third symphony. However, he did not live to complete it as he underwent surgery for a tumor and never recovered.

While Elgar is a composer of the Modern Period, his music is not dissonant. He is more of the conservative tradition of Brahms and Schumann. He has a gift for creating melodies, and his music is warm and skillfully crafted.