Sir Edward Elgar (b. 1857, Broadheath, England; d. 1934, London)

Countless graduation ceremonies feature Edward Elgar’s most famous composition, “Pomp and Circumstance March.” The piece has royal associations. At His Majesty’s request, an adaptation of the composition was performed at the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. The work catapulted Elgar to international fame, but he never matched its success. He later said, “A melody like that comes along once in a lifetime.”

As a youth, Elgar played numerous instruments and conducted and arranged music for vocal and instrumental ensembles. He had little academic guidance in these endeavors. He emulated the work of several composers, particularly Wagner, whose Parsifal greatly influenced Elgar.

Elgar’s output includes music for two children’s plays, The Wand of Youth and The Starlight Express; symphonies and other orchestral works, including the popular Enigma Variations and his elegiac tone poem, Falstaff; a cello concerto; solo works for violin; chamber works; and oratorios, the most famous of which is the Dream of Gerontius. During the last 15 years of his life he struggled with various large projects but finished only a few small pieces.