Current Banknotes
Sir Edward Elgar 1857-1934
Edward Elgar was born in 1857 on the outskirts of Worcester, in the village of Lower Broadheath. His father was a music-shop keeper and when Elgar was two he and his family moved to Worcester, close to the cathedral..The cathedral was central in the development of his musical talent. The cathedral has an ancient music library, and the young Elgar was allowed to borrow musical scores from there to study. Of equal importance, it was at the cathedral that the 9-year old Elgar first heard a full orchestra, at a rehearsal for a Three Choirs concert.
Largely self-taught, he achieved great eminence in the musical world in the years leading up to the First World War. He first came to national attention when he was 42, with the publication and performance of his Enigma Variations. This success was followed by a series of works drawing deeply on the English oratorio tradition – The Dream of Gerontius The Apostles and The Kingdom.
He consolidated an international reputation with his symphonies and such works as the Violin Concerto which was famously recorded in Elgar’s lifetime with the young Yehudi Menuhin as soloist.
Elgar died in 1934, and his work initially fell out of fashion, being considered quintessentially Edwardian with little relevance to a later age. In more recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in his music, with his position in the mainstream of Western musical development now clearly established.
Elgar spent the majority of his life in Worcester. The city,
in particular its catherdral (pictured on the back of the note),
played a central part in his life. The first performance of
the full version of the Enigma Variations took place in Worcester
Cathedral at the 1899 Three Choirs Festival.
