Edward Elgar (1857–1934) was an English composer who revived the glory of British symphonic music after an almost two-hundred-year pause that had lasted since the time of Henry Purcell. Largely self-taught, he rose to the summits of the European musical world.
His most famous works are the Enigma Variations, each movement of which is a musical portrait of one of the composer's friends; the ceremonial Pomp and Circumstance marches (the first of which became an unofficial anthem of Britain); and the poignant Cello Concerto. Elgar's music combines late-Romantic splendour, noble restraint, and deep lyricism. He became a symbol of the English musical tradition and an inspiration for later generations of British composers.
