Edward William Elgar was born on June 2nd, 1857, in Lower Broadheath, near Worcester, into a countryside idyll that would dominate his creativity for the rest of his life.¹⁾

Elgar worked as a musical odd-jobber, frequently accompanying local organizations and choirs and dabbling in composition.²⁾

Elgar was very fond of writing letters to his loved ones. His collected correspondence has been the topic of considerable literary and musical scholarly debate, whether it was dewy-eyed love letters to his wife and other muses or merely funny asides to colleagues.³⁾

While in Leipzig, Elgar paid a visit to his acquaintance Helen Weaver, with whom he married in 1883.⁴⁾

Elgar was knighted by King Edward VII in 1904, finally receiving the respect that his wife Alice felt he deserved.⁵⁾