Proms director Nicholas Kenyon launches our celebration of Edward Elgar's 150th birthday with an exploration of the composer's Englishness Listen to Elgar's Romance for bassoon and orchestra op.

Sir Edward Elgar ... his seven children. Elgar’s early talent was extraordinary. He learned to play the organ by watching his father Sunday mornings, taught himself the bassoon well enough ...

Edward Elgar said he learned to write for strings by listening to the music of Handel. Elgar based his Introduction and Allegro for String Quartet and String Orchestra on Handel's concerto grosso ...

When Edward Elgar ... major works, Elgar had written nothing of importance. Ten years later he was hailed by the conductor Hans Richter from Vienna as a master of the orchestra.

Completed in 1919, the Cello Concerto was Edward Elgar's last major work for orchestra, and his most confessional. In spite of fleeting moments of idyllic release, it's dominated by ...