The Internet provides a means for far flung Elgarians to keep in touch,
exchanging views and information on matters of common interest. The following have asked for
their e-mail addresses to be included on this page so that other Elgarians can contact them:
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Anthony Anderson (e-mail address :
anthonya@usc.edu)
Anthony is a librarian at the University of Southern California. A member
of the Elgar Society, he has twice travelled to Malvern to attend the Society's Annual General
Meeting. An ardent
Internet enthusiast, to which he has access through the University, he has constructed his own
web site on which he provides an entertaining personal account of the 1995 AGM weekend. This
can be found at
http://isd.usc.edu/~anthonya/elgar.htm
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Daniel Baldwin (e-mail address :
baldwin@baermarks.com)
Daniel Baldwin is a real estate lawyer who lives in NYC. He hasn't had
much musical training, but is a life-long lover of classical music. Until recently, though,
he had little familiarity with Elgar's work. However, a few weeks ago, he began a period
of intensive listening, and has quickly become a budding Elgarian. So far, the work which
has the greatest emotional resonance for him is "Gerontius"; he has acquired the Britten,
Boult, Sargent ('45) and Barbirolli ('64) recordings, and is on the hunt for the '57
Barbirolli recording from a Rome radio broadcast, with Jon Vickers.
Any pointers would be appreciated. Daniel's other current listening
passions are the piano playing of Glenn Gould, and the Oratorios of Handel.
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Evan Blake (e-mail address : evanblake@juno.com)
Evan discovered Elgar's music some fifteen years ago via the Piano
Quintet and has since acquired a large collection representing almost every work of his that has
been recorded. However, his favourite remains The Enigma Variations, notably the "Nimrod"
Variation.
Evan is not a musician nor especially knowledgable about music, merely an avid lover of a
wide variety, with a predilection for 20th century English music including Arnold, Alwyn, Bax
and the few extant pieces of Butterworth. Evan's field is theatre, specifically, playwriting, at
which he has had a good deal of success. Among his work is a play entitled The Enigma
Variations, suggested by and loosely modelled on Sir Edward's suite. At present, Evan is
trying to market it in the UK, having had no luck in the US where old-fashioned, period,
comic romances, particularly those set in England, are not American producers' cups of tea.
Evan would welcome from Society members suggestions about potential venues in Britain
which might be interested in such a work, particularly in view of the impending hundredth
anniversary of the Suite.
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Giordana Cross (e-mail address :
begbc@arcom.com.au)
My name is Giordana Cross. I currently live in Adelaide, Australia. I do
not have any formal music background. My background is in nutrition and I am currently
working in research and evaluation at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide. As well
as having a keen interest and passion for Elgar's music, I also have a wide range of interest in
classical music. My interest in Elgar first occurred some years ago with his Enigma Variations.
I am also interested in literature written about Elgar. This, as well as CDs, are not always easy to
find in Adelaide.
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Chris Goddard (e-mail address :
chris.goddard@ukonline.co.uk)
Chris is a Chartered Librarian working for the public library
service in Plymouth, Devon. He's loved Elgar's music for as long as he can
remember, and particularly treasures a memory of visiting the Birthplace
when he was 17 and being able to handle and read from the Powick Asylum
music. His interest continued with the reissues of Elgar's recordings in the
1970s. He managed to play parts of the Third Symphony from the printed
sketches in 1979! He has one special Elgar wish - to see a revival of "The
Starlight Express" staged sensitively with all the original music, and
played by an orchestra.
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Edmund Green (e-mail address :
debedg@earthlink.net)
I am a member of the Elgar Society, and a native resident of San Francisco.
I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Business
Administration and have been practicing as a certified public accountant in my own
accounting firm in San Francisco. My love of Elgar's music began when I heard Pierre
Monteux conduct the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in the Enigma Variations. I have
subscribed to both the San Francisco Symphony and Opera for over forty years.
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Scott Grunow (e-mail address :
Cobelli@aol.com)
Scott Grunow has an M.A. in English literature from Dominican University
in Chicago, Illinois and studied for a semester at the University of London. His specialty
is seventeenth century religious poetry, especially Henry Vaughan. Scott has studied
Elgar's settings of Vaughan's poems and has given presentations on The Dream of
Gerontius in both academic and public settings.
He supports British music activities in Chicago (of which there are, alas, few) and
attended the first Chicago performance of Holst's Choral Symphony last summer in
Grant Park. He looks forward to the first Chicago Symphony performance of Gerontius
under Barenboim in the spring of 2002.
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Terry Harriman (e-mail address :
terry.harriman2006@virgin.net
)
Terry is a music teacher in Sheffield, South Yorkshire -
having been Head of Music at a Comprehensive School for many years, he now
teaches piano both at the Sheffield College and at home. Although a newcomer to
the Internet, Terry has been a member of the Elgar Society since 1992. He regularly travels to
the Malvern area to visit the various Elgar locations and of course to walk on his 'beloved'
hills. He also has an ever-growing collection of books, recordings and photographs along with
a scrap book filled with miscellaneous items concerning Elgar. Terry is an Elgar enthusiast in
all
things Elgarian!
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Digby Hague-Holmes (e-mail address :
DHagueholm@aol.com)
Digby is not an amateur musician but a professional music-lover, with a
particular devotion to Elgar's works. Digby has been a member of the society
for over twenty years now, and currently lives in Gillingham, Dorset. He does
quite a lot of lecturing to the National Association of Decorative and Fine
Art Societies around the UK, with Elgar as one of the more popular topics.
In February-March 2002 he will be doing a lecture tour of the NADFA Societies
in Australia, and thus would welcome contact with any keen Elgarians
beforehand.
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Ruth and Bob Hellen (e-mail address :
r-hellen@msn.com)
Ruth and Bob are both retired librarians. Ruth is still involved with the International
Association of Music Libraries (IAML) and is also Secretary of the London Branch of the Elgar Society.
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John Kelly is the London Branch Treasurer and, as Acting
Secretary of the National Society, he organised the 1996 AGM weekend activities
at Malvern. He lives in Epsom, Surrey and, until retirement, worked in banking.
John doesn't have access to the Internet (yet) but is a keen amateur radio ham and
would welcome contact over the airwaves with other Elgarians. His radio call sign is :
G3YGG
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Elena Kuznetsova (e-mail address :
alenka_myth@yahoo.com)
Elena is a Russian musicologist. She graduated from the Moscow Conservatory
2 years ago (diploma project "Edward Elgar and his symphonies"). Now
Elena continues to study Elgar`s music as a post-graduated student of the
Moscow Conservatory (History and Theory of Music Department). She also
teaches History of Music in the College of Music under the Moscow Conservatory.
Elgar`s music infatuated her in 1992, when she could hear records of some
of his works: the Dream of Gerontius, the Cello Concerto, the Enigma
Variations and the Symphony No 1 (In Russia, Elgar's works are almost never
performed - occasionally only the Enigma; also Elgar's score and books
about Elgar are rarities). Since 1992 Elgar and his works are Elena`s main
musical interest and passion.
Elgar`s Music is insufficiently known in Russia and Elena would like to
associate with Elgar enthusiasts in all things Elgarian.
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Barry Marsh (e-mail address :
bmarsh@eclipse.co.uk)
Barry first encountered Elgar's music as a chorister in Chichester
Cathedral when he sang Great is the Lord. His parents took him to performances of
Gerontius conducted by Barbirolli and Sargent. A large record collection began at
the same time as Sir Adrian Boult embarked on his series of Elgar recordings in the 1960s. In
1976 a chance meeting with fellow Elgarian Alan Childs in Norwich led to the formation of the
East Anglian Branch of the Elgar Society. Since then Barry has gone on to research other
lesser-known composers of English Music, in particular E.J.Moeran, who was the subject of a
BBC Radio Norfolk documentary which Barry wrote and presented in 1984. This has led to
articles, CD notes and lectures to various societies. Now a full-length biography of Moeran,
My Friends Call Me Jack is in preparation. Barry's latest project has been the completion
of a radio play about Elgar's last day in Severn House, The Dreamer of Dreams,
co-written with his friend Alan Childs. Barry now lives in Devon with his wife and two children,
but always enjoys accepting invitations to talk to Elgar Society branches on...well, anything to do
with his favourite composer!
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Barry Morentz (e-mail address :
bardmore@earthlink.net)
I am a professional calligrapher, bookbinder, and box-maker in New York
City, with graduate degrees in Medieval History and Comparative
Literature.Although I have no formal musical training, I have been an avid
opera and classical music enthusiast since my teen years.In 1981 I
discovered Elgar via a mesmerizing performance of the Cello Concerto, and
threw myself into a near total investigation of his music; the first
hearing of the Adagio from the 1st Symphony left me spellbound.In 1995 I
walked up the road to his birthplace, headset in place, listening to . . .
the Adagio!And last year I had the great good fortune to hear Gerontius at
Avery Fisher Hall, in a way I had never before heard it.It is now a work I
simply cannot live without, and look forward to going to Worcester in 2004,
when I believe it will be performed in the Cathedral.
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David Morris (e-mail address : dmorris@gotadsl.co.uk)
David has been a prominent member of the Elgar Society for many
years, having served as National Treasurer and more recently as National Membership
Secretary (a post he still holds), before being elected Vice Chairman of the
Society at the 1996 AGM. David works in Central London but is a member of
the West Midlands branch of the Society.
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Carl Newton (e-mail address :
dsltd@globalnet.co.uk)
Carl is Honorary Archivist of the Elgar Society. He is a professional
archivist by training, but now runs a document control consultancy. His interest in Elgar began
on 25 April 1947 when, as a boy at his first-ever symphony concert in Leeds Town Hall, he
heard
the Enigma Variations. He joined the Elgar Society in 1984 and has been a member of the
National Committee.
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John Norris and Ann Vernau
(e-mail address :
jnorris@pavilion.co.uk)
Ann and John live in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire and work in Central
London. John is on the Society's National Council and was also the London Branch's membership
secretary, positions that led to him rather foolishly volunteering to help set up this web site.
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Mark Pallant (e-mail address :
craeglea@yahoo.com)
Mark was originally a member of the Elgar Society about 10 years ago and
renewed his subscription last year, attending the Birthday Weekend, which he greatly
enjoyed.
Mark is Director of Music at St. Aidan's CE High School, Harrogate and is notorious amongst his A-level students for
finding an Elgarian example of practically every aspect of musical study! A few years ago Mark
organised an Elgarian Weekend for A-level students, which took in several Elgar locations,
including the Birthplace, a visit to Worcester Cathedral for a performance of Gerontius and a
good deal of walking on the Hills, a venture that Mark hopes to repeat soon.
The Elgar Birthplace is a kind of spiritual home for Mark, having visited it many times. The
first visit proved to be easily remembered, as it was sitting in pub next door that Mark heard of
the death of another famous musician who features in his school music curriculum : Elvis
Presley!
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Paul Rooke (e-mail address :
paulrooke@hotmail.com)
Paul was for a number of years the Society's national Publicity Officer,
having taken over from Ian Lace. In 2002 he relinquished this post to become one of the
Society`s three International Co-ordinators, the Society`s Council being of the opinion that
the international affairs of the Society were now becoming of sufficient importance - thanks
in great part to the Society`s web site and to international communication by e-mail - as to
merit a team of Internatioal Co-ordinators, all of whom have internet access.
Paul lives in Hertfordshire. Having taught music for 35 years in secondary
schools in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex, he left teaching in October 2002 and
now works freelance. At present he is combining his two favourite hobbies (music and
computing) by transcribing from a photocopy of the composer`s manuscript the opera The
Queen of Cornwall by Rutland Boughton for The Rutland Boughton Music Trust.
Paul is a talented musician in a number of respects and enjoys working as
conductor, composer and arranger, pianist and organist and teacher. In 1996 he organised and
conducted excellent public performances of King Olaf and The Light of Life. In November 2001 his Symphony No. 1 in
D was given its world premiere, this being followed in June 2002 by the world premiere of
a commissioned choral work, The Selfish Giant. He is now working on a Symphony No.
2 in C.
In November 2001 his web site :
pauladrianrooke.com was launched onto the Internet. This contains a biography, cv,
list of compositions and conducting repertoire, details of hobbies and interests - and some
very dodgy pictures!
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Aaron Z Snyder (e-mail address :
azs@alum.mit.edu)
Aaron is a partner in a fiber optics supply company (Optimark Fiber Optics),
located in the Boston, Massachusetts (definitely *not* Lincs.) area. He
discovered the depth of Elgar's output when Sir John Barbirolli
guest-conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the Second
Symphony in the mid-1960s, and has since-then been "hooked." He even began
tampering with the sketches for the Third Symphony, using Billy Reed's
biography, a few years before Anthony Payne's official commission was
disclosed. (Although these efforts at tampering still remain incomplete, the
exercise was invaluable in understanding Payne's processes of elaboration.)
Aaron also has been active in restoring old recordings, mostly for the Music
& Arts label. He has recently worked out a method for restoring deep bass to
acoustical recordings, and hopes that some day he will have time to try his
hand at some of the Elgar acousticals.
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Lani Spahr (e-mail address :
LaniSpahr@mediaone.net)
Lani is a professional oboist in the US. At present he is specializing
in period instruments and plays with the Handel & Haydn Society
Orchestra, Boston and with Boston Baroque. He has also performed with
many of the leading period instrument orchestras in the US, such as
Philharmonia Baroque, Philadelphia Classical Orchestra, and Concert
Royal in New York City.
His interest in Elgar (apart from Enigma) began when he was a member of
the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra (Colorado) and performed The Dream of Gerontius. Since then he
has amassed a large collection of records, music scores and books on Elgar.
You may also like to see Lani's
Elgar Photo Album on his web site.
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Patrick Turner (e-mail address :
patrick_501@hotmail.com)
Patrick, a long-standing member of the Elgar Society, has been passionately
involved with Elgar's music for over twenty-five years. Born in Herefordshire, he was educated
at Monmouth School and Jesus College, Oxford, where he read modern languages. He has since
pursued a career in business, working mainly in Europe. He now lives near Barcelona and is
currently Research Programme Manager at INSEAD, the business school in Fontainebleau. He
is, however, better known to most Elgarians as the author of the book, published in February
1999, entitled "Elgar's 'Enigma' Variations - a centenary celebration".
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John Wagstaff (e-mail address :
jwags@mnet.fr)
John is an Elgar Society member living in the south of France. It was
his
suggestion that this page should appear on the web site. John is active in the local
music scene (he is an adviser to the Montpellier Philharmonic Orchestra) and is
acutely conscious of the lack of appreciation of Elgar outside the UK. He is interested
in exchanging views on the relative merits of recordings of The
Dream of Gerontius. Another of John's passions (with a capital P, he tells me) is
cricket, something
which is presumably as difficult to find in the south of France as Elgar.
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If you would like to exchange views with other Elgarians and would
therefore like your e-mail address to appear on this page,please send it with a brief
description of your particular interests to info@elgar.org
