ELGAR NETWORKING

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Related Sites

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The greatest challenge of the Internet is in ensuring that your site can be found by those with an interest in it. The Elgar Society is happy to help by providing a link from this site to other, related sites. So if you think we share a mutual interest and would like us to help direct people from this site to yours, please e-mail us at : info@elgar.org

In return, we hope you will provide us with similar assistance by means of a link from your site to ours : http://www/elgar/org

The William Alwyn Society was founded in 1995 with the following aims:
- to widen and deepen knowledge and appreciation of Alwyn's
music, writing and painting;
- to encourage public performances of Alwyn's work;
- to provide a forum within which members can share their
knowledge, appreciation and love of Alwyn's work;
- to consolidate links between members by the publication of
half-yearly newsletters and additional occasional mailings.
You can find out more by visiting their Web Site at :

http://www.musicweb.uk.net/alwyn/index.htm

Anthony Anderson is a librarian at the University of Southern California. A member of the Elgar Society, he has twice travelled to Malvern to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Elgar Society. His entertaining personal account of the 1995 AGM weekend (subtitled "A Californian Makes his Pilgrimage") can be found at:

http://isd.usc.edu/~anthonya/elgar.htm

The Barbirolli Society is dedicated to keeping alive the art of Sir John Barbirolli, the eminent conductor, through the release of his recordings. Sir John, best known for his long association with the Manchester (England)- based Halle Orchestra, continued to champion Elgar's works at a time when the composer's popularity was at a low ebb. In recognition of this, his widow Lady Barbirolli, President of the Barbirolli Society, is also a Vice President of the Elgar Society. To find out more about the Barbirolli Society, visit their web site at :

http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html.

The Berlioz Society - a non-profit-making organisation of persons with an interest in and a love of the music of the great French Composer Hector Berlioz (1803 -1869) - is a registered Charity. Chaired by David Cairns, author of the definitive two-volume life of the composer, the Society has an international membership including the world-renowned conductor Sir Colin Davis and Professor Hugh Macdonald, editor of the New Berlioz Edition.

The Society's aim is to increase the public's awareness of the life and works of this great composer, especially the lesser known works. To this end the Society organises meetings, weekends, conferences and publications, and other events.

http://www.theberliozsociety.org.uk.

The Arthur Bliss Society was founded in March 2003 with the aim of furthering the appreciation, understanding and knowledge of his music. The Committee has benefited from the support and encouragement of both Lady Bliss and George Dannatt, our President and Vice-President.

To find out more about the Society, visit their web site at :

www.users.waitrose.com/~arthurblisssoc.

The Bushey Symphony Orchestra under its conductor George Vass makes a point of including a range of British Music - well known and not so well known - in its concert seasons. The 2001-2002 season will include Malcolm Arnold's Symphony No. 2, Holst's Lyric Movement for viola and small orchestra, and Joseph Horovitz's Oboe Concerto, as well as music by Eric Coates, John Rutter,
Trevor Duncan and Bob Chilcott.

Recent seasons by this orchestra of near professional standard have included music by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Walton, Lennox Berkeley, Celia Harper and Gerald Finzi. Excerpts from the orchestra's performance of the Finzi Cello Concerto can be heard at:

The Frederick Delius Web Site is dedicated to providing resources and information relating to the English composer Frederic Delius.

Elgar on Delius:
“I motored over from Paris to see Delius who is much better than the dreary accounts led me to hope. We talked much of old things including old friends."

Delius on Elgar:
“His visit to me here when he spent an afternoon with me was quite an event in my life. It was the first time that the real Elgar was revealed to me and that I could talk intimately with him and that I had the opportunity of appreciating his fine intellect and affectionate nature. How I now regret that we were not brought together earlier!”

Elgar Birthplace Museum

The Elgar Birthplace Museum now has its own website. This can be accessed at

www.elgarmuseum.org

The Elgar Chorale

Founded by Donald Hunt in 1980, and first known as the Donald Hunt Singers, the group of up to 35 singers has established itself as one of the leading specialist choirs in the West Midlands. With a repertoire extending from early music to popular modern arrangements, the Chorale, throughout its 21 years' existence, has featured English music, particularly the choral songs of Elgar. Its recording of the composer's complete works in this genre elicited wide critical acclaim when first issued in 1989 and is still considered by many to be the definitive recording of these miniature masterpieces. The choir was featured at every Worcester Three Choirs Festival from 1981 to 1996, has given concerts in many parts of the country as well as abroad, and has broadcast frequently. The Chorale is based at the Elgar School of Music in Worcester, where its conductor is the Principal.

http://www.elgarchorale.co.uk.

Elgar in Hereford

This site provides an introduction to the activities and aims of the Elgar in Hereford group. The composer lived on the outskirts of this small city in the Welsh marches for nearly eight years from 1904 to 1911. At the height of his creative powers, many of his most important works were written while living here.

The main aim of the group is to erect a figurative sculpture of Elgar to stand in a prominent place within the city. Unveiling is planned for 2004, the centenary of Elgar taking up residence in Hereford.

www.elgarinhereford.org.

Elgar School of Music

The Elgar School of Music's website will be found at:

www.elgarschoolofmusic.co.uk.

English Music
is a new portal site being developed by Iain Smith for the promotion of music by English composers. The demo version is located at:

http://www.englishmusic.co.uk

The Enid is a progressive rock group (though they dislike the classification) based in Northampton, England. Their music, composed by their classically-trained leader Robert John Godfrey successfully blends the influence of a number of classical composers, notably Elgar, with the more aggressive styles of modern popular music. Ignore their encores of Land of Hope and Glory and Nimrod, which are more likely to upset the Elgar devotee, and look instead for the pastiche on the march from the First Symphony and the quotation from Sursum Corda. Although you will not find these excerpts there, their music can be sampled on :

http://www.demon.co.uk/lodgstud.

Famous Herefordians
is a site devoted to famous and interesting characters over the ages who have lived in the county. It can be found at:

http://www.dulwichdynamo.homechoice.co.uk/Hereford.html

Robert Finley, an Elgar devotee now living in the USA, has made midi recordings of a number of Elgar works, including an arrangement for organ of the 4th Pomp And Circumstance March and the piano solo arrangement of the complete Enigma Variations. You will find these recordings on
Robert Finley's Classical Midi Page, which can be found at:

http://www.ultranet.com/~rfinley

You will need a good quality wavetable sound card or synthesizer to play them.

Edward Gold
has created several midi files of the orchestral music of Elgar including
Symphonies 1 and 2, the Enigma Variations, two Overtures and the Violin Concerto.
They can be accessed at:

http://www.egoldmidincd.com

The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians has been the most authoritative source of information about every aspect of music since the first edition, edited by Sir George Grove, was published in 1879. The New Grove was published in 1980 and has received worldwide acclaim for its unparalleled scope and learning. The dictionary's website can be found at :

http://www.grovemusic.com

The Hellens Singers

The Hellens Singers were set up at the end of 2004. A choir for approximately 24 girls aged between 8 and 18, it offers professional training for more able young singers in the county of Herefordshire, and has a high profile performing and recording programme. Memberships of the choir are by audition. It is fun and focused, with a varied and changeable repertoire from Elgar to Elvis.......

The Musical Director is Nigel Hayward - former music teacher and Choir Director at Wells Cathedral School, and co-director of Cornwall Junior Choir.

http://www.hellenssingers.org.

The BBC Where I Live web site for Hereford and Worcester includes a special Elgar section. It can be found at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester

Gustav Holst was of course a contemporary of Elgar's, dying in the same year - 1934. But there the similarity ends. While Elgar sought to make a living through his compositions, for Holst composing was a relaxation from his career as a music teacher at St Paul's school for Girls at Hammersmith, West London. And while Elgar was in many ways attracted to worldly pleasures, Holst was interested in mysticism, an interest that lay behind his best known work, The Planets suite. To find out more about Holst, visit:

http://www.gustavholst.info/

The 'cellist Julian Lloyd Webber has made a number of recordings of Elgar's music, including the Cello Concerto, with a previous President of the Elgar Society, Yehudi Menuhin, conducting the RPO.

Brother of Andrew, and son of William - to find out more, visit:

http://www.julianlloydwebber.com

William Lloyd Webber was born in 1914. The son of a plumber, he was fortunate in having a father who was a keen organ "buff", and William before long started to learn the organ. From 1945 he wrote music in many different forms, but he became increasingly convinced that his music was 'out of step' with the prevailing climate. Rather than compromise his style, he moved into the academic side of British musical life, writing virtually nothing until shortly before his death. To find out more about the man and his music, visit:

http://www.williamlloydwebber.com

The London Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert on 9th June 1904.
It included Elgar's Enigma Variations, and was conducted by Hans Richter, who had given the first performance of the Variations five years earlier.

Following Richter's retirement in 1911, Elgar himself became the orchestra's
Principal Conductor, a position which he held for two years.

In recognition of its long association with Elgar, the London Symphony Orchestra has now added an Elgar section to its web site. This can be found at:

http://www.lso.co.uk/elgar

Ernest Moeran stands as perhaps the greatest unsung genius of English composition. His music, often lost in the noise and hubbub of the 20th Century, is that of a uniquely beautiful lyricism, capturing feelings and rural landscapes in a way no other composer ever has.

This website brings Moeran to you in music, pictures and words, leaving no stone unturned in a dedicated quest to make Moeran's voice heard in the 21st Century.

http://www.moeran.com

Music on the Web is a music search engine which will list thousands of web sites from around the world and will link musicians and managers everywhere who have access to the Internet. It is provided by Rhinegold Publishing which has, for many years, been regarded as Britain's focal point for information on classical music and the performing arts. With definitive directories like the British & International Music Yearbook (the 25th Edition of which has just been published) and British Performing Arts Yearbook, Rhinegold consistently provides the most up-to-date and accurate information demanded by arts managers and musicians.

The Music on the Web search engine can be found at :

http://www.rhinegold.co.uk/musiconweb

Music Teachers

is a free service which aims to support musicians
in every aspect of education and performance.
Find a music teacher near you; find an accompanist, etc.

http://www.musicteachers.co.uk

MusicWeb

The MusicWeb is a major resource offering CD reviews and composer profiles with many devoted to British composers.The site offers in-depth composer biographies, lists of compositions, analyses of works, discographies and similar material all conveniently located on one web site. The site also contains a constantly updated page of links to other music-orientated web sites. The intention is that the site will become internationally recognised for its quality and will become a major world-wide resource for promoting British composers. The webmaster is Dr Len Mullenger.

The site also provides details of a number of composer appreciation societies. Among those on-line at present are the following:

For a full listing of composers featured, visit the Web Site at :

The New Queen's Hall Orchestra was founded in 1895 as the Queen's Hall Orchestra to inaugurate the Promenade Concerts, the name being altered to the New Queen's Hall Orchestra in 1915. For thirty-two years it gave nearly every Promenade Concert at Queen's Hall, London under Henry Wood's direction. In 1995 the New Queen's Hall Orchestra gave the Centenary Promenade Concert in London. The NQHO has always had a high reputation for giving many first performances.

Visit their web site at
www.nqho.com

The Robert Simpson Society was founded in 1980 with the aim of bringing Simpson's music to a wider public by sponsoring recordings and live performances, issuing publications, and maintaining the Robert Simpson Society Archive.
The Society has a world wide membership.
You can find out more by visiting their Web Site at :

http://members.aol.com/Dmlovelock/simpson.htm

Lani Spahr - An Elgar Photo Album

Lani is a professional oboist in the US. His interest in Elgar 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.

His web site includes an Elgar Photo Album which includes photographs of a selection of Elgar's homes.

Spetchley Park and Garden

As a young boy, Elgar went for a short time to Spetchley Park, where the Berkeleys, the leading Roman Catholic family in Worcestershire, maintained a small school on their estate. It was a place that imprinted itself indelibly on his mind, and one that he was to return to throughout his life. Ernest Newman recalled one such visit in 1916.

"Happening to be in Worcester one summer day I met Mr. Robert Berkeley on his way to a council meeting; he told me that Elgar was staying at the Hall and suggested that I should run down there. About half-way along the route I left the main road and made a short cut diagonally across the meadows. As I was nearing the Hall I was hailed by someone from the lake. It was Elgar. He brought the punt to the bank and conveyed me to the middle of the lake, where I passed with him one of the golden summer afternoons of my life, talking about this and that."

At the end of his visit he inscribed his host's vocal score of The Dream of Gerontius: "In Spetchley Park, 1869 (the summer wind among the lofty pines)", and it was a place he visited again in the late summer of 1920, after the death of Lady Elgar.

Elgar described Spetchley as a "lovely place where I played as a child, 3½ miles from Worcester - Deerpark, fishponds etc etc - I caught 70 good fish!"

Find out more about it at :

http://www.spetchleygardens.co.uk

Tore F. Steenslid, The Elgar Society's Ambassador to Norway and translator of the Norwegian biography of Elgar to be found on this website, also has his own website devoted to all his favourite classical composers. You can find it at :

http://www.steenslid.com/music/elgar/

Unsurprisingly, the influence of Elgar is not entirely absent.

Arthur Sullivan enthusiasts may like to visit the

Sir Arthur Sullivan Society

web site.

The aim of the Society is "to advance the education of the public in, and promote the performance of, the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan and other contemporary British composers, by means of the presentation of publications, recordings, lectures, concerts and other activities".

Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in Gloucestershire in 1872. A prolific writer of music and champion of British cultural heritage, he died aged 85 in 1958. His ashes are interred in Westminster Abbey alongside the nation's great artists and poets.
His web page can be found at:

http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/~J.Collis/RVW.html

William Walton forged an important, if awkward, step between Elgar and Britten, and was England's most internationally renowned composer in the 1930s. Indeed, many contemporary critics considered Walton the greatest English symphonist after Elgar. The two composers met only once, but Walton was always a stalwart supporter of Elgar's music. The William Walton website can be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5827/walton.htm

Worcester on the Web is an ever-growing guide to Worcester Town and County. What's On, Days Out, Shopping, full business guide plus reviews and guided tours. Our ever-growing site will keep you informed about Elgar's home county. Find out more by visiting :

http://www.valenet.com

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