Worcester

Today Donald Macleod focusses on Worcester, where Elgar was born, and where he lived for the final five years of his life. We hear his last completed work in a recording his daughter played to him just a week before he died, and The Wand of Youth - music based on a play he put on at the age of eleven.

Worcester-born, with his roots in the beautiful English countryside around Hereford and the Malverns yet drawn to the bright lights of London, English composer Edward Elgar moved house a lot. He lived in over 25 residences in his lifetime, stayed with friends, travelled often for work and pleasure in the UK, Europe and further afield, and had a number of second homes he rented as retreats. This week we’re focusing on the locations that were important to Elgar, and the places that inspired his music.

Mina
New Light Symphony Orchestra
J. Ainslie Murray, conductor

The Wand of Youth Suite No 1, Op 1a
Hallé Orchestra
Mark Elder, conductor

Organ Sonata No 1 in G major Op 28 (2nd movt - Allegretto)
Christopher Herrick, organ

Severn Suite Op 87
John Foster Black Dyke Mills Band

Lux Aeterna (choral arrangement of Enigma Variations Op 36 Nimrod by John Cameron)
The Choir of New College Oxford
Edward Higginbottom, director

Produced by Amy Wheel for BBC Cymru Wales