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Original poster

Most people will have heard of...

253 replies

jeffhasgoodhair · 28/05/2023 19:20

Edward Elgar.

DH on a long speakerphone conversation with his parents now talking about the potential closing of Elgar's Birthplace by the National Trust due to lack of footfall.

They think the problem is that no one 'these days' knows who he is.

Could I be biased as I live where he lived therefore know people who have lived in one of his properties, have been in venues he frequented, know roads named after him and see statues everywhere... therefore I think he's more significant than he is?

OP posts:
Flavabobble · 28/05/2023 22:55

I'm aware of, and admire his work.
I've zero interest in visiting his birthplace.

Poshjock · 28/05/2023 23:04

tulippa · 28/05/2023 19:25

Depends if you learnt an instrument as a kid or have had a decent amount of exposure to classical music. If you didn't then you probably wouldn't know.

I’m going to throw another angle at this - Military. I’ve heard Nimrod at countless parades and in fact it was played today at the Battle of Atlantic commemoration. It is a key price of music of Remembrance and is played every year at the cenotaph.

you may not know the name but you will know the music.

OMG12 · 28/05/2023 23:05

This is what happens when we don’t celebrate British Culture and are basically seen as Nazis if we show an ounce of pride in our country.

watcherintherye · 28/05/2023 23:08

I think most will probably be familiar with some of the music even if they don't know who it's by.

I wouldn’t bank on it.

ThinWomansBrain · 28/05/2023 23:09

really surprised at how many people unaware of who he is (was)
Elgar was one of the houses at my primary school (mid 60s)
Elgar, Churchill, Faraday, Nightingale, Drake.... having a house name after you at my primary school clearly doesn't make you totally unforgettable, because there were definitely six, and what the 6th one was is really going to bug me now.

Elvis1956 · 28/05/2023 23:12

Not heard of him. I grew in a very very working class village, schools failing, out of 242 kids in 1980 only 1 went to university at 18...but I know who he is!

Bernadinetta · 28/05/2023 23:14

I love Elgar’s cello concerto, played by Jacqueline du Pre as mentioned by a PP. There’s an excellent film about her life where she is played by Emily Watson, I think it’s called Hilary and Jackie (Hilary being her sister). She developed multiple sclerosis and was unable to play the cello anymore and there’s an incredibly moving scene where she’s listening to a recording of herself playing Elgar’s cello concerto, unable to walk. She died in her early 40s. I realise this is more about du Pre than Elgar but the two are linked in my mind due to this.

KimberleyClark · 28/05/2023 23:16

62, aware of him and like his music.

Wyndam · 28/05/2023 23:26

I know the name but only because I walk past his statue by the bus stop in Worcester.

Robyn847 · 28/05/2023 23:30

Who the hell is Elgar?

(Sorry, I just came over a bit Eurovisiony there!)

Thedogscollar · 28/05/2023 23:38

How bloody sad is this then. Bet you all know who Philip bloody Schofield is though.

Original poster
jeffhasgoodhair · 28/05/2023 23:43

Thedogscollar · 28/05/2023 23:38

How bloody sad is this then. Bet you all know who Philip bloody Schofield is though.

Unfortunately. What a shit show all of that is.

OP posts:
KnottyKnitting · 28/05/2023 23:43

Thedogscollar · 28/05/2023 23:38

How bloody sad is this then. Bet you all know who Philip bloody Schofield is though.

I was just thinking the same... I despair of music education in this country...

SoShallINever · 28/05/2023 23:53

What a nation of uneducated heathens we are becoming. So sad.

LaMaG · 28/05/2023 23:54

Have heard of him, I know some of his work but wouldn't be interested in visiting his birth place. Or any composers birthplace really. But a cafe that played his music and had some artifacts might entice me.

RampantIvy · 28/05/2023 23:56

SoShallINever · 28/05/2023 23:53

What a nation of uneducated heathens we are becoming. So sad.

I agree

Mars27 · 28/05/2023 23:56

CupcakeTowers · 28/05/2023 19:59

The name only rings a bell because there's a Baby Shark Classics episode about him 😆. However it's not quite fair to sneer about "most people" not knowing who Elgar is because it's very British piece of information. Outside the UK, no schools teach about Elgar including very prestigious private/international ones. There might be a tiny mention in passing but nothing that students are required to remember and be tested on.

I can imagine being shocked about someone never having heard about Mozart or Beethoven, but Elgar is pretty geographically and culturally specific. And of course, chances are that more people recognise the music than know his name which is the case with most forms of famous art.

Oh my, how wrong you are. I'm not British and I was very aware of who he was and of his music before I came to live in the UK.

LaMaG · 28/05/2023 23:58

I should add I think its important to celebrate the arts and promote your own countrymens achievements so there should be some investment made on his behalf. I'm not British myself fyi

LetMeSleepUntilTheCowsComeHome · 29/05/2023 00:06

I've heard of him, but that's because I'm from Worcester, and honestly there's no chance you didn't see the statue and know about him.

PriamFarrl · 29/05/2023 00:07

Lifeinlists · 28/05/2023 22:50

I think you've nailed it there. Also it's an indictment of our education system along with a general race to the bottom where culture and the arts are concerned. Serious music is often seen as an oddity in this country but it's disappointing if people have never heard of one of our greatest composers.

Show quote history

There was a very good series of programs on Radio 4 about the lack of musical education in this country. It’s a class divide mainly. If you bring up the prospectus for just about any private school and there will be a child on the front playing a classical instrument. Yet is hardly funded, and seen as unimportant, in state education.

PriamFarrl · 29/05/2023 00:08

He’s Ed Reardon’s cat…..

SleazyLizzard · 29/05/2023 00:11

I’ve heard of him and I’m not at all into music, I prefer talk radio R4 mostly. Where his house ? I might give it a visit.

heyitsthistle · 29/05/2023 00:13

Classic FM listener here. Other than Pomp and Circumstance, all his pieces bring a tear to my eye.

Love P&C, too.

TempsPerdu · 29/05/2023 00:23

Rare that I find a thread on MN especially shocking, but this really is.

I’d no idea so many people knew so little about our musical heritage. I’m not even especially musical myself - just had a good all-round education and attended a fairly musical school. Struggling to fathom how anyone who’s even vaguely educated has managed not to have heard of Elgar, even in a passing ‘I should know but I can’t quite place him’ kind of way.

I despair for the future of the arts in this country.

847arc · 29/05/2023 00:23

I’ve been interested in classical music since my teens, so yes I’ve heard of him. Also dh has family in Worcester and we visit the area fairly regularly.