Sir Edward Elgar

We went to Malvern today, a beautiful and interesting place, with some fine buildings.
The composer Sir Edward Elgar is associated with the town,

He was born near Worcester and lived in and around the Malvern Hills during his life. Visitors to the region often follow the Elgar Route or Elgar Trail, taking in such places as his birthplace (now a museum), the music shop that his father owned, and the various places he taught and lived later in life. Indeed there are prominent statues of Elgar in Worcester High Street, Malvern Church Street and near Hereford Cathedral.

Certainly the Malvern Hills and surrounding countryside inspired his music - he lived in sight of the hills for about 55 of his 76 years and routinely cycled around the country and village lanes during that time.

In 1903 Elgar founded the Malvern Concert Club with Arthur Troyte Griffith, a local architect, as his enthusiastic secretary. The loyal support of the membership has enabled the club to flourish over all these years, with current numbers running at over 450 and often with 600 people attending concerts.

Elgar died from cancer in 1934 and is buried in St Wulstan's Church in Little Malvern, along with his wife Alice who had died earlier.