BBC - A History of the World - Object : HMV Gramophone belonging to Edward Elgar

Contributed by The Elgar Birthplace Museum

HMV Gramophone which belonged to Sir Edward Elgar in the mid 1920s. ©The Elgar Foundation.

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Elgar opened HMV's Abbey Road Recording Studios in 1931, 30 years before the Beatles first went there.This gramophone belonged to Sir Edward Elgar, Worcester's most famous son and England's greatest composer. Elgar had a long association with the leading recording company of the day, HMV. As well as producing gramophone records they also produced players and when a significant model was developed they sent one to him for his approval. This is Elgar's gramophone from the mid 1920s.

Elgar embraced this new technology from his first recording session in HMV's studios in 1914. For the next 20 years he was involved with the development of the gramophone and recording technology. In the words of HMV's Artistic Director, "Elgar's presence in the gramophone world also formed an important chapter in the history of recorded music."

Elgar recorded most of his orchestral music and we have, perhaps uniquely for a great composer, his own interpretations of his music preserved for us to enjoy today.

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1 comment
1. At 09:12 on 1 July 2011, Deborah Roberts wrote:
Beautiful piece. history in the making for the world of music.
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