A Catholic in an Anglican Country

Donald Macleod explores how Elgar's Catholicism set him apart from the British musical and social circles of his day.

Elgar is the composer we turn to in times of national celebration, of pride (Pomp and Circumstance Marches) and of public grief (Nimrod). He mingled with royalty and was made a knight of the realm, seemingly a pillar of the Edwardian and early 20th-century British establishment. And yet, for most of his life he felt himself to be a misfit, an outsider. This week of programmes explores some of the reasons for that sense of unbelonging.

Elgar was a Roman Catholic in an overwhelmingly Anglican country, at a time when much of British society was still suspicious of Catholicism and its influence. The composer always felt that his religion held back his career. Donald McLeod attempts to uncover the truth.

Bavarian Dance No.1
Bournemouth Sinfonietta
Norman Del Mar, conductor

From the Bavarian Highlands
V. On the Alm
Max Hanft, piano
Bavarian Radio Choir
Howard Arman, conductor

The Dream of Gerontius
Part 2: “I see not those false spirits” … “Praise to the holiest”
Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo soprano
Stuart Skelton, tenor
BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Sir Andrew Davis, conductor

Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 in D
Gabrieli Players
Paul McCreesh, conductor

The Apostles
Part 2, Scene 4: The Betrayal, In Gethsemane
Alice Coote, mezzo soprano
Jacques Imbrailo, baritone
David Kempster, baritone
Brindley Sherrat, bass
Halle Choir and Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor

Producer: Graham Rogers