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Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

(1857-1934), Composer and conductor

Sitter in 19 portraits
Largely self-taught, Elgar came to prominence in the 1890s with high-profile commissions including the Imperial March for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee (1897). His international breakthrough came with the orchestral Enigma Variations, 1899, a series of musical portraits of his wife and friends. His reputation as a leading British composer was confirmed the following year with The Dream of Gerontius. Other works include the Pomp and Circumstance marches, 1901-7, the Violin Concerto, 1910, and the Cello Concerto, 1919, compositions which have won him renewed popularity and a vast audience in the twenty first century. He was knighted in 1904 and appointed Master of the King's Music in 1924.

Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below

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Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Percival Hedley - NPG 2219

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Percival Hedley
bronze bust, 1905
On display in Room 30 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 2219

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by William Rothenstein - NPG 3868

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by William Rothenstein
chalk, 1917
NPG 3868

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by William Rothenstein - NPG 5707

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by William Rothenstein
chalk, circa 1919
NPG 5707

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Herbert Lambert - NPG P107

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Herbert Lambert
bromide print, 1933
NPG P107

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd - NPG x11904

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd
bromide postcard print, 1900s
NPG x11904

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, published by Breitkopf & Hartel - NPG x17025

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

published by Breitkopf & Hartel
postcard print, 1900s-1910s
NPG x17025

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Charles Frederick Grindrod - NPG x11894

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Charles Frederick Grindrod
bromide print, circa 1903
NPG x11894

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Edgar Thomas Holding - NPG x11905

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Edgar Thomas Holding
platinum print, circa 1905
NPG x11905

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Edgar Thomas Holding - NPG x11906

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Edgar Thomas Holding
platinum print, circa 1905
NPG x11906

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by James Russell & Sons - NPG x137668

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by James Russell & Sons
half-plate glass copy negative, circa 1910
NPG x137668

Algernon Henry Blackwood; Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Ernest Walter Histed - NPG x19029

Algernon Henry Blackwood; Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Ernest Walter Histed
platinum print, circa 1915
NPG x19029

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Herbert Lambert - NPG Ax7741

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Herbert Lambert
photogravure, circa 1922
NPG Ax7741

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Herbert Lambert - NPG x14360

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Herbert Lambert
postcard print, circa 1922
NPG x14360

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt; Yehudi Menuhin, by Aram Alban - NPG x20671

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt; Yehudi Menuhin

by Aram Alban
bromide print, circa 1930
NPG x20671

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Daily Herald - NPG x184356

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Daily Herald
bromide press print, 1930s
NPG x184356

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Herbert Lambert, for Elliott & Fry - NPG x82022

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Herbert Lambert, for Elliott & Fry
half-plate copy glass negative, 1942
NPG x82022

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Herbert Lambert, for Elliott & Fry - NPG x82023

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Herbert Lambert, for Elliott & Fry
whole-plate copy glass negative, 1942
NPG x82023

The Makers of British Music: Famous Living British Composers of the Old School and the New, after Samuel Begg - NPG D42284

The Makers of British Music: Famous Living British Composers of the Old School and the New

after Samuel Begg
relief halftone, published 24 October 1908
NPG D42284

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt, by Anthony Wysard - NPG D272

Sir Edward Elgar, Bt

by Anthony Wysard
pencil and watercolour
NPG D272

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