FRIENDS OF CLAINES CHURCH

visitors

now on line

EDWARD ELGAR

& the Claines Enigma

Edward Elgar is celebrated as the most English of Composers and has deep Worcestershire connections. Within Claines Churchyard we have the grave of Edward Elgar's maternal Grandparents, the Greening's.

Edward Elgar's father, William Elgar lodged at a café in Mealecheapen Street, Worcester, kept by a man whose wife was formerly a Miss Greening. He was taken into their family home in Claines where he met Ann Greening, a Herefordshire farm labourer’s daughter. William and Ann were married in 1848.

Three children were soon born at 2 College Precincts, opposite the east end of the cathedral. Ann Elgar longed for a country life and in 1856 they rented The Firs, the tiny cottage of Newbury House in the village of Broadheath, three miles north-west of Worcester. There, on 2 June 1857, Edward William Elgar was born.

As a young man Edward would regularly visit his Grandparents grave at Claines.

There is a mystery surrounding his inspiration for the main theme for his famous composition “Enigma Variations”. This work recalls key moments and people from his life, many of them remembered by initials or nicknames or relevant musical themes. He carried the secret of the haunting melody  (the Enigma) with him to his grave. However, one of the theories is that the written melody follows the contours of the Malvern Hills, as seen from Claines Churchyard. The Malvern Hills were a source of inspiration for much of his work.

For further information on Elgar see The Elgar Society Web Page

The Greening grave, Elgar’s maternal grandparents

Main theme from Enigma Variations (Opus 36), Edward Elgar 1899