ABSTRACT
Early Life Edward William Elgar was one of seven children born into a middle-class Roman Catholic family. His father, William, was a piano tuner with some musical pretensions, some talent, and a bit of luck; he received an opportunity to tune the piano of a member of the royal household and thereafter did a good business. William Elgar often performed in local concerts and recitals as organist and violinist, and the boy's first musical experiences thus revolved around his father, listening to him play and watching him conduct the village band. To this influence can be attributed Edward Elgar's long association with the provincial musical world and his long, slow progress as a musician and composer, unknown for many years outside Worcester.
