Edward Elgar

Conductor Nicholas McGegan bids farewell to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in a concert that sparkles with Handel's Royal Fireworks and weaves an array of magic spells. Also featured are works by Edward Elgar and contemporary English composer Peter Maxwell Davies.

After WWI, the British were lamenting a lost era and eager for something new. Edward Elgar gave them a meditative, compelling cello concerto. Steven Isserlis plays Elgar's autumnal music in concert with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

The concerto was the English composer's last major work for orchestra, as well as his most confessional. In this recording, cellist Jacqueline Du Pre gives one of her finest performances, exposing both gentleness in the pain and an edge to the tenderness.

We know him as the man who wrote the music used at graduations, but in Britain, Edward Elgar means a lot more. It's the 150th anniversary of the birth of the composer who gave the British "Pomp and Circumstance" and one little "Enigma."

English composer Edward Elgar was born 150 years ago. His music, it was said, put the 'Great' back into Britain. Although the popularity of his symphonies, concertos and choral works has swayed throughout the years, he remains an iconic figure for many Brits.

At 24, Hilary Hahn has already recorded landmark violin concertos with the world's great orchestras. She describes the meditative experience of playing Bach alone — and of trying to sound like a bird with an orchestra.

One of music's greatest strengths is its capacity to stir the emotions. For Valentine's Day, WGUC's Mark Perzel offers this list of five Classical works inspired by the power of love.

Cincinnati-based WGUC plays classical music 24 hours a day, reaching out to the genre's newcomers and longtime aficionados alike. WGUC music director Kent Teeters compiled this list of the 10 best classical CD discoveries of 2006.

It was written in 1919, and in its bittersweet beauty, many listeners hear an elegy for those who died during WWI. It's the Cello Concerto by Edward Elgar. Our concert performance took place two weeks ago at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming. Lynn Harrell is the cello soloist, Donald Runnicles conducts.

Edward Elgar said he learned to write for strings by listening to the music of Handel. Elgar based his Introduction and Allegro for String Quartet and String Orchestra on Handel's concerto grosso style. The English Chamber Orchestra, with conductor Roy Goodman, gives a performance on the road in Montpellier, France.