An expert and informative appraisal of all of Elgar's works - from his
juvenilia to the unfinished 3rd symphony - by the author of the
acclaimed Gerald Finzi.
The new Diana McVeagh book on Elgar is first-rate, wrote Gerald Finzi of
her earlier study of the composer, published in 1955. In the completely
new Elgar the Music Maker she harvests five decades of thoughts about
his music, scrutinizing the biographical details that have since been
discovered and using them to assess the ways in which they affect the
compositions.
Diana McVeagh explores Elgar's complex personality and his compositional
methods, his style and his relationship to his contemporaries, yet it is
the music - still played, recorded, loved and discussed as much as ever-
that remains her prime focus.
Each of Elgar's works is discussed, balancing information and appraisal,
from his juvenilia to his unfinished Third Symphony. Diana McVeagh
provides a compelling and accessible companion to the music of one of
England's greatest composers. Musicians, scholars and CD collectors
alikewill find much to enjoy in Elgar the Music Maker.
Diana McVeagh is the author of the highly acclaimed Gerald Finzi: His
Life and Music [2005]; of the entries on Elgar and Finzi for The New
Grove Dictionaryof Music and Musicians [1980, 2001]; and of the Finzi
entry in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography [2004].
