Edward Elgar (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934)

Last week, there was a 1hour30 documentary about Edward Elgar's life. He really is a genious, the sound he creates are so strange compared to other composers. I suppose Vaugh Williams is another English composer that has this way with creating strange ambiences compared to composers from the Continent. The ambience conjures up a fantasmagorical parallel universe in the English countryside, the kind of place where anglicised Brothers Grimm fairytales happen, like Alice in Wonderland stylie.

Edward Elgar's Sospiri is a favourite one. It's story is extra poignant by the fact that it was composed just at the beginning of World War I.