Sir Edward Elgar would have been 150 in June this year, and something more of a prodigy at that age than even he had been in life.

We all know Elgar’s popular classics, of course, Nimrod from the Enigma Variations, Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 — Land of Hope and Glory — and a rash of wonderfully melodic, string-based compositions that recall Edwardian England like no other. When asked if he used folk music in his work, he repied, “Madam, I write the folk tunes of England”. And so he did.

Yet he accomplished much more than that. The German conductor, Hans Richter, said of his First symphony, “It is the greatest symphony of modern times, and not just in this country [England] either.” Richter premiered it, as well as the Enigma Variations and his oratorio, The Dream of Gerontius.

Although quintessentially English, Elgar’s music was firmly rooted in the Austro-German Romantic tradition. His poor background prevented him from studying in Leipzig. He did, though, get to Bayreuth in 1892 where he experienced the first performance of Wagner’s greatest achievement, Parsifal. He saw it twice and Der Meistersinger four times. Needless to say, he became a passionate Wagnerian for the rest of his life.

Classy Classical will be covering this event throughout this year, including a hoped-for serialization of Steve Newman’s play on Elgar.

To celebrate Elgar’s 150th, the UK’s Daily Mail is offering an Elgar Edition of five CDs with Mark Elder conducting the Halle Orchestra. Works included are :

1. First Symphony; In the South.
2. Enigma Variations; Serenade for Strings; Cockaigne (In London Town).
3. Falstaff; Cello Concerto; Romance; The Smoking Cantata.
4. Second Symphony; Introduction and Allegro for Strings.
5. Froissart; Dream Children; The Music Makers.

Unusually, there’s no website for purchases, but you can ring : +44 (0)1634 832789. The price in sterling is £44.95 ($88).

That excellent music critic David Mellor, has compiled a list of his top 10 classical CDs of 2006. I thought it would be worthwhile taking a look at them:

1. La Clemenza Di Tito, the Mozart opera, is favoured in two recordings, both excellent : the first by Sir Charles Mackerras, the other by Rene Jacobs.

2. Also by Mozart and conducted by Mackerras is the recital Tutto Mozart.

3. Best reissue is (again) Mozart’s Complete Piano Concertos by Murray Perahia.

4. Best instrumental is Stephen Hough’s Spanish Album, which is “a real connoisseur’s choice”.

5. Best Concerto is Vivaldi’s Violin Concertos, which presents five that have never been heard before, played by violinist, Giuliano Carmignola.

6. Best historical is Jascha Heifetz’s 1930’s recording of the Sibelius concerto, conducted Sir Thomas Beecham.

7. Best orchestral is Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony with Polish maestro Anthony Wit.

8. Best chamber is Martha Argerich And Friends with music from the 2005 Lugano Festival, including two Rachmaninov masterpieces.

9. A special award goes to label Lyrita, pioneers of off-the-beaten-track recordings of British music.

10. CD of the Year goes to the 1955 Bayreuth Ring, issued for the first time in four sets by Testament, and originally recorded by Decca.

A splendid top 10 indeed.

1921 - 2006

With the death of Sir Malcolm Arnold the musical world, and not least the English musical world, lost a composer of huge vision and inclusiveness who was also the last link with those composers who came to prominence in the first half of the 20th century, most notably (in respect to their influence on the young Arnold) Vaughan Williams, Arnold Bax, William Walton, and perhaps to a lesser extent Edward Elgar - although in Arnold’s lush orchestrations and his ability to move from boisterousness to slow melancholy - which matched his own unstable schizophrenic nature - we do hear the influence of the Worcester born composer.

But there was another and perhaps more important musical influence on the Northampton born Arnold, namely that of Louis Armstrong who he managed to see and hear in Bournemouth in the 1930s when that most famous of jazz musicians was on a European tour fronting a band made up of British and European players. Such was the influence on the youngster that he persuaded his father (a wealthy Methodist shoe manufacturer) to buy him a trumpet.

Such was his ability with the instrument that when Arnold won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1938 he decided that, apart from studying composition, he would also make the trumpet his main academic pre-occupation, and a means of earning a few bob when he sat in with a few jazz bands in the evening.

After graduating from the RCM he joined the London Philharmonic and soon became their principle trumpet.

Although a fine player Arnold’s main ambition, and passion, was to become a composer, an ambition that had been encouraged by Duke Ellington who’d met Arnold in a Bournemouth tea shop (the seaside resort was a major pre-war venue for visiting American jazz musicians) in the 1930s. And we can hear in Arnold’s work that wonderful freedom of expression that inhabits the best of jazz, plus the ability and ingenuity to do what might appear at first listening to be musically incorrect (as the case with Ellington) plus humour - which is a hallmark of both Arnold’s and Ellington’s work. What we also hear in Arnold’s work - a skill he would use to good effect in his film music - is that of tight section work (another jazz element) and an ability to swing like the devil when he needs too (with the trumpet often leading) which is something most classical composers fail so miserably at.

At the outbreak of World War II Arnold registered as a conscientious objector, but in 1944 changed his mind and joined the army where, after months of hard training, he was found to be unfit for active duty and attached to a home regiment as a cornet player in the band.

Such was Arnold’s indignation at not being allowed to fight (and having to play in such a lowly outfit as an army band after the dizzy heights of the London Philharmonic) that he shot himself in the foot (a serious offence that could have put him in a tough army prison for a couple of years), which brought about his discharge. It was also one of the first signs of what became increasing bouts of clinical depression and attempts at suicide.

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Research has confirmed listening to classical music can have a significant positive impact on perception of chronic pain, says the BBC.

“US researchers tested the effect of music on 60 patients who had endured years of chronic pain. Those who listened to music reported a cut in pain levels of up to 21%, and in associated depression of up to 25%, compared to those who did not listen.”

This has been known about for many years along with music’s ability to aid learning. But only certain types of music seem to work. Mozart and Bach are particularly good for Super-learning, soothing classics for pain relief and relaxation.

The Journal of Advanced Nursing study also found music helped people feel less disabled by their condition. The patients who took part in the study were recruited from pain and chiropractic clinics, reports the BBC.

“They had been suffering from conditions such osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis for an average of six-and-a-half years. Most said the pain affected more than one part of their body, and was continuous.”