A WORCESTER based councillor has called for the life of Sir Edward Elgar to be celebrated with an annual day of events and labelled the composer the ‘Shakespeare of Worcester’.
Coun Alan Feeney has said he hopes June 2 will be declared Elgar Day and be added to the normal annual calendar of civic events, in celebration of the largely self-taught composer and conductor who also lived in Malvern.
Sir Edward was born on June 2 in 1857 in Broadheath and with a memorial statue and numerous plaques in place across the county, Coun Feeney hopes this new concept will bring together every part of the community.
The Warndon Parish North councillor told the Observer the day could see schools running Elgar themed projects and musical groups delivering concerts to historical institutions offering tours and the church with spiritual commemorations.
“Worcester has a rich and fascinating heritage, of which Sir Edward Elgar is a key part.
“For anyone with an interest in Elgar or Worcester as a whole, I want this to serve as a platform for everyone to get involved,” he said.
“The main reason for the concept of Elgar Day is that I feel we should be doing more to celebrate the life and works of Worcester’s most famous son.
“People readily associate the city and county with Sir Edward Elgar and he really is the ‘Shakespeare of Worcester’ as I so often say.
“There have been hundreds of works and celebrations around Shakespeare and yet here we are just a few miles away and Elgar, who is world renowned, doesn’t enjoy anything like the level of commemoration that he so rightly deserves.
“I know that if we can add this new event to our calendar, hopefully with much pomp and circumstance, every pun intended, that we can ensure that Elgar’s works and deeds are remembered and lauded for centuries to come, as they so deserve to be.”
“Elgar did so much more for Worcestershire than just compose music and I would love people to get to know just how much that was.
“Eventually it would be marketed nationally and internationally, bringing many hundreds of new visitors to take part, but also to see everything that our amazing city has to offer and boost the local economy.”
Coun Feeney was due to propose his idea of a programme of ‘celebration, commemoration and education’ to a meeting of Worcester City Council last night (Tuesday).
Should more be done in Malvern to celebrate Elgar’s life? Email your thoughts to [email protected].
