This booklet covers all the known connections of Elgar with St Michael’s. There is no record of him ever having visited the College, but he had three close friends who are part of St Michael’s history.

Firstly there was The Rev. John Hampton, who was an Ouseley choir boy from the St Barnabas days and who became the second Warden on Ouseley’s death, and was later made a Fellow. He first met Elgar when he conducted concerts of the Tenbury Music Society at the Tenbury Corn Exchange, when Elgar used to come over from Worcester to play the violin. Over the years he conducted various Elgar works including the first performance of Spanish Serenade with the Herefordshire Philharmonic Orchestra, and Elgar dedicated his part-song My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land to him.

Dr George Sinclair was one of Ouseley’s choristers and later became a Fellow. As organist at Hereford Cathedral he became a close friend of Elgar’s and was immortalised, as they say, by joining the select group of those ‘Friends Pictured Within’. Number XI of The Enigma Variations is headed ‘G.R.S.’ Sinclair played various Elgar works at St Michael’s, which he arranged for the organ very shortly after their first performances, and Pomp and Circumstance No 4 was dedicated to him.

Pomp and Circumstance No 5 was dedicated to Sir Percy Hull who followed Sinclair as organist at Hereford. Sinclair and Hull were responsible for music at the Three Choirs Festival at Hereford for very many years which sometimes involved Elgar. Percy Hull also became a Fellow of St Michael’s. Probably the only time that Ouseley and Elgar ever met was at a performance of the Martyrdom of St Polycarp in Tenbury in 1885 when Hampton conducted, Ouseley sang the alto solo and Elgar and his brother Frank played the violin and the oboe. Details of all these and many other fascinating connections between Elgar and the College are given in this 32 page booklet.

St Michael's College Society