Bachtrack top ten: Edward Elgar

Sir Edward Elgar (1931)

By Mark Pullinger, 02 June 2023

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A look at some major composers who did not receive any formal musical training and followed their own non-traditional paths into Western classical music.

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Lawrence Dunn, 17th June

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The chief conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra discusses his love and fascination for Elgar’s deeply personal work – and his experiences performing it for the first time.

Bachtrack top ten: Frédéric Chopin

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Bachtrack top ten: Gaetano Donizetti

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.