EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934)
Long before Sir Edward Elgar achieved international acclaim with his Enigma Variations and Pomp and Circumstance marches, he was a struggling 31-year-old violin teacher in Worcester. In the summer of 1888, as Elgar prepared to leave for a holiday in Yorkshire, his music pupil and bride-to-be, Caroline Alice Roberts, presented him with a poem she had written entitled "Love's Grace." Deeply touched by her gesture, Elgar responded while away by composing a tender musical love letter for piano, titling it Liebesgruss ("Love's Greeting") and dedicating it "To Carice"—an affectionate portmanteau blending his fiancé's middle names, Caroline Alice. He presented the piece to Alice upon his return, and the two were married the following year.
Hoping to turn his musical love poem into a modest income, Elgar sold the piece outright to the publisher Schott for a paltry two guineas. When initial sales under its original German title proved sluggish, Schott astutely changed the title to the French Salut d'Amour and listed the composer as "Ed. Elgar" to give the work a more fashionable, exotic appeal. The marketing ploy succeeded spectacularly, and sheet music sales exploded worldwide in various arrangements for piano, violin, and full orchestra—though Elgar, having sold the copyright outright, never received another penny in royalties. Built upon a swooning, elegant melody that breathes the purest Victorian romance, Salut d'Amour remains one of classical music's most enduring love songs.