Windflower Letters

In the course of Elgar's life (1857-1934) he developed close relationships with a number of women friends and admirers. Probably the profoundest of these was with Alice Stuart Wortley, daughter of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir John Everett Millais and whose previous marriage to John Ruskin had ended in annulment. Her relationship with Elgar ripened gradually from one of social acquaintance and admiration to an intimate involvement with the composition of some of his greatest masterpieces. Their relationship spanned three decades which saw Elgar's greatest triumphs and greatest griefs - from the height of his success in the early 20th century through World War I to his declining years, the death of his wife and his waning popularity. The work most closely associated with Alice Stuart Wortley is the Violin Concerto of 1910, "Windflower" being the name Elgar gave to her after themes which she inspired in that work. This book is a collection of letters mainly written by Edward Elgar to Alice Stuart Wortley. The majority of the letters in this volume are from Elgar since hardly any from the Stuart Wortley family survive.
Their evolution is set against a background of Edwardian artistic and intellectual life, first nights by Shaw, Barrie, Pinero, Granville Barker, Royal Academy dinners and private concerts and the selection contains many letters hitherto unpublished. Jerrold Northrop Moore is also author of "Edward Elgar: A Creative Life" and "Elgar and his Publishers: Letters of a Creative Life".