A moving performance of Elgar's 'Nimrod' – as you've never seen or heard it before
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Professor Julian Lloyd Webber conducts musicians from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in a socially-distanced tribute to Elgar
Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, Principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and students from the Conservatoire have produced a remarkable socially-distanced tribute to Edward Elgar, a stirring performance of 'Nimrod' from the Enigma Variations. Lloyd Webber commented: 'Soon after lockdown began, we looked for a way to bring our many string students from around the world together again. We decided to create a virtual performance of Elgar’s famous ‘Nimrod’ – a piece of music that sounds immediately British yet which carries a global message of sadness accompanied by an underlying sense of hard-won achievement.'
The film features 63 students from 23 different countries, just fewer than half of the students attending the Strings department at the Conservatoire. Dr Louise Lansdown, Head of Strings at the Conservatoire says: 'The strings students of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire represent a bright part of the future of music and the arts and we all wanted to draw attention to the plight of musicians and artists across the world whose live performing careers and livelihoods have been annihilated by the worldwide pandemic. They intend for the beautiful message of Edward Elgar’s "Nimrod" to be a symbol of unity and hope, showing that they can still create music, separated but together.'
