Criteria for the funding of the Society’s Elgar in Performance grant scheme 2025 – 2027

1. The Elgar Society Council has recently agreed revisions to the Elgar in Performance Scheme which helps fund performances of Elgar’s works in the UK and overseas.

2. The maximum available grant for a performance of a major work in the UK is currently £1,500; for a performance overseas £2,000.  

3. The Elgar Society does not normally support performances within the UK of works which have established themselves in the general concert repertoire: e.g. The Dream of Gerontius, the ‘Cello Concerto, Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos.1 and 4, the Enigma Variations or Symphonies nos.1 and 2.  However, these works will ordinarily be considered for support overseas and may still be considered so exceptionally in the UK.  

4. The Council is keen to ensure that concert giving organisations encourage young people to perform Elgar’s music. The Council is neither prescriptive nor proscriptive about how this should be done. On the application form, organisations are invited to demonstrate how they propose to increase accessibility to Elgar’s music for young performers and audiences alike.

5. The Council will, however, not use its funds to support the academic or musical education of individuals.

6. For works that constitute a significant part of a concert programme, acknowledgement of the Elgar Society must be via a half-page advertisement in the printed programme and the Society’s logo must be shown on all advertising material.  For supporting works that constitute a small part of a programme, a lesser recognition is required

A Note on using Elgar’s original forces

7(i). Wherever possible, works should be performed with the full orchestral forces specified by Elgar.   However, the Council recognises that this may not aways be practical and that some flexibility in the use of reduced forces may be appropriate. Elgar himself allowed considerable latitude amongst performers to ensure that his music was heard as widely as possible.  The Council sees no reason why this solution should not be supported as a way of making Elgar’s larger scale works more accessible and affordable to perform.  

7 (ii). The Elgar in Performance Committee will consider each application for performance with reduced forces on a case-by-case basis. A full description of the arrangement to be used should be provided. 

 8 (i). The Elgar Society is keen to encourage performances of some of the lesser-known choral and orchestral works which have yet to enter the mainstream repertoire. These may include for example choral works such as The Black Knight Op.25; Caractacus Op.35; and orchestral pieces such as Froissart Op.19; Polonia Op.76 etc., etc.

8 (ii). In the same way the Elgar Society will also consider supporting performances of the three late chamber works from 1918/19: Violin Sonata Op.82, String Quartet Op 83 and the Piano Quintet Op.84. 

8 (iii). The Elgar Society will not only consider offering financial support towards such performances but can as an alternative offer practical assistance. Elgar Works is the commercial arm of the charity The Elgar Complete Edition which publishes most of Elgar’s works in a scholarly edition and can supply scores and parts at a reduced cost for performing organisations worldwide.