BBC Prom tells story of Elgar at University of Birmingham

The role played by the composers Elgar and Bantock in establishing a Chair of Music at the University of Birmingham is explored in a BBC Radio 3 programme to be broadcast tonight. Birmingham alumna Fiona Clampin (Comb Hons Music and French, 1995) looks at how the professorship came to be set up at the end of 1904, thanks to an endowment of £10,000 from local businessman Richard Peyton. The 20-minute programme, produced by James Cook, will be aired in the interval of the live BBC Prom - a concert which features music by Sir Edward Elgar and Sir Granville Bantock in the second half. Contributors include the English music scholar Lewis Foreman and current Peyton and Barber Professor of Music Andrew Kirkman. Elgar was persuaded to accept the post of first Professor of Music by staff at the university, and friends including Granville Bantock. Elgar's wife Alice's diary from 1904, held in the university's special collections, shows what a difficult decision it was for the composer to make. He wasn't fond of teaching and was concerned that the duties expected of a Chair of Music would take up time that should be spent composing.