Unlike many great symphonies, Elgar’s first achieved fame nearly instantly—it was performed over 80 times in Europe and North America in its first year. Its popularity has endured, with over 10 recordings released in the first decade of the 21st century. It’s easy to see why. As the Evening Standard wrote in 1908: “The composer has written a work of rare beauty, sensibility, and humanity, a work understandable by all.”