This re-release of an SWRmusic bestseller contains Elgar's first symphony, which marks the first real breakthrough of English symphonic music. The first performance was given by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Hans Richter in Manchester, England, on 3 December 1908. It was widely known that Elgar had been planning a symphony for more than ten years, and the announcement that he had finally completed it aroused enormous interest. The critical reception was enthusiastic, and the public response unprecedented. The symphony achieved what The Musical Times described as "immediate and phenomenal success", with a hundred performances in Britain, continental Europe and America within just over a year of it's première. Reviewers lauded it as the most noble work ever penned by an English composer. The present recording, under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington exemplifies his style which got to be known as "Stuttgart Sound".