- He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 1904 King's Honours List and was awarded the Order of Merit in the 1911 King's Honours List for his services to music.
- He was awarded the Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order of the British Empire in the 1928 King's Honours List; a Grand Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1933 King's Honours List and awarded baronetcy (Life Peerage or Lordship) in the 1931 King's Honours List for his services to music.
- His composition "Pomp and Circumstance" is one of the most widely performed songs in the world. However, most people have only heard the "processional" section of it, which is frequently used in school graduation ceremonies.
- Rob Dougan's song "Clubbed to Death", for example used in the film The Matrix (1999), takes its string introduction from Elgar's "Andante" from the Enigma Variations (Op. 36).
- Was generally neglected and regarded as out-of-date until 1962 when director Ken Russell filmed a documentary about him for the BBC Monitor series. The film revived interest in Elgar, and he has become one of the best loved English composers today.
- The imfamous punk rock group, the Sex Pistols, recorded a cover of the song "Land of Hope and Glory", which uses music from "Pomp and Circumstance", but legal action prevented the release of the recording in England on Virgin records. In order to avoid the legal restrictions, the recording was released in France on "Virginia" records (with a synthesizer introduction and closure) and the artists were credited as "The Ex Pistols". Copies were then sold in England, since the recording was officially "imported".
- Howard Goodall believes him to be "the finest home-grown composer England produced" since Henry Purcell.
- Appeared in the British Pathé short "The Master Of The King's Musick" (1931), which was produced to mark the opening of the new Abbey Road Recording Studios in London. Elgar conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in the famous "Land of Hope and Glory" theme from his "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1", telling the players, "Please play this tune as though you've never heard it before".
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