The cumulative effect of the artistic activity of the notable trio named above may find partial explanation in the fact that together they represent the three dominant national branches of the United Kingdom--Parry the Englishman, Mackenzie the Scotchman and Stanford the Irishman. The works of these three brilliant exponents of British music reveal many idioms traceable to their respective racial characteristics. In the two choral ballads of Charles Villiers Stanford (born 1852)--‘The Voyage of Maeldune’ (Leeds Festival, 1889), poem by Tennyson, and ‘Phaudrig Crohoore’ (Norwich Festival, 1896), poem by J. S. Le Fanu--traits of Irish folk-song appear on many a page and lend to the music individuality and a fragrant beauty. Indeed, he has achieved some of his greatest successes in his choral ballads. His splendid setting of Tennyson’s ‘The Revenge’ (Leeds Festival, 1896), with its snappy, breezy and, withal, brilliant style, tempted him to set another nautical ballad, Campbell’s ‘The Battle of the Baltic,’ which, however, is hardly as effective. His style is more eclectic than that of his two great contemporaries, combining some of the best German and English qualities with his own individual mode of utterance. His oratorios will be mentioned in another place. He has made very notable contributions to sacred and church music, especially liturgical music. VII Sir Edward Elgar’s[71] position as not only the leader among English composers of the present, but as one of the greatest of contemporary creative musicians, is amply buttressed by a series of works in orchestral and choral fields, which, though not conspicuous by its length, is remarkable for the strength and originality of their musical ideas, the vigor of treatment and the supreme command which the composer displays over the technical means of expression. Most of his greatest works are discussed in other sections of this series, yet it was in the field of cantata that his name first rose to prominence and the English festivals furnished the occasion, as in the case of so many other English composers. ‘The Black Knight’ had found a respectful hearing at the Worcester Festival of 1893 and the ‘Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands’ at the same Festival in 1896, but the production of the ‘Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf’ at the North Staffordshire Festival at Hanley in 1896 created a profound impression and its remarkable success raised his name at once to a place among the great ones of music. ‘The Banner of St. George’ followed in 1897 and ‘Caractacus,’ the finest of his cantatas, in 1898.