Think of Elgar, and perhaps you'll think of his haunting Cello Concerto.

You might also think of Worcester, the city of his birth.

And now a four-day music festival, headlined by leading international cellist, Raphael Wallfisch and the English Symphony Orchestra (ESO) conducted by Kenneth Woods, is to celebrate one of Britain’s greatest composers and Worcester native, Sir Edward Elgar, from May 30 to June 2, in and around the faithful city.

A spokesman said: "At the heart of this summer’s Elgar Festival is the composer’s evergreen Cello Concerto, performed by renowned soloist, Raphael Wallfisch and the English Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Woods, which is to be performed as part of a gala concert in Worcester Cathedral to mark the centenary of the composer’s final masterwork.

"Inaugurated last year as a two-day event and immediately gaining ‘Critic’s Pick’ status in The Guardian and The Times, this year’s festival has now expanded to four days, with the intention to champion Elgar to as wide an audience as possible. With the theme Elgar for Everyone, the ethos behind the event is to engage those of all ages and backgrounds in the music and legacy of Worcester’s greatest son, through an immersive and engaging schedule of festival events, which this year centres around the Cello Concerto."

And this is the centenary of the Cello Concerto, Elgar's lament for a lost world.

The spokesman said: "It was conceived during the dark years of the First World War as the composer – then sixty - recuperated from a painful operation. It is sparse and concentrated, full of memorable themes."

Tickets : www.worcesterlive.co.uk and 01905 611427.