Jettisoning the support of teaching and conducting appointments early in his career and working solely as a professional composer, Sir Edward German rose to prominence as a composer of orchestral music in the last decade of the 19th century. The popularity of his music resulted in prestigious commissions from festivals and theatrical producers, such as The Seasons written for the 1899 Norwich Festival, with it's masterly evocations of nature, nostalgic yearnings and rustic festivities. The Theme and Six Diversions, one of the composer's finest concert works, owed it's inspiration to a suggestion by German's friend and admirer Sir Edward Elgar.