Sir Adrian Boult... was a great champion of the music of Elgar, which he felt deeply and conducted superbly. I once played Falstaff with him, in 1950, and was delighted to fund that one section, which had always disappointed me in his recording, played at too fast a pace, was now smooth, even and leisurely. I asked him about this, and was rewarded with one of his gracious smiles as he said, 'Ah, my boy, you've got to remember that we all had to live with the tyranny of the four-and-a-half-minutes disc' (it was before the days of LPs). 'Even Elgar couldn't do anything about that!'