ENIGMA VARIATIONS SERIES

William Meath Baker was a Gloucestershire squire and patron of Elgar who “expressed himself somewhat energetically,” and inadvertently allowed the door to slam shut when he left the room. Variation IV (Allegro di molto), W.M.B., is a brief but exhilarating whirlwind. At the beginning of the variation, the theme’s opening motive is heard in the clownish woodwinds, setting the stage for a display of buffoonish humor. Variation III (Allegretto), R.B.T., offers a lighthearted depiction of Richard Baxter Townshend, a writer whose portrayal of an old man in an amateur theater production amused Elgar. Here, they become strange and edgy chromatic figures which spread around the orchestra like buzzing insects. The jumpy, toccata lines are a humorous caricature of Powell’s habit of warming up at the keyboard before playing. Variation II (Allegro), H.D.S-P., depicts Hew David Steuart-Powell, an amateur pianist with whom Elgar frequently played chamber music. It is a sensuous sketch of Elgar’s wife and muse (Caroline Alice Elgar), set with a repeating four-note motive that the composer is said to have whistled when he entered the house. D, which can be heard as an extension of the theme.

Without pause, we enter the first variation ( L’istesso tempo), C. For Elgar, the theme’s opening phrase became a kind of musical signature, matching the rhythm and inflection of his name, and evoking a “sense of the loneliness of the artist.” It takes a wistful turn towards major, and then slides back into the veiled darkness of G minor. The theme develops in halting steps, embodying a quiet dignity reminiscent of a baroque aria by Handel or Purcell. With the opening theme, we enter a solitary, mysterious and melancholy world. This is the basis of the composition, but the work may be listened to as a ‘piece of music’ apart from any extraneous consideration. The sketches are not ‘portraits’ but each variation contains a distinct idea founded on some particular personality or perhaps on some incident known only to two people. It may be understood that these personages comment or reflect on the original theme and each one attempts a solution of the Enigma, for so the theme is called. This work, commenced in a spirit of humour and continued in deep seriousness, contains sketches of the composer’s friends.

ENIGMA VARIATIONS SERIES

Each variation is inscribed with a series of initials or a cryptic word relating to the subject’s identity, betraying the composer’s love of word games and anagrams.

9, a wide-ranging cast of “characters” came to life as Elgar’s clever improvisations developed into a serious piece. In a way similar to Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. Elgar replied, “Nothing – but something might be made of it.” With a spirit of playfulness, he proceeded to develop the melody into a series of musical caricatures of their friends, daring Alice to guess the subject. A melody emerged that caught the ear of his wife, Alice. Puffing on a cigar and exhausted from the day’s work, the composer sat down at the piano and began improvising.

“A man is known by the company he keeps,” said the ancient Greek fabulist, Aesop.įor Sir Edward Elgar, it was associations with a circle of friends, each with their distinct personalities and quirks, that inspired the orchestral masterwork, Variations on an Original Theme, Op.36, popularly known as the Enigma Variations.Īccording to the story, it began on an October evening in 1898 at Elgar’s home in the Worcestershire countryside.

Enigma variations