– Composer: Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 — 23 February 1934)
– Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
– Conductor: Andrew Litton
– Year of recording: 1987
Enigma Variations, for orchestra, Op. 36, written in 1898-1899.
00:00 – Theme (Andante)
01:26 – Variation I (L’istesso tempo) “C.A.E.”
03:22 – Variation II (Allegro) “H.D.S.-P.”
04:06 – Variation III (Allegretto) “R.B.T.”
05:27 – Variation IV (Allegro di molto) “W.M.B.”
05:58 – Variation V (Moderato) “R.P.A.”
08:08 – Variation VI (Andantino) “Ysobel”
09:34 – Variation VII (Presto) “Troyte”
10:31 – Variation VIII (Allegretto) “W.N.”
12:26 – Variation IX (Adagio) “Nimrod”
16:14 – Variation X (Intermezzo: Allegretto) “Dorabella”
18:56 – Variation XI (Allegro di molto) “G.R.S.”
19:56 – Variation XII (Andante) “B.G.N.”
22:30 – Variation XIII (Romanza: Moderato) “* * *”
25:26 – Variation XIV (Finale: Allegro Presto) “E.D.U.”
At the end of an overlong day laden with teaching and other duties, Edward Elgar lit a cigar, sat at his piano and began idling over the keys. To amuse his wife, the composer began to improvise a tune and played it several times, turning each reprise into a caricature of the way one of their friends might have played it or of their personal characteristics. “I believe that you are doing something which has never been done before,” exclaimed Mrs. Elgar. Thus was born one of music’s great works of original conception, and Elgar’s greatest large-scale “hit”: the Enigma Variations. The enigma is twofold: each of the 14 variations refers to a friend of Elgar’s, who is depicted by the nature of the music, or by sonic imitation of laughs, vocal inflections, or quirks, or by more abstract allusions. The other enigma is the presence of a larger “unheard” theme which is never stated but which according to the composer is very well known. The identity of the phantom tune left the world with the composer, and guesses have ranged from “God Save the King”, “Ein Feste Burg” and “Auld Lang Syne” to a simple major scale.
This apparatus aside, the variations contain some of the most charming and deeply felt music Elgar ever penned, more than redeeming the work from the status of mere gimmickry. The main theme is hesitating, lean and haunting, and is reprised with the passionate first variation that represents Caroline, the composer’s wife, a constant source of encouragement and inspiration. The remaining variations are as follows:
– II. H.D.S.-P. — Hew Stuart-Powell, a pianist with whom Elgar played chamber music.
– III. R.B.T. — Richard Townsend, whose vocal pitch would rise when excited.
– IV. W.M.B. — William Baker, who after barking out plans for the day would leave the room with a vigorous door-slam
– V. R.P.A. — Richard Arnold, son of the writer Matthew Arnold, who would punctuate serious discourse with a nervous laugh.
– VI. Isobel Fitton, a violist.
– VII. Troyte — Arthur Griffith, an architect and raucous pianist.
– VIII. W.N. — Winifred Norbury, a gracious and gentle friend.
– IX. Nimrod — Augustus Jaeger, Elgar’s close friend. The most beautiful and famous of the variations, this music describes a nighttime walk when Jaeger gave verbal encouragement to composer, recalling Beethoven’s determination in adversity. “Jaeger” means “hunter in German, and Nimrod was a biblical hunter.
– X. Dorabella — Dora Penny, whose infectious laugh is depicted in the woodwinds.
– XI. G.R.S. — George Sinclair, an organist depicted frolicking with his bulldog, Dan.
– XII. B.G.N. — Basil Nevinson, a cellist.
– XIII. *** — The identity of this person is not known, but she is thought to have been on an ocean voyage at the time — this divined from a quote from Mendelssohn’s “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage.”
– XIV. E.D.U. — Elgar himself. “Edu” was Caroline’s nickname for her husband. This heartily extroverted, even boisterous, finale ties together the first variation and the Nimrod themes, as though to suggest that the composer has taken advice to heart and is determined to succeed. The entry of an organ in the final measures brings the work to a confident, happy close.
More information on Elgar’s “Dorabella Cipher” and the ‘unheard’ theme in the Enigma Variations: http://nautil.us/issue/6/secret-codes/the-artist-of-the-unbreakable-code