Building a Collection #38: Elgar's Enigma Variations

With recommended recordings

Building a Collection #38

Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36 “Enigma”

Edward Elgar

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“Bramo assai, poco spero, nulla chieggio” (“I long for much, I hope for little, I ask nothing”).

-Edward Elgar quoting Torquato Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, written at the end of the score for the Enigma Variations

Welcome back to Building a Collection, and our journey covering the top 250 classical works of all-time.  We have reached #38 on the list, and occupying the spot is English composer Edward Elgar with his breakthrough composition Variations on an Original Theme, most commonly referred to as the Enigma Variations.  The work is an orchestral composition made up of fourteen variations on an original theme.  

Edward Elgar

Sir Edward William Elgar was born in 1857 and died in 1934.  Elgar was arguably the greatest English composer to come along since Henry Purcell (1659-1695), although he did not become well-known until he was in his forties.  Although Elgar’s music has come to be seen as quintessentially “English”, his musical influences were from the European continent such as Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, and Johannes Brahms.  

Elgar came from humble beginnings, his father William being a piano tuner and his mother Ann the daughter of a farmer.  Edward was raised with a lot of music all around, and he took piano and violin lessons (father William also played the violin).  His mother encouraged his musical upbringing, and Edward would also inherit his mother’s love for literature and the English countryside.  His mother had converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before Edward’s birth, and he was baptized and raised as a Catholic even though his father disapproved of it (his father was skeptical of religion in general).  Elgar would remain a devout Catholic his entire life, even when this was treated with suspicion in some quarters of Protestant Britain.  

Elgar learned German, and desired to attend conservatory in Leipzig, but the family did not have the money to send him there.  Nevertheless, he persisted in wanting to make a career for himself in music, and between 1879 and 1885 took up various jobs such as directing bands at such institutions as the Worcester and County Lunatic Asylum and the Worcester College for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen.  In these posts he learned a lot about conducting and what different instruments were capable of doing, lessons he would put to good use later.  He also became a very fine violinist and probably could have made a career as a soloist, but he doubted his ability.      

Even though Elgar kept to himself and was rather introspective by nature, he was active in the Worcester musical circles of the day and played violins in various orchestras in Worcester and Birmingham in the 1880s.  He also began arranging some pieces by Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart for quintet and began working on some of his own pieces.  Playing in William Stockley’s Orchestra in Birmingham for the next several years taught him a great deal of music, and even saw the premiere of one of his own compositions.  He took his first trips to Paris and Leipzig in the early 1880s and heard music by Saint-Saens, Schumann (his favorite), Brahms, and Wagner, an experience which was very formative in his development.  But overall, this was not a happy period for Elgar, as his efforts to get his works published were not successful and even though he took on private pupils for lessons, he was not making much money at all.

In 1886 Elgar took on a pupil by the name of Caroline Alice Roberts (known by the name Alice), a woman eight years older than him.  They were married three years later, and the marriage endured throughout Elgar’s life.  Alice’s family was aghast that she would marry a struggling musician, and a Roman Catholic at that, and so she was disowned by her family.  The couple had one child, a daughter born in 1890, named Carice Irene.  Elgar dedicated his violin work Salut d'Amour to his newborn daughter.  Alice was influential in the family’s move to London to be closer to the English musical scene and she strongly encouraged Edward to compose more.  

Elgar was essentially a self-taught composer, something that is rather extraordinary given his eventual success and notoriety.  In London Edward and Alice would attend concerts frequently, and he learned a great deal from the orchestration of composers such as Berlioz and Wagner.  Despite creating new music and trying to have it played in public, Elgar made little impact with his compositions.  When his hometown Worcester Festival Committee commissioned a work from him, this became his first major work, the confident concert overture Froissart.  But the family’s dismal financial situation only worsened, forcing them to move back to Worcestershire where Elgar could at least teach and lead local ensembles.

During most of the 1890s, Elgar labored away in obscurity and began to feel underappreciated and hopeless.  Despite the modest success of some of his works, critics were polite but nothing more.  However, his music publisher and friend August Jaeger continued to encourage him:  "A day's attack of the blues ... will not drive away your desire, your necessity, which is to exercise those creative faculties which a kind providence has given you. Your time of universal recognition will come."

Enigma Variations

Indeed, Elgar’s time did come, and very soon thereafter.  In 1899 at the age of 42 Elgar produced Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, his Enigma Variations so titled because the word “enigma” had been written over the first six bars of music.  The premiere was given in London under the baton of Hans Richter and was an immediate success in England.  It was also well-received in Germany and Italy.  Today it remains one of Elgar’s most popular and familiar works.  From that point on, Elgar became one of the most prominent composers in England, and his compositions were eagerly anticipated.    

The enigma is that beyond the fourteen variations on an original theme, there is another encompassing theme, never explicitly identified by Elgar, which runs through the entire work but is not heard.  It is not even known if Elgar was referring to a musical theme or a general non-musical theme.  Musical scholars, both professional and amateur, have tried for decades to unlock the secret enigma but so far, no convincing solution has been found.  Some believe the theme is hidden as music that can be played in counterpoint against the main Enigma theme, such as Auld Lang Syne or Mozart’s Prague symphony.  Scholars continue to present possible solutions using familiar melodies as counterpoints, but still others maintain that if the riddle were solved it would make the work less mysterious and far less appealing.  Elgar offered some hints, but the puzzle remains unsolved to this day.    

The Enigma Variations is a programmatic work, where each variation is a musical sketch of one of Elgar’s friends or acquaintances.  Among others, the variations include his wife Alice, his publisher Augustus Jaeger, and Elgar himself.  As Elgar wrote for program notes in 1911:

“This work, commenced in a spirit of humour & continued in deep seriousness, contains sketches of the composer's friends. It may be understood that these personages comment or reflect on the original theme & each one attempts a solution of the Enigma, for so the theme is called. 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. 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 genesis of the music that would become the theme was Elgar was playing some melodies on the piano one evening after a long day’s work, and one melody in particular caught the attention of his wife.  He began to experiment with the melody, creating variations on it, and began to play it in different styles reflecting the personalities or traits of various friends.  Gradually Elgar added to the harmonies, melodies, and rhythms and then orchestrated the variations.  The piece was dedicated to “my friends pictured within”.  Each variation includes both a general impression of each subject and a reference to a specific characteristic or event.  The variations are as follows, using Timothy Judd from The Listeners’ Club as our guide:

Theme - the opening theme enters in a mysterious and melancholy way, dignified and wistful.  The opening phrase becomes a kind of musical signature for Elgar, evoking a sense of the loneliness of the artist.  This main theme becomes the heart of the variations throughout the piece.

Var. I. L’ istesso tempo ‘C.A.E.’ (Caroline Alice Elgar) - really an extension of the opening theme, this is a sensuous sketch of Elgar’s wife Alice with a repeating four-note motive the composer is said to have whistled when he entered the house.  

Var. II. Allegro ‘H.D.S.-P.’ (Hew David Stewart-Powell) - Powell was an amateur pianist with whom Elgar frequently played chamber music.  The jumpy, toccata lines are a humorous caricature of Powell’s habit of warming up at the keyboard before playing.  Here they become strange and edgy chromatic figures which spread around the orchestra like buzzing insects.  

Var. III. Allegretto ‘R.B.T.’ (Richard Baxter Townshend) - offers a lighthearted depiction of Townshend, a writer whose portrayal of an old man in an amateur theater production amused Elgar.  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.

Var. IV. Allegro di molto ‘W. M. B.’ (William Meath Baker) - 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.

Var. V. Moderato ‘R. P. A.’ (Richard Penrose Arnold) - haunting mystery alternates with moments of playfulness.  This is a musical sketch of Arnold, the son of poet Matthew Arnold, and an amateur pianist.  Elgar described him as “a great lover of music which he played (on the piano) in a self-taught manner, evading difficulties but suggesting in a mysterious way the real feeling…his serious conversation was continually broken up by whimsical and witty remarks”. 

Var. VI. Andantino ‘Ysobel’ (Isabel Fitton) - Fitton was a viola student of Elgar’s who had difficulty with the technique of string crossings.  The variation grows out of a string crossing exercise, heard in the violas in the opening bars.  The final bars bring the ultimate sense of serenity and contentment, perhaps the domestic tranquility of a green, rolling landscape of hedgerows.

Var. VII. Presto ‘Troyte’ (Arthur Troyte Griffith) - a wild, virtuosic romp. For Elgar, this variation was a humorous commentary on his unsuccessful attempt to teach the architect Griffith to play the piano.  The final chord amounts to a virtual frustrated slamming of the keyboard’s lid.

Var. VIII. Allegretto ‘W. N.’ (Winifred Norbury) - the theme is transformed into a gently meandering dialogue between the woodwinds and the strings. We get a sense of the gracious, eighteenth-century house of Norbury and of her distinctive laugh.  The variation fades away into a single, dreamy note, opening the door to the ninth variation.

Var. IX. Adagio ‘Nimrod’ (August Jaeger) - by the far the most popular and well-known variation, this is a solemn and majestic monument to Elgar’s publisher Jaeger (jäger is the German word for hunter, and Nimrod is the mighty hunter named in Genesis 10).  Jaeger was a close friend who stood by Elgar, offering him unending support as well as constructive criticism.  Amid echoes of the slow movement of Beethoven’s Pathetique sonata, Nimrod grows from a hushed whisper into a soaring statement.  Listen carefully to all of the inner voices that make up this glorious chorale.  

Var. X. Intermezzo:  Allegretto ‘Dorabella’ (Dora Penny) - Dorabella was Elgar’s nickname for Dora Penny (inspired by the character in Mozart’s opera Cosi fan tutte).  We hear a loving allusion to her stutter in the woodwinds.  

Var. XI. Allegro di molto ‘G. R. S.’ (George Robertson Sinclair) - Sinclair was the organist of Hereford Cathedral, but the portrait here is of his beloved dog Dan.  One day, Dan fell down a steep bank into the river Wye, furiously paddled downriver, and climbed to safety with a declarative “bark!”

Var. XII. Andante ‘B. G. N.’ (Basil G. Nevinson) - Nevinson was an amateur cellist with whom Elgar played chamber music.  The composer described him as “a serious and devoted friend.”

Var. XIII. Romanza: Moderato ‘* * *’ (Unknown identity) - comes with a most enigmatic inscription.  There is still speculation about the identity of the friend concealed, but for years the thought was the letters were L.M.L. for Elgar’s friend Lady Mary Lygon.  However, more recent scholarship has rather debunked that idea, since Elgar’s friendship with Lady Mary was hardly a secret.  We hear a quote from Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage and the quiet, distant throb of a ship’s engines.  Since Mendelssohn eventually became a devout Lutheran (as evidenced by his Fifth Symphony being named Reformation), and there is some good evidence Elgar used Martin Luther’s hymn Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress is Our God) as the model for the main theme of Enigma, some say the letters refer to the Lutheran Mendelssohn (L.) and then to Martin Luther himself (M.L.) to form L.M.L.  But this is inconclusive.

Var. XIV. Finale: Allegro ‘E. D. U.’ (Edward Elgar) - The variations reach a triumphant conclusion with Variation 14.  The music, filled with glimpses of the previous variations, represents Edward Elgar himself.  It’s launched with a sly homage to the open fifths which begin Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.  Punctuated with a bold, leaping statement, this music is an exhilarating celebration of life.  The theme, which forms a common thread through so many variations, now rises to the ultimate climax.  

The ninth variation titled ‘Nimrod’ has become iconic in its own right quite apart from the whole set.  It has often been used at British funerals, memorial services, and other occasions.  It is played at the Cenotaph at Whitehall in London at the National Service of Remembrance.  It was played at Princess Diana’s funeral, as well as the funeral for HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.  It was played at the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympic Games, and at the 2022 BBC Proms Festival after the season was cut short due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.  Composer Hans Zimmer adapted Nimrod for the 2017 Dunkirk film score.       

Essential Recording

The genial French conductor Pierre Monteux (1875-1964) recorded the essential version of the Enigma Variations with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1958 for Decca.  I’m not sure how Elgar would feel about choosing a French conductor for the essential Enigma, but we do have the sterling playing of the LSO here making Elgar proud.  The Decca sound from the time is full and ripe, although it can get a bit congested and overloaded in louder passages.  Monteux brings personality aplenty, and I find his tempos ideal across the board.  There is an appealing atmospheric halo around the music, and an almost magical quality to how naturally the music flows.  Monteux gets the nod over Boult, Brabbins, Elder, and Barbirolli (see below) because he is more direct, more passionate, more engaging, and frankly less refined throughout.  There is beauty of tone to be sure, but also a good deal of flair, wit, charm, and energy that is irresistible.  The score calls for a true ppp (pianississimo, or very, very soft) at the beginning of Nimrod and that is exactly what Monteux and the LSO present here.  Later it sings out gloriously and brings goosebumps.  Each variation is well-characterized, and the finale or 14th variation is thrillingly triumphant.  This recording has been rightly praised over the years, but it still has never been surpassed in my book.

Other Recommended Recordings

British conductor and cellist Sir John Barbirolli (1899 - 1970) recorded Enigma several times, but it is his 1956 recording on EMI (Warner) with the Hallé Orchestra (Manchester, U.K.) which is the best all-around and highly recommended.  The performance is splendid, and similar to Monteux, there is a great deal of energy and passion.  Barbirolli could be wilful or indulgent at times, but not here.  This is truly wonderful music making, and even though it is relatively direct (though not as much as Monteux), Barbirolli brings the sentiment, wistfulness, excitement, nobility, and character from the beginning.  Some allowances must be made for the sound, which is perfectly fine, but is now some 68 years old and as such has some background hiss as well as overload in louder segments.  But never mind, this is a cherished version I always enjoy returning to with this work.

The autumnal recording made by Sir Adrian Boult (1889 - 1983) and the London Symphony Orchestra for EMI (Warner) in 1970 is as much of an historical document as a recommendation on the musical merits, but I still believe it is a special recording.  After the death of Barbirolli in 1970, Boult remained the last living conductor with a personal link to English composers Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Holst.  Boult was a unique and important authority on English music especially.  It is true this is a more leisurely performance than Boult’s very fine 1953 recording with the London Philharmonic but is in considerably better sound and finds Boult bringing better characterizations of each variation, especially in the slower variations.  There is less energy and passion than Monteux and Barbirolli, but more lyricism.  This is an equally valid view of Elgar’s portraits, and in any case more thought provoking in many places.  The Kingsway Hall sound is warm, with some slight background hiss.                           

British-born American conductor and iconoclast Leopold Stokowski was recorded live with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for the boutique London label Cala in 1972 (using Decca’s Phase 4 sonics) when the conductor was 90!  This recording was a wonderful surprise to find.  Reportedly there was not enough rehearsal time for this recording taken from live broadcasts, and so there is a rough and ready quality to the ensemble. But so much vitality and brilliance!  Woodwinds are superb, and the Czech strings bring out all the color in the score.  Stokowski brings an emotional depth not found elsewhere, and details are exposed as if heard for the first time.  There is ample evidence of Stokowski really leaning into phrases, and it seems the orchestra is thoroughly enjoying themselves.  The sound from the House of Artists in Prague is immediate and satisfying, though there are some rough patches here and there and some overload in louder moments.  One of the very best Enigmas out there.

English conductor Sir Andrew Davis has recorded the Enigma Variations several times, but it is his first effort from 1974 with the Philharmonia Orchestra that is highly recommended.  Recorded by the Lyrita label, this performance crackles with the energy of their 30-year-old conductor, the forward pulse is maintained throughout, and Davis draws committed and idiomatic playing from the Philharmonia.  Each variation has an authentic feel to it, and Nimrod is delivered with sincere emotion.  The slower pieces are also well done, especially Dorabella and R.P.A.  Davis has always been a very fine Elgarian, and this is one of the finest recordings of his career in my view.  

Sir Mark Elder recorded the Enigma Variations with the Manchester-based Hallé Orchestra in 2003 for the in-house label Hallé Concerts Society.  Elder is one of the finest Elgar conductors living, and this performance is caught in excellent sound.  Elder also specializes in conducting opera, so he has an ear for drama, and he brings out some very affecting playing here.  It is not as emotional as Stokowski but is very effective in the contrasts between the lyrical and the bouncier variations.  Dynamics are shaded thoughtfully, and tempos are very well done.  If there is a slight shortage of electricity in spots, Elder finds more detail in the score than almost any other recording, and the orchestra sounds glorious.

One of the very finest versions comes from British conductor Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, recorded in 2015 in Glasgow for the Hyperion label.  This performance is a joy from start to finish, with a detailed sound picture and plenty of warmth.  Tempos are spacious, but never plodding, and always seem to fit the variation at hand.  Phrases are carefully considered, dynamics have a spectacularly wide-range, and the playing of the BBCSSO is incisive and thrilling.  The organ part added later by Elgar is captured splendidly in the finale, and the recording quality from Hyperion is top-notch.  Brabbins approaches the score without his own agenda, but still manages to make everything sound fresh.  A real contender for the finest Enigma available.

Other Notable Recordings

BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult (BBC, 1971)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Norman Del Mar (DG, 1975)

BBC Symphony Orchestra / Leonard Bernstein (DG, 1982)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras (Decca, 1992)

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle (Warner, 1994)

London Philharmonic Orchestra / Vernon Handley (Warner, 2001)

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir John Eliot Gardiner (DG, 2002)

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrew Litton (BIS, 2019)

That’s it for Elgar’s fascinating Enigma Variations.  Join me next time when we discuss #39 on our list, Rachmaninoff’s kaleidoscopic Piano Concerto no. 3. See you then! 

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Notes:

Anderson, Robert, "Elgar's Musical Style", The Musical Times, December 1993, pp. 689–90 and 692. Retrieved 23 October 2010 (subscription required) Archived 19 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine.

"Christopher Nolan's Wartime Epic". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017.

https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/martyn-brabbins-conducts-elgar-in-the-south-hyperion/.

"Dunkirk is a towering achievement, made with craft, sinew, and honesty". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017

"Edward Elgar", The Musical Times, 1 October 1900, pp. 641–48.

Elgar's programme note for a performance of the Variations in Turin, October 1911.

Fenech, Gerald. http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/l/lta00301a.php.

Judd, Timothy. Elgar’s “Enigma Variations”: Beyond Sketches and Riddles. The Listeners’ Club. April 19, 2020.

Kennedy, Michael (2004). "Elgar, Sir Edward William, baronet (1857–1934)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32988.

Maine, Basil, "Elgar, Sir Edward William" Archived 26 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography archive, Oxford University Press, 1949. Retrieved 20 April 2010 (subscription required).

McVeagh, Diana, "Elgar, Edward".Grove Music Online. Retrieved 20 April 2010 (subscription required) "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

Moore, Jerrold Northrop (1984). Edward Elgar: A Creative Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-315447-1.

Parkin, Ernest. "Elgar and Literature", The Elgar Society Journal, November 2004. 

https://www.classical-music.com/features/works/a-guide-to-nimrod-from-elgars-enigma-variations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_Variations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Elgar