Program Notes – Enigma Variations: Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma), January 27, 2024
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM BY JOHN P. VARINEAU
Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma)
Edward Elgar (1857–1934)
Written: 1898–99
Movements: Theme and Fourteen Variations
Style: Romantic
Duration: 29 minutes
Edward Elgar was the first English composer to gain international prominence after Henry Purcell (1659–1695). After such a long drought, one would think the English would be quick to embrace a composer of stature. Not so! It was only after Elgar’s fortieth birthday that he was recognized in England, and it was his Enigma Variations that propelled him into international concert halls.
There are two puzzles in Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The first is “what is the theme?” Elgar simply labelled it “Enigma.” Then he labeled all of the variations with cryptic initials or names. Those are easy to solve, but Elgar's "Enigma" is still unsolved.
In the program notes for the first performance Elgar wrote,
The enigma I will not explain—its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connection between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes,’ but is not played. . . . So the principal Theme never appears, even as in some late dramas the chief character is never on the stage.
So, there are two enigmas: the actual melody of the theme, and the larger unplayed theme of the work. There are many guesses about what that theme really is, from the banal God Save the Queen, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Rule Britannia to the sublime nonmusical ideas of Friendship or even 1 Corinthians 13:12. One fascinating recent conjecture is that the theme is a musical representation of the mathematical concept of π (pi): the numbering of the first four notes of the theme within the minor scale is 3, 1, 4, 2—the same as the first four numerals of π.
The Variations are all character studies of Elgar's friends and acquaintances. "I've written the variations each one to represent the mood of the party," Elgar wrote. "I've liked to imagine the 'party' writing the variation him (or her) self and have written what I think they would have written, if they were asses enough to compose."
C.A.E. is Elgar's wife, Alice. Hew David Steuart-Powell (H.D. S-P.), was an amateur pianist who played trios with Elgar. Richard Baxter Townshend (R.B.T.) was an explorer. He prospected for gold, taught classics, translated Tacitus, and wrote many books.
William Meath Baker (W.M.B.), Lord of Hasfield Court was the brother-in-law to R.B.T. His mercurial temperament is heard in his variation, including the inadvertent slamming of a door. Richard Penrose Arnold (R.P.A.), was the son of the poet Matthew Arnold. He continually broke up serious conversation with whimsical and witty remarks.
Ysobel is the old English spelling of Isabel Fitton. Elgar taught her viola. A phrase in her variation is an exercise for crossing the strings. Arthur Troyte Griffith was an architect, watercolorist, and trusted friend. He also indulged in "maladroit essays to play the pianoforte." Winifred Norbury (W.N.) was a very sedate and calm woman like a kind governess. Elgar suggested that this variation was really a musical depiction of her eighteenth century house at Sherridge.
Nimrod is A.J. Jaeger, a friend and music editor at Elgar's publisher, Novello. Elgar claimed that the variation was a "record of a long summer evening talk, when my friend discoursed eloquently on the slow movements of Beethoven." Dorabella was Dora Penny. The dance-like lightness of this variation suggests Dora's delight in devising dances to Elgar's piano playing.
George Robertson Sinclair (G.R.S) was organist of Hereford Cathedral, but this variation is about his bulldog, Dan. The music describes him falling into the river Wye, paddling upstream to find a landing place, and barking and rejoicing at succeeding.
Basil G. Nevisnon (B.G.N), a serious and devoted friend, was at Oxford with H.D. S-P. *** was Lady Mary Lygon of Madresfield House. She had left for Australia when Elgar wrote her variation. It represents the throbbing of a ship's engine. It also includes a quotation from Mendelssohn's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. E.D.U. is a self-portrait (Alice called him Edoo). It presents a composer confident of his stature. It was also prophetic. The first performance was an instant success.
©2024 John P. Varineau