Malvern Hills

Sir Edward Elgar 
Born: June 2, 1857, in Broadheath, England
Died: February 23, 1934, in Little Malvern, England

Variations on an Original Theme, "Enigma" op. 93

Edward Elgar, who was undervalued by his countrymen early in his career, was an enormously gifted and prolific English composer. Despite early recognition by certain influential German musicians, his reputation was not firmly established in England until he wrote the Enigma Variations, first conducted by Hans Richter in London’s St. James Hall on June 19, 1899.

The Enigma Variations, as they are commonly called, are a set of fourteen orchestral variations on an original theme. Elgar dedicated the score "to my friends pictured within." In a letter written to his friend and publisher, August Jaeger, Elgar explained how he had labeled the variations with the nicknames of particular friends and written what he thought they would have written. The concluding variation is a self-portrait.

Michael Kennedy best summed up this composition when he wrote, that despite all enigmas, initials, and inspirations, "Elgar concocted a work of art which is all music, through and through, because no knowledge of the work’s ‘programme’ is required for its full appreciation." Nevertheless, a bit of background on the cast of characters is helpful.

Some of Elgar's characters depicted in the Enigma Variations.

Variation I (C.A.E.): C.A.E. is Elgar’s wife, Caroline Alice Elgar. He intended the variation to prolong the theme with what he called "romantic and delicate additions." The theme blends seamlessly into this first variation.

Variation II (H.D.S-P): Hew David Steuart-Powell was the pianist in Elgar’s piano trio. His warm-up exercises were always in the key of the piece he was going to play, and Elgar tried to depict this.

Variation III (R.B.T.): Richard Baxter Townshend, who had a high tenor voice, had acted the part of an old man in an amateur play. Though he attempted to use a deep voice for the old man, he was unable to maintain it, and the audience found the "breaking" of his voice to be quite comical. He also used to ride a tricycle with a perpetually ringing bell around Oxford. When asked why he did so, Mr. Townsend, who was hard of hearing, replied, "So that people can hear me coming. I can’t hear them!"

Elgar evokes both falsetto voice and tricycle bell in the high, dotted rhythm that is passed around the wind section.

Variation IV (W.M.B.): R.B.T.’s brother-in-law was William Meath Baker. His variation emulates him inadvertently banging a door when exiting a room.

Variation V (R.P.A.): Elgar’s circle thought of Richard Penrose Arnold as a gentleman whose serious nature was punctuated by whimsical and witty remarks. The woodwinds evoke his laugh, first in the oboes and French horns, then elsewhere.

VariationVI (Ysobel): Isabel Fitton was Elgar’s viola student and a family friend. Her variation begins with an exercise Elgar wrote for her. The large intervals were also meant to represent height, for Ms. Fitton was a tall woman!

Variation VII (Troyte): Arthur Troyte Griffith was a dear friend of Elgar’s but a miserable pianist. Elgar, somewhat tongue in cheek, said that Griffith’s variation represented "maladroit essays to play the pianoforte; later the strong rhythm suggests the attempts of the instructor [Elgar himself] to make something like order out of chaos and the final despairing ‘slam’ records that the effort proved to be vain."

Variation VIII (W.N.): Winifred Norbury’s variation was inspired by the 18^th century house in which she lived. Elgar was an ardent nature enthusiast and especially loved the lanes around her Malvern residence. The variation has been referred to as "the personification of the English countryside."

Variation IX (Nimrod): "Nimrod" is one of several nicknames that Elgar gave to his German friend, August Jaeger. (Jaeger means hunter in German. Nimrod was a mighty hunter in the Bible.) In a letter dated March 13, 1899, Elgar wrote, "I have omitted your outside manners & have only seen the good, lovable honest SOUL in the middle of you."

The ‘Nimrod’ variation is often performed when someone of great public importance passes away. There have been those who have suggested that this is inappropriate, seeing as the work was not originally a requiem, but as writer Michael Kennedy observed "…in appropriate cases, what could be better than this intimate record of a real friendship?"

Variation X (Intermezzo): Dorabella was Elgar’s nickname for Dora Penny, daughter of the Rector of Wolverhampton and yet another close friend of the Elgars. When she was young Ms. Penny had a pronounced stammer, which Elgar has toyed with here in her musical portrait.

Variation XI (G.R.S.): Dr. G.R. Sinclair, was the organist of Hereford Cathedral. This variation, however, is about his bulldog, Dan. Dan had the misfortune one day to fall down the bank of the River Wye. He then proceeded to paddle upstream to dry land where he gave a concert of rejoicing barks.

Variation XII (B.G.N.): Basil G. Nevinson was an amateur cellist who rounded out Elgar’s piano trio. Elgar described Nevinson’s variation as "A tribute to a very dear friend whose scientific and artistic attainments, and the wholehearted way they were put at the disposal of his friends, particularly endeared him to the writer."

Variation XIII (***): The three asterisks are generally thought to represent Lady Mary Lygon, who was a close acquaintance of the Elgars. Others believe that it means Helen Weaver, whom Elgar was in love with some years before he married his wife. Whoever it was, we shall never know for certain, as the secret died with those who knew it.

An interesting note: The timpani part in the score is marked "(with side drum sticks)." When the work was performed in June 1899, the timpanist used two coins instead, which pleased the conductor. It is always performed this way now.

Variation XIV (E.D.U.): Elgar himself. E.D.U. (pronounced Edoo,) is a reference to Alice Elgar’s pet name for her husband, which was Edouard, the French version of Edward.

Contained in this variation is a whistle Elgar used to give to let his wife know that he had returned or particularly wanted her attention. There is also a summoning of the Nimrod theme, which is interesting since Jaeger himself insisted some time after the première that the end of the work must be revised so as to be more climactic and less abrupt. The revised ending, which is standard today, was first performed on October 23, 1899.

As to the Enigma itself, it is generally believed, at least by those who knew Elgar personally, that the "theme" of the whole work was a counterpoint harmony to a larger, well-known theme that was never stated out right in the piece, nor revealed by Elgar.  _______________________________________________

Symphony No 1 in A flat op 55

"Gentlemen, now let us rehearse the greatest symphony of modern times, written by the greatest  modern composer - and not only in this country." (Hans Richter, 1908)

Elgar spent several years on the planning and writing of his First Symphony. He originally intended it as a tribute to General Gordon, but, finding that the subject restricted his musical thinking, he dropped the idea. The symphony was completed in 1908, and was played in Manchester on December 3rd of that year under the direction of Hans Richter, to whom it was dedicated. Great interest in the work followed and it was subsequently performed over 100 times during the next twelve months.

The composer wrote of this symphony: "It is written out of a full life experience, and is meant to include the innumerable phases of joy and sorrow, struggle and conquest, and especially between the ideal and actual life."

Basil Maine, however, regarded the symphony not as a tribute to any one man, nor even as an autobiographical document, but in its epical structure, majesty and melodic grandeur as the glorification of an entire era.

The first movement, Andante nobilmente e simplice, has been called "the British Empire in music." A theme of noble simplicity appears in the introduction, gradually imposing itself on other contrasting, more exuberant and more agitated ideas. It re-appears thought the other movements either fragmentarily or in more complete statements, and reaches a grandiose apotheosis in the finale. The mood of the symphony is somber and introspective but powerful, and it reaches stirring emotional depths in the third movement (Andante).

General notes about Elgar.

Not since Henry Purcell in the 17th century had a native Englishman risen to such prominence in classical music, and Elgar wore this distinction with much pride. Music critic Harold Schonberg described Elgar as "an inflated provincial.Edwardian, stuffy." But whether he meant to or not, Elgar was responsible for the music revolution that hit the British Isles.

The English music scene pre-Elgar was almost the exclusive domain of two imported geniuses - Handel and Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn, the polite and well-mannered composer that he was, soon became a favorite of the equally polite and well-mannered Queen Victoria, and soon the Mendelssohn style came to dominate merry old England. Ten years after the death of Mendelssohn, Edward Elgar was born (the "Sir" came much later) in 1857 in Broadheath, outside of Worcester. Small town England would act as Elgar's nemesis and his sanctuary throughout his life. His father was an organist, violinist, and piano tuner who ran a small music shop who wanted Elgar to be a lawyer. But by age ten, Elgar was fixated on music, teaching himself the basics of music composition and already churning out his first pieces. Much later in his life, Elgar would say of music that it "is in the air, you simply take as much as you require." The fourth of seven children, Elgar went to work in a lawyer's office when he was just 15, but within a year he had quit and was making his way as a freelance musician. He no formal music training, except for some violin lessons, which made finding a music post difficult so he worked as a violinist, giving lessons, and writing music.

Alice Roberts

In 1889, Elgar finally struck gold with the release of his first successful piece, the "Froissart Overture", and his marriage to Alice Roberts. Eight years his senior, Alice had been one of Elgar's students, one of his wealthy students. She was also quite distinguished apart from her pedigree. She had published a novel, could speak German, and was a choral singer. There was a sharp contrast between this daughter of privilege and the son of a country tradesman, but one could not help but notice the benefits of this union for Elgar. By the time the Elgars moved their household to London, Elgar was already becoming famous. Elgar wanted to establish himself quickly on the heels of his smaller successes, but, aside from the sale of his smaller works for violin, such as his "Salut d'amour", London was disappointing. Polite London society was not ready for the upstart son of a rural shopkeeper who married up and into high society. Elgar was not offered a conducting post, and no students were sent his way, and the proud and shy Elgar retreated to Worcester with Alice. The two took some wonderful journeys abroad, giving Elgar the opportunity to hear the music of Wagner, Weber, and Gounod while gearing up for their some-day return to London.