- Byname of:
- Variations on an Original Theme (“Enigma”), Op. 36
Enigma Variations
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What are the Enigma Variations?
The Enigma Variations are a set of 14 short musical portraits by Edward Elgar, depicting his friends and family. The best known is Variation No. 9, "Nimrod," portraying Elgar's friend August Jaeger, who offered artistic guidance.
The mystery lies in the piece's theme; Elgar said that "through and over the whole set another and larger theme 'goes' but is not played". Though Elgar freely named each person and indicated what he hoped to portray about them, the theme of the Enigma Variations remains a mystery because Elgar died without revealing it.
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Who composed the Enigma Variations?
The Enigma Variations is a series of 14 musical portraits composed by Edward Elgar. The set of variations, which premiered in London in 1899, portrays several of Elgar's friends and family. The best known of these variations is Variation No. 9, known as "Nimrod". Elgar's Enigma Variations brought him recognition as a leading composer and became his most frequently performed composition.
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What is the main musical idea or theme in the Enigma Variations?
The main musical idea behind Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations is a series of 14 musical portraits of his friends and family. Each variation represents the mood of a particular person, with Elgar using their nicknames to label them.
The enigma lies in a hidden theme that Elgar said runs "through and over the whole set" but is never explicitly played. Although Elgar never revealed this theme, guesses include "Rule Britannia," "God Save the Queen," and others. The mystery of the overarching theme remains unsolved.
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How are the individual variations in this work different from each other?
The Enigma Variations is a series of 14 musical portraits by Edward Elgar, each dedicated to a friend or family member. Each variation represents the mood of the person being portrayed. For instance, the first variation is an appreciation of Elgar’s wife, Alice, while another captures organist George Sinclair's bulldog, Dan. "Nimrod" portrays a conversation between Elgar and his friend Jaeger. The final variation depicts Elgar himself, incorporating themes from the first variation and "Nimrod". Elgar used initials to identify the subjects, but the real enigma is the overarching theme that he said runs through the entire piece, which he never revealed.
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Why is it called the 'Enigma' Variations?
The Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar is a series of 14 musical portraits dedicated to his friends and family.
The title refers to two mysteries: the identities of the people represented by initials in the score and an unplayed theme Elgar said runs "through and over the whole set". Elgar revealed the identities of the people he portrayed, but the hidden theme was never revealed, remaining an enigma.
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Who were the people represented by each variation, and how did Elgar portray them through music?
The Enigma Variations is a series of 14 musical portraits by Edward Elgar, each depicting a member of his close circle. These include his wife, Alice Elgar, portrayed in the first variation as an appreciation of her, and his friend August Jaeger (aka Nimrod), depicted in the serene Variation No. 9 to reflect their warm, artistically guiding conversations.
Other variations represent figures such as Hew David Steuart-Powell, Richard Baxter Townshend, and George Robertson Sinclair, the latter comically represented by his bulldog, Dan, in Variation No. 11. Elgar captures the essence of each individual's character and mood, offering listeners an intimate glimpse into his personal relationships.
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Enigma Variations, series of 14 short musical portraits by Edward Elgar that premiered in London on June 19, 1899. The subjects of these portraits were several of the composer’s friends and family.
The work’s origins were described by Elgar in a letter to his friend August Jaeger at the music publishing firm Novello & Company. “I have sketched a set of Variations (orkestry) on an original theme,” the composer wrote.
The Variations have amused me because I’ve labelled ’em with the nicknames of my particular friends—you [Jaeger] are Nimrod. That is to say I’ve written the variations each one to represent the mood of the ‘party’…it’s a quaint idee & the result is amusing to those behind the scenes & won’t affect the hearer who ‘nose nuffin.’
Indeed, unfamiliarity with the originals sketched by Elgar does not detract from the hearer’s enjoyment of Elgar’s music, though deeper knowledge of the composer’s intentions adds a measure of humour that the casual listener might miss. The lovely first variation, for example, is an appreciation of the composer’s wife, Alice. The penultimate variation, devoted to a female friend whom Elgar believed was at the time on route to Australia, quotes Felix Mendelssohn’s overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. Variation No. 11, though named for the organist George Sinclair, is really a portrait of Sinclair’s boisterous bulldog, Dan.
The best known of the variations is the serene Variation No. 9, identified by the composer as “Nimrod.” The name is a play on words, as the biblical Nimrod was a great hunter, and the German word meaning “hunter” is Jaeger. This lyrical movement portrays a warm conversation between the composer and his friend Jaeger, who by Elgar’s account, offered valuable artistic guidance throughout a long partnership. The final variation portrays the composer himself, though it includes music from the first variation as well as the theme from “Nimrod” to indicate the significance of his two strongest influences.
The structure of the Enigma Variations is as follows:
- C.A.E. (Elgar’s wife, Caroline Alice Elgar)
- H.D.S.-P. (Hew David Steuart-Powell, a pianist and fellow chamber musician)
- R.B.T. (Richard Baxter Townshend)
- W.M.B. (William Meath Baker)
- R.P.A. (Richard Penrose Arnold, son of English poet Matthew Arnold)
- Ysobel (Isabel Fitton, an amateur viola player)
- Troyte (A. Troyte Griffith, an architect and would-be pianist)
- W.N. (Winifred Norbury, a matron of the arts with a distinctive laugh)
- Nimrod (A.J. Jaeger [see above])
- Dorabella (Dora Penny, daughter of the rector of Wolverhampton)
- G.R.S. (George Robertson Sinclair, organist at Hereford Cathedral, and his dog)
- B.G.N. (Basil G. Nevinson, amateur cellist and fellow chamber musician)
- *** (a female friend thought to be traveling)
- E.D.U. (Elgar’s wife’s nickname for him)
Because the original score indicates the persons portrayed only by initials, one might surmise that their identities are the enigma of the title. Yet Elgar freely named each person and indicated what he had hoped to portray about them. According to Elgar, the true mystery was the piece’s theme. He noted that “through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes’ but is not played.” This theme has been variously guessed to be “Rule Britannia,” “God Save the Queen,” the “Dies Irae,” “Auld Lang Syne,” or even “Pop Goes the Weasel.” But Elgar died without identifying his theme, and the enigma remains.
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