Editing Enigma Variations (section)

==Structure==
{{Listen|type=music
|filename=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_I._C.A.E.ogg|title=Theme (Enigma: Andante)
|filename2=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_II._H.D.S.-P.ogg|title2=Variation II (Allegro) "H.D.S-P."
|filename3=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_III._R.B.T.ogg|title3=Variation III (Allegretto) "R.B.T."
|filename4=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_IV._W.M.B.ogg|title4=Variation IV (Allegro di molto) "W.M.B."
|filename5=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_V._R.P.A.ogg|title5=Variation V (Moderato) "R.P.A."
|filename6=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_VI._Ysobel.ogg|title6=Variation VI (Andantino) "Ysobel"
|filename7=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_VII._Troyte.ogg|title7=Variation VII (Presto) "Troyte"
|description7=Performed by the [[Hallé Orchestra]], conducted by [[Sir John Barbirolli]]}}
[[File:Elgar-Alice-c1891.jpg|thumb|Edward and '''Alice''' Elgar, 1891]]
{{Listen|type=music|help=no
|filename=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_VIII._W.N.ogg|title=Variation VIII (Allegretto) "W.N."
|filename2=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_IX._Nimrod.ogg|title2=Variation IX (Adagio) "Nimrod"
|filename3=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_X._Intermezzo_Dorabella.ogg|title3=Variation X (Intermezzo: Allegretto) "Dorabella"
|filename4=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_XI._G.R.S.ogg|title4=Variation XI (Allegro di molto) "G.R.S."
|filename5=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_XII._B.G.N.ogg|title5=Variation XII (Andante) "B.G.N."
|filename6=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_XIII._Romanza.ogg|title6=Variation XIII (Romanza: Moderato) " * * * "
|filename7=Elgar;_Enigma_variations,_Theme_XIV._Finale_E.D.U.ogg|title7=Variation XIV (Finale: Allegro) "E.D.U."|description7=Performed by the [[Hallé Orchestra]], conducted by [[Sir John Barbirolli]]}}
The theme is followed by 14 variations. The variations spring from the theme's melodic, harmonic and rhythmic elements, and the extended fourteenth variation forms a grand finale.

Elgar dedicated the piece to "my friends pictured within" and in the score each variation is prefaced the initials, name or nickname of the friend depicted. As was common with painted portraits of the time, Elgar's musical portraits depict their subjects at two levels. Each movement conveys a general impression of its subject's personality. In addition, many of them contain a musical reference to a specific characteristic or event, such as a laugh, a habit of speech or a memorable conversation. The sections of the work are as follows.

===Theme (Enigma: ''Andante'')===
The unusual melodic contours of the G minor opening theme convey a sense of searching introspection:
<score sound="1">
\relative c'' { \clef treble \time 4/4 \tempo "Andante" 4 = 63 \key g \minor
 r4^"legato e sostenuto" bes8--\p_"molto espress." g-- c4( a) | r d(^"ten." bes) a8-- c-- | r4 bes8--\< d--\! g4(\> a,\!) |
 r\pp f'\>( g,)\! a8-- bes-- | r4 a8--_"cresc." g-- d'4( bes)| r bes(^"ten."_"dim." g) a8-- g-- \bar "||" b4}
</score>
A switch to the major key introduces a flowing motif which briefly lightens the mood before the first theme returns, now accompanied by a sustained bass line and emotionally charged counterpoints.

In a programme note for a 1912 performance of his setting of [[Arthur O'Shaughnessy]]'s ode ''The Music Makers'', Elgar wrote of this theme (which he quoted in the later work), "it expressed when written (in 1898) my sense of the loneliness of the artist as described in the first six lines of the Ode, and to me, it still embodies that sense."{{sfn|McVeagh|2007|p=146}}

Elgar's personal identification with the theme is evidenced by his use of its opening phrase (which matches the rhythm and inflection of his name) as a signature in letters to friends.<ref>For example see {{harvnb|Powell|1947|p=39}}</ref>

The theme leads into Variation I without a pause.

===Variation I (''L'istesso tempo'') "C.A.E."===
[[Caroline Alice Elgar]], Elgar's wife. The variation repeats a four-note melodic fragment which Elgar reportedly whistled when arriving home to his wife. After Alice's death, Elgar wrote, "The variation is really a prolongation of the theme with what I wished to be romantic and delicate additions; those who knew C.A.E. will understand this reference to one whose life was a romantic and delicate inspiration."

(In these notes Elgar's words are quoted from his posthumous publication ''My Friends Pictured Within'' which draws on the notes he provided for the Aeolian Company's 1929 [[Player piano|pianola rolls]] edition of the ''Variations''.)
<score sound="1">
  \relative c'' { \clef treble \key g \minor \time 4/4 \tempo "L'istesso tempo." 4 = 63 r4\f^"largamente"_"espress." \times 2/3 {d8( bes d)} c4~ c8 r8 }
</score>

===Variation II (''Allegro'') "H.D.S-P."===
Hew David Steuart-Powell. Elgar wrote, "Hew David Steuart-Powell was a well-known amateur pianist and a great player of chamber music. He was associated with B.G.N. (cello) and the composer (violin) for many years in this playing. His characteristic diatonic run over the keys before beginning to play is here humorously travestied in the semiquaver passages; these should suggest a [[Toccata]], but chromatic beyond H.D.S-P.'s liking."
<score sound="1">
  \relative c'' { \clef treble \key g \minor \time 3/8 \tempo "Allegro." r16 g-.]\p_"stacc." d'-.[ gis,-.] cis-.[ a-.] | c!-.[ a-.] bes-.[ g!-.] es-.[ c!-.] | cis-. d-. }
</score>

===Variation III (''Allegretto'') "R.B.T."===
Richard Baxter Townshend, Oxford [[University don|don]] and author of the ''Tenderfoot'' series of books; brother-in-law of the W.M.B. depicted in Variation IV. This variation references R.B.T's presentation of an old man in some amateur theatricals ‒ the low voice flying off occasionally into "soprano" timbre.

===Variation IV (''Allegro di molto'') "W.M.B."===
[[William Meath Baker]], squire of [[Hasfield]], Gloucestershire and benefactor of several public buildings in [[Fenton, Staffordshire|Fenton]], [[Stoke-on-Trent]], brother-in-law of R.B.T. depicted in Variation III, and (step) uncle of Dora Penny in Variation X. He "expressed himself somewhat energetically". This is the shortest of the variations.

===Variation V (''Moderato'') "R.P.A."===
Richard Penrose Arnold, the son of the poet [[Matthew Arnold]], and an amateur pianist. This variation leads into the next without pause.

===Variation VI (''Andantino'') "Ysobel"===
Isabel Fitton, a [[viola]] pupil of Elgar. Elgar explained, "It may be noticed that the opening bar, a phrase made use of throughout the variation, is an 'exercise' for crossing the strings – a difficulty for beginners; on this is built a pensive and, for a moment, romantic movement."
<score sound="1">
  \relative c' { \clef alto \time 3/2 \key c \major \tempo "Andantino." 2 = 48 g-.\p c,-. e'2~\<^"espress."( e4\!\> d8)\! r8 }
</score>

===Variation VII (''Presto'') "Troyte"===
Arthur Troyte Griffith, a Malvern architect and one of Elgar's firmest friends. The variation, with a time signature of {{music|time|1|1}}, good-naturedly mimics his enthusiastic incompetence on the piano. It may also refer to an occasion when Griffith and Elgar were out walking and got caught in a thunderstorm. The pair took refuge in the house of Winifred and Florence Norbury (Sherridge, Leigh Sinton, near Malvern), to which the next variation refers.

===Variation VIII (''Allegretto'') "W.N."===
Winifred Norbury, one of the secretaries of the Worcester Philharmonic Society. "Really suggested by an eighteenth-century house. The gracious personalities of the ladies are sedately shown. W.N. was more connected with the music than others of the family, and her initials head the movement; to justify this position a little suggestion of a characteristic laugh is given."

This variation is linked to the next by a single note held by the first violins.

===Variation IX (''Adagio'') "Nimrod"===
The name of the variation refers to [[August Jaeger|Augustus J. Jaeger]], who was employed as a music editor by the London publisher Novello & Co. He was a close friend of Elgar's, giving him useful advice but also severe criticism, something Elgar greatly appreciated. Elgar later related how Jaeger had encouraged him as an artist and had stimulated him to continue composing despite setbacks. [[Nimrod]] is described in the [[Old Testament]] as "a mighty hunter before the Lord", ''Jäger'' (which can also be spelt ''Jaeger'') being German for hunter.

"Nimrod" is composed as a Baroque Sarabande, a dance in 3 time, with the emphasis often on the second beat of the bar.

In 1904, Elgar told Dora Penny ("Dorabella") that this variation is not really a portrait, but "the story of something that happened".<ref>As she wrote later in her book {{harv|Powell|1947|pp=110–111}}.</ref> Once, when Elgar had been very depressed and was about to give it all up and write no more music, Jaeger had visited him and encouraged him to continue composing. He referred to [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], who had a lot of worries, but wrote more and more beautiful music. "And that is what ''you'' must do", Jaeger said, and he sang the theme of the second movement of Beethoven's [[Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata No. 8 ''Pathétique'']]. Elgar disclosed to Dora that the opening bars of "Nimrod" were made to suggest that theme. "Can't you hear it at the beginning? Only a hint, not a quotation."

This variation is very famous within British culture, often used at British funerals, memorial services and other ceremonial occasions. It is always played at the [[The Cenotaph, Whitehall|Cenotaph]], Whitehall in London at the [[National Service of Remembrance#Traditional music|National Service of Remembrance]]. A version was also played during the [[Hong Kong handover ceremony]] in 1997, at the [[2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony#Prologue|opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games]], and during the 2022 [[BBC Proms]] after the season was cut short due to the [[Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II|death of Queen Elizabeth II]]. The "Nimrod" variation was the final orchestral composition (before the national anthem) played by the Greek National Orchestra in a televised June 2013 concert, before the 75-year-old Athenian ensemble was dissolved in the wake of severe government cutbacks to televised programming.<ref>{{cite news|title=Greek tragedy: Orchestra plays emotional farewell as state broadcaster closes|url=http://www.itv.com/news/2013-06-17/greek-tragedy-orchestra-plays-emotional-farewell-as-state-broadcaster-closes/|work=ITV News|date=17 June 2013|access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>

An adaptation of the piece appears at the ending of the 2017 film ''[[Dunkirk (2017 film)|Dunkirk]]'' in the score by [[Hans Zimmer]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/31/christopher-nolans-wartime-epic|title=Christopher Nolan's Wartime Epic|first=Anthony|last=Lane|author-link=Anthony Lane|date=24 July 2017|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=2 September 2021|archive-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170724023812/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/31/christopher-nolans-wartime-epic|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2017/07/19/retreat-victory-dunkirk/9iwdLxl3e1X1eoC1IqXsNI/story.html|title=''Dunkirk'' is a towering achievement, made with craft, sinew, and honesty|first=Ty|last=Burr|author-link=Ty Burr|date=20 July 2017|access-date=2 September 2021|website=[[The Boston Globe]]|archive-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170724025451/https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2017/07/19/retreat-victory-dunkirk/9iwdLxl3e1X1eoC1IqXsNI/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Variation X (''Intermezzo: Allegretto'') "Dorabella"===
Dora Penny, a friend whose [[Stammering|stutter]] is gently parodied by the woodwinds. Dora, later Mrs. Richard Powell, was the daughter of the Revd (later Canon) Alfred Penny. Her stepmother was the sister of William Meath Baker, the subject of Variation IV. She was the recipient of another of Elgar's enigmas, the so-called [[Dorabella Cipher]]. She described the "Friends Pictured Within" and "The Enigma" in two chapters of her book ''Edward Elgar, Memories of a Variation''. This variation features a melody for solo viola.
<score sound="1">
  \relative c'' { \clef treble \time 3/4 \key g \major \tempo "Allegretto." 4 = 80
  r4 r4 <b \accent g d>32 \pp (<c g d>32 <b g d>32 ) r32 r8 | <d \accent b g>32 (<e b g>32 <d b g>32) r32 r8 <g d b>16-- <fis d b>-. <fis d b>-. <e d b>-. }
</score>

===Variation XI (''Allegro di molto'') "G.R.S."===
[[George Robertson Sinclair]], the energetic organist of [[Hereford Cathedral]]. In the words of Elgar: "The variation, however, has nothing to do with organs or cathedrals, or, except remotely, with G.R.S. The first few bars were suggested by his great bulldog, Dan (a well-known character) falling down the steep bank into the [[River Wye]] (bar 1); his paddling upstream to find a landing place (bars 2 and 3); and his rejoicing bark on landing (second half of bar 5). G.R.S. said, 'Set that to music'. I did; here it is."<ref>Quotation from the booklet by {{harvnb|Elgar|1946}}</ref>

===Variation XII (''Andante'') "B.G.N."===
Basil George Nevinson, an accomplished amateur cellist who played chamber music with Elgar. The variation is introduced and concluded by a solo cello. This variation leads into the next without pause.

===Variation XIII (''Romanza: Moderato'') " * * * "===
Possibly, [[Lady Mary Trefusis|Lady Mary Lygon]] of Madresfield Court near Malvern, a sponsor of a local music festival. "The asterisks take the place of the name of a lady{{efn|Elgar's original text names Lady Mary Lygon. She sailed for Australia after the completion of the ''Variations'' but before the work's first performance.}} who was, at the time of the composition, on a sea voyage. The drums suggest the distant throb of the engines of a liner, over which the clarinet quotes a phrase from Mendelssohn's ''[[Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Mendelssohn)|Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage]]''."
<score sound="1">
  \relative c'' { \clef treble \time 3/4 \key g \major \tempo "Moderato." 4 = 76 r4^"Solo" r c~(\pp | c^"molto espress." bes4. aes8) | aes4~ aes8 }
</score>

If it is Lady Mary, Elgar may have withheld her initials because of superstition surrounding the number 13,{{sfn|Kennedy|1987|p=96}} or he may have felt uneasy about publicly associating the name of a prominent local figure with music that had taken on a powerful emotional intensity.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Moore|first=Jerrold Northrop|author-link=Jerrold Northrop Moore|date=November 1999|title=The Return of the Dove to the Ark – "Enigma" Variations a Century on|journal=Elgar Society Journal|volume=11|issue=3|url=http://elgar.org/elgarsoc/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.11-No.3-November-1999-Compressed.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://elgar.org/elgarsoc/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.11-No.3-November-1999-Compressed.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> There is credible evidence to support the view that the variation's atmosphere of brooding melancholy and its subtitle "Romanza" are tokens of a covert tribute to another woman, the name most frequently mentioned in this connection being that of Helen Weaver, who had broken off her engagement to Elgar in 1884 before sailing out of his life forever aboard a ship bound for New Zealand.{{sfn|Burley|Carruthers|1972|pp=125–127}}{{sfn|Atkins|1984|pp=477–480}}{{sfn|Kennedy|1987|pp=96–97, 330}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Blamires|first=Ernest|date=July 2005|title='Loveliest, Brightest, Best': a reappraisal of 'Enigma's' Variation XIII (Part I)|pages=19–34|url=https://elgarsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.-14-No.-2-July-2005-Compressed.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://elgarsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.-14-No.-2-July-2005-Compressed.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Elgar Society Journal|volume=14|issue=2|ref=none}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Blamires|first=Ernest|date=November 2005|title='Loveliest, Brightest, Best': a reappraisal of 'Enigma's' Variation XIII (Part II)|pages=25–38|url=https://elgarsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.-14-No.-3-November-2005-Compressed.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://elgarsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vol.-14-No.-3-November-2005-Compressed.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Elgar Society Journal|volume=14|issue=3|ref=none}}</ref>

===Variation XIV (''Finale: Allegro'') "E.D.U."===
Elgar himself, nicknamed ''Edu'' by his wife, from the German ''Eduard''. The themes from two variations are echoed: "Nimrod" and "C.A.E.", referring to Jaeger and Elgar's wife Alice, "two great influences on the life and art of the composer", as Elgar wrote in 1927. Elgar called these references "entirely fitting to the intention of the piece".{{sfn|Elgar|1946|loc=Var. XIV}}

The original version of this variation is nearly 100 bars shorter than the one now usually played. In July 1899, one month after the original version was finished Jaeger urged Elgar to make the variation a little longer. After some cajoling Elgar agreed, and also added an organ part. The new version was played for the first time at the [[Worcester, England|Worcester]] [[Three Choirs Festival]], with Elgar himself conducting, on 13 September 1899.<ref name=edu/>