Editing Enigma Variations (section)

===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.