Home > Enigma Variations

The story of the composition of the work is that one day, after a tiring day of teaching, Elgar sat at the piano and began to play a melody. Then, to entertain his wife, he began to improvise variations on it, each one a caricature of one of their friends or in the style they might have composed it in. Over time, the piece was worked on, expanded and orchestrated to become the well known piece it is today.

From a purely musical standpoint, the structure is normal for a set of variations. The theme, actually two contrasting melodic fragments, is presented in a short movement. The variations spring from the theme's melodic, harmonic and (especially) rhythmic elements, and a grand finale wraps it all up. However, in another sense, the theme upon which all variations are based is never heard. Elgar hinted that the unheard theme was itself a variation on some well known tune. Many guesses have been made as to what this might be, but nobody has ever solved this puzzle, the enigma which gives the piece its name. One of the more often heard guesses is that it is the British national anthem, God Save the King. In the opinion of some, the unheard "main theme" is actually a counter-melody to some other tune: in other words it would fit in with it, but does not necessarily contain any of its characteristics other than the most general harmonic outline.

Elgar dedicated the piece to "my friends pictured within", and at the head of each variation, Elgar wrote the nickname or initials corresponding to the friend he was depicting. They are:

• Variation 1: C.A.E. - Caroline Alice Elgar, Edward's wife.
• Variation 2: H.D.S-P. - Hew David Stuart-Powell, a pianistThis article deals with those who play the piano. For other uses, see pianist (disambiguation). A pianist is a person who plays the piano reasonably well. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an orchestra or smaller ensemble, or accom friend with whom Elgar often played chamber musicChamber music is a form of Classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accomodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any "art music" that is performed by a small number of performers with one perform.
• Variation 3: R.B.T. - Richard Baxter Townsend, an amateur actorAn actor is a person who acts, or plays a role in an artistic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in movies, television, live theatre, or radio, and can occasionally denote a street entertainer. Besides playing dramatic roles, actors m and mimic, capable of extreme changes to the pitch of his voice, a characteristic which the music imitates.
• Variation 4: W.N.B. - William Neath Baker, a country gent.
• Variation 5: R.P.A. - Richard P. Arnold, the son of the poetPoets are authors of poems. Poets are often regarded as imaginative thinkers or writers. List of poets Apocalypse poets Georgian poets List of romantic poets List of surrealist poets Symbolist Poets List of Albanian language poets List of Arabic language Matthew ArnoldMatthew Arnold ( 1822- 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic, who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School who was celebrated in the novel Tom Brown's Schooldays''. Matthew Arnold him, and himself an amateur pianist.
• Variation 6: Ysobel - Isabel Fitton, a violaString instruments Alternate uses: Viola (disambiguation The viola is a stringed musical instrument which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the violin and the lower lines played by the cello and double bass pupil of Elgar. The melody of this variation is played by the viola.
• Variation 7: Troyte - Arthur Troyte Griffiths, an architectAn architect is a person licensed in the art of planning, designing and overseeing the construction of buildings, or more generally, the designer of a scheme or plan. See architecture or landscape architecture Architects and landscape architects are consi, who attempted to play the piano, but was apparently not very good. The variation mimics his enthusiastic incompetence.
• Variation 8: W.N. - Winifred Norbury, a friend Elgar regarded as particularly easygoing, hence the relatively relaxed atmosphere. At the end of this variation, a single violin note is held over into the next variation, the most celebrated of the set.
• Variation 9: Nimrod - Augustus E. Jaeger, Elgar's best friend. It is said that this variation, as well as an attempt to capture what Elgar saw as Jaeger's noble character, depicts a night-time walk the two of them had, during which they discussed Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770 d. March 26, 1827) was a German composer, the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of all tim. The name of the variation punningly refers to an Old Testament patriarch described as a mighty hunter, the name Jaeger being German for hunter.
• Variation 10: Dorabella - Dora Penny, a friend whose stutter (or laugh, depending on the source) is depicted by the woodwinds.
• Variation 11: G.R.S. - George Robertson Sinclair, the organist of Hereford Cathedral. More specifically, the variation depicts Sinclair's bulldog, which once fell into the River Wye.
• Variation 12: B.G.N. - Basil G. Nevinson, a well known cellist, who gets a cello melody for his variation. Later, Nevinson inspired Elgar to write his Cello Concerto.
• Variation 13: * * * - because of the lack of initials, the identity of this person is unclear. However, the music includes a quote from Felix Mendelssohn's concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt), which leads most people to believe it depicts either Lady Mary Lygon, local noblewoman on a voyage to Australia at the time, or Helen Weaver, who was Elgar's fiancée before emigrating to New Zealand in 1884.
• Variation 14: E.D.U. - Elgar himself, "Edu" being his wife's nickname for him. The themes from the first and ninth variations are echoed.

Implicitly, these descriptions highlight Elgar's mastery as a miniaturist. As was common with painted portraits of the time, his musical portraits depict their subjects at two levels. Each movement conveys a general impression of its subject's personality; in addition, most of them contain a musical reference to a specific characteristic or event, such as Dorabella's stutter, Winifred Norbury's laugh, or the walk in the woods with Jaeger.

The piece was premiered at the St. James Hall in London on June 19, 1899, conducted by Hans Richter, and has remained popular since.