Many composers wrote music for their friends, but Edward Elgar composed music about his friends. As he described the work’s genesis,
One evening after a long and tiresome day’s teaching, aided by a cigar, I musingly played on the piano the theme as it now stands. The voice of C. A. E. [Alice Elgar] asked with a sound of approval, “What was that?” I answered, “Nothing—but something might be made of it; Powell [a pianist] would have done this (Variation 2) or Nevinson [a cellist friend] would have looked at it like this (Variation 12).” Variation 4 was then played and the question asked, “Who is that like?” The answer was, “I cannot quite say, but it is exactly the way W. M. B. goes out of the room. You are doing something which I think has never been done before.” Thus the work grew into the shape it has now.
The work begun that night in October 1898 was the Enigma Variations, a theme and variations each illustrating, according to Elgar, “for their amusement and mine, the idiosyncrasies of 14 of my friends, not necessarily musicians.” Despite its “insider” agenda, the work has remarkable universal appeal. Elgar’s friends provide the basis for a series of delightfully contrasting meditations on a remarkable theme. In the following descriptions, all unattributed quotes come from the composer himself.
Theme—While the main theme is incredibly simple, as Elgar’s biographer Diana McVeagh describes, it is “as productive as a goldmine”—halting, richly melodic, and wholly captivating.
Variation I (C.A.E.)—The death in 1920 of Elgar’s beloved wife Alice—captured in this variation—left him unable to compose for 12 years. “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.”
Variation II (H.D.S-P.)—Elgar, a violinist, played chamber music with pianist Hew David Steuart-Powell, who is represented here. (Their cellist was Basil Nevinson, the subject of Variation XII.
Variation III (R.B.T.)—Richard Baxter Townshend was an Oxford classicist, but this variation refers to “[his] presentation of an old man in some amateur theatricals—the low voice flying off occasionally into ‘soprano’ timbre.” He was also known for riding his bike around town, and the frequent rings of his bicycle bell are audible in the violins’ pizzicato and woodwind doublings.
Variation IV (W.M.B.)—William Meath Baker, “a country squire, gentleman and scholar. In the days of horses and carriages it was more difficult than in these days of petrol to arrange the carriages for the day to suit a large number of guests. This Variation was written after the host had, with a slip of paper in his hand, forcibly read out the arrangements for the day and hurriedly left the music-room with an inadvertent bang of the door.”
Variation V (R.P.A.)—Son of critic and poet Matthew Arnold, Richard Penrose Arnold was “a great lover of music which he played (on the pianoforte) in a self-taught manner, evading difficulties but suggesting in a mysterious way the real feeling. His serious conversation was continually broken up by whimsical and witty remarks.”
Variation VI (Ysobel)—Isabel Fitton, to whom critic Michael Kennedy referred as a woman of “grave, statuesque beauty,” was an amateur violinist who switched to the viola.
Variation VII (Troyte)—Architect Arthur Troyte Griffith was one of Elgar’s closest friends. “The uncouth rhythm of the drums and lower strings was really suggested by some maladroit essays to play the pianoforte; later the strong rhythm suggests the attempts of the instructor (E.E.) to make something like order out of chaos, and the final despairing ‘slam’ records that the effort proved to be in vain.”
Variation VIII (W.N.)—Named for Winifred Norbury, this variation is in fact a portrait of Sherridge, the eighteenth-century house where she lived with her sister Florence. “The gracious personalities of the ladies are sedately shown.”
Variation IX (Nimrod)—Nimrod, the mighty hunter mentioned in Genesis 10, refers to the German word for hunter, “Jaeger.” One of Elgar’s biggest sources of support, apart from his wife, was August Jaeger, who worked for the London music publishing house Novello. “The Variation . . . is the record of a long summer evening talk, when my friend discoursed eloquently on the slow movements of Beethoven, and said that no one could approach Beethoven at his best in this field, a view with which I cordially concurred.” In poor health, Jaeger died in 1909. Nearly two decades later, Elgar wrote, “His place has been occupied but never filled.”
Variation X (Dorabella—Intermezzo)—Dorabella was Elgar’s nickname for Dora Penny, the step-niece of William Baker (the subject of Variation IV), to whom the composer was close. She had a halting manner of speech, which Elgar reflects affectionately in the music.
Variation XI (G.R.S.)—The initials refer to George Robertson Sinclair, organist of Hereford Cathedral, but the music refers to Sinclair’s dog: “The first few bars were suggested by [the] great bulldog Dan (a well-known character) falling down the steep bank into the River Wye (bar 1); his paddling up stream 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.”
Variation XII (B.G.N.)—“The Variation is a tribute to a very dear friend [Basil Nevinson] 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 (*** Romanza)—The asterisks in place of initials refer to Lady Mary Lygon, who was en route to Australia in the spring of 1899 with her brother, who was about to be installed as Governor of New South Wales.
Variation XIV (Finale: E.D.U.)—“Edu” was Alice’s affectionate nickname for her husband. Elgar’s personality and internal struggles come to the fore in the variation, and after the return of “Alice” and “Nimrod,” the series of miniature musical portraits culminates in a blaze of glory.
—©Jennifer More, 2026
