Of the fourteen variations, Nimrod is the most loved. Nimrod is the “mighty hunter” mentioned in Genesis 10. The German translation for “hunter” is Jaeger, relating to August Jaeger, German-born musician of frail health and great soul who worked for the London music publishing house of Novello and who, more than anyone except Alice Elgar, sustained the composer through his frequent and severe periods of depression.

Elgar stated, “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.” Jaeger, still young, died in 1909, and nearly twenty years later Elgar wrote: “His place has been occupied but never filled.”