Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (1857
– 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works
have entered the British and international classical
concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions
are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations,
the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin
and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral
works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music
and songs. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick
in 1924....(+)
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (1857
– 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works
have entered the British and international classical
concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions
are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations,
the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin
and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral
works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music
and songs. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick
in 1924. He composed his Variations on an Original
Theme, Op. 36, popularly known as the Enigma
Variations, between October 1898 and February 1899. It
is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on
an original theme.
Elgar dedicated the work "to my friends pictured
within", each variation being a musical sketch of one
of his circle of close acquaintances (see musical
cryptogram). Those portrayed include Elgar's wife
Alice, his friend and publisher Augustus J. Jaeger and
Elgar himself. In a programme note for a performance in
1911 Elgar wrote: "This work, commenced in a spirit of
humour & continued in deep seriousness, contains
sketches of the composer's friends. It may be
understood that these personages comment or reflect on
the original theme & each one attempts a solution of
the Enigma, for so the theme is called. The sketches
are not 'portraits' but each variation contains a
distinct idea founded on some particular personality or
perhaps on some incident known only to two people. This
is the basis of the composition, but the work may be
listened to as a 'piece of music' apart from any
extraneous consideration." In naming his theme
"Enigma", Elgar posed a challenge which has generated
much speculation but has never been conclusively
answered. The Enigma is widely believed to involve a
hidden melody.
Theme (Enigma: Andante): The unusual melodic contours
of the G minor opening theme convey a sense of
searching introspection then 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." 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. The theme leads into Variation I without a
pause.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_Variations).
Although originally created for Orchestra, I created
this Arrangement of the "Enigma Theme" from "Enigma
Variations" (Op. 36) for Flute & Piano.
PARTITION