Sir Edward Elgar, c. 1900. This is not a Blogfinger photo.
By Paul Goldfinger
I think that music can be appreciated totally at an emotional level, but if you are a musicologist you like to analyze what’s going on under the surface. The title quote above is by Sir Edward Elgar—the first sentence in his description of what his “Enigma Variations” are all about.
Needless to say, although I have a musical background (my mother sang all the time when she was carrying me and for all the years later,) I did not make it past Elgar’s first sentence.
He wrote his “Enigma Variations” in 1898. He was tinkering on his piano at his home when he came upon a melody. Mrs. Elgar liked it and she encouraged Ed to stick with it.
I can imagine the conversation, “Ed, I like that tune. It’s about time you got your quavers and crotchets in order. Why don’t you write some variations on that theme while I prepare some bangers and kidney pudding for lunch?”
Sir Edward did prepare about 14 variations, and the work became a big hit in concert halls in England and abroad.
But, for me, all bangers and crotchets aside, I just like the main theme. Here is the “Enigma Variation –Nimrod adagio” by Sir Edward Elgar. It sounds like movie music, even though there were no sound movies back then.
However, this variation was used in the movie “Elizabeth” a 1998 film starring Cate Blanchett. The soundtrack received an “Oscar” nomination.
Elgar’s “Enigma Variations” have made the list of the “50 greatest classical pieces to be featured in a movie.” The recording is by Sir Adrian Boult and the London Symphony Orchestra.