THIS was one of the first works which aroused the rest of Europe to a recognition of Elgar's greatness, and Richard Strauss was among the earliest to welcome it. He was loud in its praises when it was played first in Germany.
The 'Enigma ' which the Variations have acquired as a title of affection from admirers, is a two-fold one. Elgar himself tolls us that the theme is one which goes harmoniously with another and very well-known tune; as musicians would say, Elgar's theme is a counterpoint to the other tune. But what that tune is, Elgar has not told us, nor has anyone yet discovered. The other part of the enigma consists of initials or pseudonyms attached to the several variations, which stand for the composer's friends. The work is dedicated ' To my friends pictured within,' and a number of these havo emerged from so slight a disguise, but one or two are even now only guessed at.
There are thirteen variations and a big final one, long enough to bo a move. ment of itself, and space will not permit of a detailed description of each of them. The theme is not always easily traced throughout the variations, and there is at least one which is a little interlude with only a slight, relation to the theme. But listeners who hear the opening announcement of the tune attentively will be able to recognize its reappear; ances and the .very clever use which Elgar makes of parts of it throughout the course of this beautiful work.
The theme itself falls into two sections, one in minor and one in major, and in the third and fourth bars there is a drop of a seventh which reappears in many of the transformations which the tune undergoes.