Elgar Enigma Variations
Elgar wrote one theme and 14 versions (or variations) of it to describe his friends and acquaintances. Let’s start with the theme and try to solve the enigma!
1. Listen to the theme - this is at the very beginning of the piece. It only lasts about 90 seconds. It is very simple and plain so that Elgar could change it many times and in many different ways. What mood is the theme? Can you sketch the shape of it? Try to do so without taking your pen or pencil off the page, just let it wander up and down with the shape of the music
2. Now listen to one of the variations. Try to imagine the person being described and quickly write down the answers to these questions;
Is this a man, woman, boy, girl or something else (i.e. an animal, a place)?
What age is this ‘person’?
What are they doing? What expression is on their face?
3. Listen once again and draw the person, animal or place that you think is being described.
4. Repeat this task exploring some (or all) of the other variations. you can find them by scrolling to these timings or click on the links in the Youtube description below the film. Troyte, GRS and Dorabella are good ones to start with.
Theme: (0:00) Variation I: "C.A.E." (1:21) Variation II: "H.D.S-P." (3:14) Variation III: "R.B.T." (4:00) Variation IV: "W.M.B." (5:28) Variation V: "R.P.A." (5:56) Variation VI: "Ysobel" (7:50) Variation VII: "Troyte" (9:02) Variation VIII: "W.N." (9:57) Variation IX: "Nimrod" (11:41) Variation X: "Dorabella" (15:35) Variation XI: "G.R.S." (18:31) Variation XII: "B.G.N." (19:30) Variation XIII: "* * *" (21:51) Variation XIV: "E.D.U." (24:25)
For more on Enigma, all the answers and full teachers’ pack go to LSO Play (link below) and follow these steps:
Choose ELGAR
Go to MENU in top left corner
Select ‘downloads’
Download the pack!
Here’s another version of theme and more explanation. Enjoy the task, have a good cry at Nimrod and remember….
THERE’S NO WRONG ANSWER!!