Lawrence Gilman

(Edward William Elgar: born in Broadheath, near Worcester, England, June 2, 1857; now living in Malvern, England.)

VARIATIONS ON AN ORIGINAL THEME ("ENIGMA"): Op. 36

These Variations have an inner history, or, rather, fourteen inner histories; but precisely what they are is a secret which is locked within the breast of Sir Edward Elgar and certain of his friends. The Variations are fourteen in number, and their purpose has been publicly avowed by the composer. In them, he says: "I have sketched ... the idiosyncrasies of fourteen of my friends; ... but this is a personal matter, and need not have been mentioned." The score bears the sub-title "Enigma," and is dedicated "to my friends pictured within." Hints as to their identity are contained in these initials and sobriquets printed at the head of the different variations:

1. "C. A. E." L'istesso tempo, G minor, ending in major, 4-4.
2. "H. D. S.-P." Allegro, G minor, 3-8.
3. "R. B. T." Allegretto, G major, 3-8.
4. "W. M. B." Allegro di molto, G minor, with end in G major, 3-4.
5. "R. P. A." Moderato, C minor, 12-8 and 4-4.
6. "Ysobel." Andantino, C major, 3-2.
7. "Troyte." Presto, C major, 3-2.
8. "W. N." Allegretto, G major, 6-8.
9. "Nimrod." Moderato, E-flat major, 3-4.
10. "Dorabella." Intermezzo, Allegretto, G major, 3-4.
11. "G. R. S." Allegro di molto, G minor, 2-2.
12. "B. G. N." Andante, G minor, 4-4.
13. "* * *." Romanza, Moderato, G major, 3-4.
14. "E. D. U." Finale, Allegro, G major, 2-2.

As to the "Enigma," Sir Edward has thus declared himself: "The Enigma I will not explain—its 'dark saying' must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connection between the Variations and the theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme 'goes,' but is not played; ... so the principal theme never appears, even as, in some late dramas—e. g., Maeterlinck's L'Intruse and Les Sept Princesses—the principal character is never on the stage."

The score bears the date-line: "Malvern, 1899."

OVERTURE, "COCKAIGNE" ("IN LONDON TOWN"): Op. 40

At the time of the first performance of this overture (at a London Philharmonic concert, June 20, 1901), the following outline of the dramatic significance of successive episodes in the music was put forth by Mr. Joseph Bennet, presumably with the authority of the composer:

1. CHEERFUL ASPECT OF LONDON.
2. STRONG AND SINCERE CHARACTER OF LONDONERS.
3. THE LOVERS' ROMANCE.
4. YOUNG LONDON'S INTERRUPTION.
5. THE MILITARY BAND.
6. IN THE CHURCH.
7. FINALLY, IN THE STREETS.

When the overture was first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (in November, 1901), Mr. Philip Hale included in his programme-notes this more detailed exposition: "The overture is a succession of scenes: it may be called panoramic. The scenes are connected by a slender thread. The composer imagines two lovers strolling through the streets of the town. The first picture suggested is that of the animation, of the intense vitality of the street life. Then comes a section which, according to the composer's sketch, expresses the 'sincere and ardent spirit underlying the Cockaigner's frivolity and luxury.' The lovers seek quiet in a park and give way to their own emotions. They grow passionate, but they are interrupted and disconcerted by the rough pranks of young Cockaigners. The lovers leave the park and seek what Charles Lamb described as the sweet security of the streets. A military band approaches, passes with hideous rage and fury, and at last is at a safe and reasonable distance. The lovers go into a church. The organ is playing, and even here they cannot escape wholly the noise of the street. To the street they return, and the former experiences are renewed."

The score, which contains no programme or elucidation whatsoever, was published in 1901.

"DREAM CHILDREN," TWO PIECES FOR SMALL ORCHESTRA: Op. 43

These pieces, published in 1902, are prefaced with the following quotation from the paper in Charles Lamb's Essays of Elia entitled "Dream Children; A Revery":

"... And while I stood gazing, both the children gradually grew fainter to my view, receding, and still receding, till nothing at last but two mournful features were seen in the uttermost distance, which, without speech, strangely impressed upon me the effects of speech: 'We are not of Alice, [48] nor of thee, nor are we children at all.... We are nothing; less than nothing, and dreams. We are only what might have been.'" [49]

Elgar's music, "for pianoforte or small orchestra,"[50] is in two slightly contrasted parts: (1) A pensive andante movement in G minor, and (2) a livelier allegretto in G major, which, however, changes to andante and closes, with grave sentiment, molto lento.[51] The correspondence between the dominant moods of the essay and the characteristics of the music are obvious and easily perceptible. The pieces were "sketched long ago," says the composer [writing in June, 1907], "and completed a few years back." The first performance was at a Queen's Hall Promenade Concert, London, September 4, 1902.

No more searching and effective commentary could be written upon this music than that of Mr. Vernon Blackburn, though its delicately stated meanings do not lie always upon the surface:

"Sir Edward Elgar can go further than the great English prose poet, and in his music he delves into the finest things of the life of childhood; not the precocious things, not the interrogatory matters which so often puzzle the brains of elder people, but simply the artless questions of childhood which are answered never—it is those things which appeal to Sir Edward, yet, with his infinitely fine sense of musical suggestion, are still never answered. We can easily see why it is that Elgar chooses out of a great system of idealistic writing to limit himself for once within the boundaries of childhood, just the thoughts and the dreams of youth, that wonderful period in life; after all, the thoughts and dreams of youth do not go further than the theories of manhood, and Sir Edward Elgar therefore reaches a point of interrogation which ranks among all those many questions which in music seem to us to continue, from the time of the Abate Martini, through the questionings of Gluck, past the art of Mozart and Schumann, right unto the present day.

"Elgar called into life the children of his dream just as all the greatest of modern composers may for the listener revive the feelings that have been closed behind the gate of his mind. The children of his dreams touch a musical paternity that may be ranked among the things that issue from the paternity of thought. Such a great musician as Edward Elgar may well dream of those children who stand on the edge of the horizon, towards whom he beckons to come over the sea of silence—who never come, but who allow him to dream of the mystery of that which is sometimes forever denied, but which is at all times the inspiration of highest thought."

OVERTURE, "IN THE SOUTH" ("ALASSIO" [52]): Op. 50

This overture was completed in 1904. These lines from Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" are quoted in the score:

"Thou art the garden of the world."

(Cantos IV., XXV., XXVI.)

The music is said to have been "conceived on a glorious spring day in the Valley of Andora," and is meant "to suggest the Joy of Living in a balmy climate, under sunny skies, and amid surroundings in which the beauties of nature vie in interest with the remains and recollections of the great past of an enchanting country."

Mr. A. A. Jaeger, in the course of an elaborate analysis and exposition of the overture which is said to have been prepared with the sanction of the composer, writes in detail concerning the meaning of certain passages in the music. Of an episode which occurs shortly after the beginning (at the entry of what the musician would call the "second theme" of the overture), he says:

"Gradually a calmer mood comes over the music. The strings are muted, and wood-wind (clarinet and English horn) and violins are heard in a little dialogue which seems to have been suggested by 'a shepherd with his flock and his home-made music.'... As the music dies away in softest ppp, the drums and double-basses sound persistently ... even after the long-delayed second subject proper of the overture has commenced. So far the thematic material has been largely constructed of short sequences. The new subject, on the other hand, is a long-drawn, finely curved melody of shapely form.... Tinged with a sweet sadness, it is doubtless meant to suggest the feeling of melancholy which is generally coexistent with the state of happiness resulting from communion with nature, a melancholy which in this case, however, may be supposed to have been produced by contemplating the contrast (shown nowhere more strikingly than in Italy) between the eternal rejuvenescence of nature and the instability of man's greatest and proudest achievements. The melody is announced by first violins, solo viola, and solo 'cello. It is immediately repeated in the higher octave.... A melody in the same gentle mood follows." Later there occurs "a passionately ascending sequence, as if the composer were rousing himself from a deep revery." There are trumpet-calls, and the music becomes increasingly animated. "We reach a second very important episode, grandioso, in which the composer has aimed to 'paint the relentless and domineering onward force of the ancient day, and give a sound picture of the strife and wars of a later time.' First we have this bold and stately phrase, very weightily scored for the full orchestra, except flutes. It is followed by another forceful passage," in which are "clashing discords.... Soon the music grows even more emphatic.... With almost cruel insistence the composer covers page after page with this discordant and stridently orchestrated but powerfully suggestive music. It is as if countless Roman cohorts sounded their battle-calls from all the corners of the earth.... It is a wild scene which the composer unfolds before us—one of turbulent strife, in which many a slashing blow and counter-blow are dealt in furious hand-to-hand fight.... The Roman motif (grandioso) seems to exhort the warriors to carry their eagles victorious through the fray, that Senatus populusque Romanus may know how Roman legions did their duty. Gradually the clamor subsides," and, with a high note sounded on the glockenspiel [an orchestral implement which produces a bell-like tone], "we are back in the light of the present day.

"A curious passage seems to suggest the gradual awakening from the dream, the bright sunshine breaking through the dust of battle beheld in a poet's vision of a soul-stirring past." Later we hear (solo viola) "the lonely shepherd's plaintive song, floating towards the serene azure of the Italian sky." Finally, the overture is brought to an end with a phrase "which has stood throughout for the brave motto of Sunshine, Open Air, and Cheery Optimism."