VARIATIONS
I. “C.A.E.” L’istesso tempo, G minor, 4-4. The initials are Lady Elgar’s. The theme, changed in rhythm, is given to the second violins and violas tremolo; flute and clarinet in octaves. The close, pianississimo, is in G major.
II. “H.D.S.-P.” Allegro, G minor, 3-8. The theme finally appears in the violoncellos and basses under a staccato figure for wood-wind, later violins.
III. “R.B.T.” Allegretto, G major, 3-8. Fragments of the theme are played by oboe and violins (pizzicato) against a counter theme for wood-wind.
IV. “W.M.B.” A spirited, vigorous variation. Allegro di molto, G minor-major 3-4. Strings, wood-wind, and horns proclaim the theme. The last measures call for the full strength of the orchestra.
V. “R.P.A.” Moderato, C minor, 12-8 (4-4). A counter melody is developed against the theme (bassoons, violoncellos, and double basses), first above the theme and then below it.
VI. “Ysobel.” Andantino, C major 3-2. A lyrical movement with a cantilena for solo viola, while gentle phrases are given to the woodwind and horns.
VII. “Troyte.” Presto, C major, 4-4. Wood-wind and violins have a bold figure over a basso ostinato for violoncellos, double basses, kettledrums. This figure, changed, is afterwards given to the basses.
VIII. “W.N.” Allegretto, G major, 6-8. Clarinets vary the theme.
IX. “Nimrod.” Moderato, E flat major, 3-4. This and the next variations are in strong contrast to each other and to those that precede. “Nimrod” is a tribute to Elgar’s friend Jaeger. Elgar’s Variations were performed at a memorial concert to Jaeger in London on January 24, 1910. Hans Richter conducted. Elgar wrote this note for the programme: “The Variations are not all ‘portraits.’... Something ardent and mercurial, in addition to the slow movement (No. IX), would have been needful to portray the character and temperament of A. J. Jaeger. The variation is a record of a long summer evening talk, when my friend grew nobly eloquent (as only he could) on the grandeur of Beethoven, and especially of his slow movements.” The strings (2d violins, violas, and violoncellos divided) sing the theme, pianississimo. Later the wood-wind and brass enlarge it.
X. “Dorabella—Intermezzo.” Allegretto, G major, 3-4, a sparkling, joyous variation, scored lightly for muted strings and wood-wind; a horn is heard in one measure, and there are a few strokes on the kettledrums.
XI. “G.R.S.” Allegro di molto, G minor, 2-2. An English reviewer says of this variation: “The furious pedaling in the basses seems to confirm our suspicion that this is the ‘picture’ of a well-known Cathedral organist.” This organist is probably Dr. George Roberton Sinclair, a friend and neighbor of Elgar at Hereford. The basses play a staccato variation of the theme. Later the brass has it fortissimo.
XII. “B.G.N.” Andante, G minor, 4-4. A song for violoncellos in which violas join later with first violins for the climax.
XIII. “X.X.X.—Romanza.” Moderato, G major, 3-4. The story is that “X.X.X.” was at sea when Elgar wrote this variation. We quote from Mr. Daniel Gregory Mason’s essay on Elgar: “Violas in a quietly undulating rhythm suggests the ocean expanse; an almost inaudible tremor of the drum gives the throb of the engines; a quotation from Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (clarinet) completes the story. Yet ‘story’ it is not—and there is the subtlety of it. Dim sea and dreamlike steamer are only accessories, after all. The thought of the distant friend, the human soul there, is what quietly disengages itself as the essence of the music.”[26] Ernest Newman speaks of the “curious drum roll, like the faint throb of the engines of a big liner.”[27]
XIV. “E.D.U.—Finale.” Allegro, G major, with an introduction. There are various modifications of tempo; the final section is a presto. The organ part was added after the first performance. “The finale is an elaborate movement, starting pianissimo, but soon developing strength and brilliancy in a richly scored marchlike strain, with which anon the ritmo di tre of Variation IX, ‘Nimrod’ (but in augmentation) is combined in a grandiose and triumphant passage, which virtually forms the climax of the work.” There is also a reminiscence of the opening strain of Variation I, pianississimo.
MANUEL
DE FALLA
(Born at Cadiz, November 23, 1876)