Elgar: Enigma Variations; In the South & Other Orchestral Works

Featuring

Martyn Brabbins
Florence Daguerre de Hureaux
Kate Royal
Yann Ghiro
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Edward Elgar

Did you know?

1/6

Recording & Production

This recording is the first to present Elgar's Pleading as a purely orchestral miniature, which was Elgar's initial intention before it was adapted as a vocal accompaniment.

Composition History

The title 'Enigma' was an afterthought, added by Elgar's editor August Jaeger, and originally applied only to the theme itself, not the entire work.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The Enigma Variations contain musical sketches of Elgar's friends, with each variation commenting on or reflecting the original theme, and the finale representing the composer himself.

Historical Context

Elgar's works Carillon, Une voix dans le désert, and Le drapeau belge were inspired by the plight of the Belgian people during the Great War, after Germany invaded neutral Belgium in 1914.

Composition History

Elgar composed In the South 'Alassio' at lightning speed in January 1904, after a miserable start to his Italian trip turned sunny, inspiring him to write a 'Concert Overture'.

Composition History

Elgar's Enigma Variations, an ambitious orchestral work, was conceived on the evening of October 21, 1898, after a day of fiddle teaching, when his wife commented on a tune he was playing.