Enigma Variations

One day in England in the autumn of 1898, Edward Elgar sat down at his piano and began improvising on a simple theme that began with the rhythmic shape of his own name. Soon, encouraged by his wife Alice, Elgar began to adapt the theme to fit the personalities of his closest friends and colleagues. By February the following year, Elgar had finished what many consider to be his masterpiece. The Enigma Variations, a set of fourteen portraits of companions beginning with Alice and ending with Elgar himself, is a work of astonishing craftsmanship, invention, expressive range and emotional power.