St John's C of E Primary School
"Use your God-given gifts to serve others." 1 Peter 4: 10
Week 20 'Making changes' 9.2.26 Elgar - Enigma Variations
Sir Edward William Elgar, (2 June 1857 - 23 February 1934) was thought of as one of the most famous English composers of his time. He composed the 'Enigma Variations'. An enigma is a puzzle. The piece is a puzzle as he wrote a main tune, and then a series of variations on the tune. Each variation describes one of his friends, but he did not say which friends they were: he only put their initials or nickname at the top of each variation. This is why the piece is an enigma (a “puzzle” or “secret”). http://www.elgar.org/3enigma.htm
Nimrod is well known in British culture as it is often played at funeral and memorials: you often hear it played on Remembrance Day. This variation was written for his friend Augustus. Nimrod is a biblical name for 'the mighty hunter'. Elgar said this piece really told "the story of something that happened". Once, when Elgar had been very depressed and was about to give it all up and write no more music, Jaeger had visited him and encouraged him to continue composing.