Enigma Variations, Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma) Op. 36, for Piano, transcribed by the composer Sir Edward Elgar 1899. Ashley Wass, Naxos, 2006. Enigma: Andante 00:00 I. (C.A.E): L'istesso tempo 02:00 II. (H.D.S.- P.): Allegro 04:01 III. (R.B.T.): Allegretto 04:51 IV. (W.M.B.): Allegro di molto 06:21 V. (R.P.A.): Moderato 06:54 VI. (Ysobel): Andantino 09:01 VII. (Troyte): Presto 10:24 VIII. (W.N.): Allegretto 11:30 IX. (Nimrod): Adagio 13:23 - http://youtu.be/iEwr4qvNUeM X. Intermezzo (Dorabella): Allegretto 16:50 XI. (G.R.S.): Allegro di morto 19:56 XII. (B.G.N.): Andante 20:49 XIII. Romanza: (***): Moderato 23:59 XIV. Finale (E.D.U.): Allegro - Presto 26:40 Other Videos: 1. Variation IX. "Nimrod" (studio recording) http://youtu.be/RiaDogDqrB0 2. Complete Enigma Variations (live recording) https://youtu.be/6GbD20h8-_4 3. Variation IX. "Nimrod" piano transcription http://youtu.be/w9rUjPBNxpI 4. Variation IX. "Nimrod" piano transcription http://youtu.be/rFgiPh6rZRs 5. Enigma Variations transcription on Piano http://youtu.be/iEwr4qvNUeM 6. Lux Aeterna, Choir of New College Oxford http://youtu.be/AXXM2aI2jOc 7. Lux Aeterna, Amici Forever http://youtu.be/1ld4rEhRrdY Playlist: https://youtu.be/6GbD20h8-_4?list=PL8_kq8-6nvDi2SHPcLBJXSi5o4g20kr2l In the manuscript score the word "Enigma" is written over the original theme. Elgar dedicated the Variations "to my friends pictured within," and they form an irresistible sequence of character studies, culminating in the composer's rousing, assured self-portrait - as though he were telling those friends, "See what you have made of me.". But Elgar also confessed that the music contained a "dark saving", adding that the theme itself expressed his enduring sense of the "loneliness of the artist". So like many of Elgar's finest works, Enigma reveals two very different personae: the robust, brimming confidence of the self-made English gentleman and the restless, melancholic introspection of the outsider. That Elgar was truly both is one of the aspects of his music that makes him fascinating. That is not the whole story: Enigma is also about warmth of feeling, tunefulness, and lively humor, and even - an unfashionable word today - Nobility. At the end of an overlong day laden with teaching and other duties, Edward Elgar lit a cigar, sat at his piano and began idling over the keys. To amuse his wife, the composer began to improvise a tune and played it several times, turning each reprise into a caricature of the way one of their friends might have played it or of their personal characteristics. "I believe that you are doing something which has never been done before," exclaimed Mrs. Elgar. Thus was born one of music's great works of original conception, and Elgar's greatest large-scale "hit": the Enigma Variations. The enigma is twofold: each of the 14 variations refers to a friend of Elgar's, who is depicted by the nature of the music, or by sonic imitation of laughs, vocal inflections, or quirks, or by more abstract allusions. The other enigma is the presence of a larger "unheard" theme which is never stated but which according to the composer is very well known. The identity of the phantom tune left the world with the composer, and guesses have ranged from "God Save the King" to a simple major scale. Whether this second theme is a popular melody or a symbolic idea such as friendship has never been established and probably never will be. It's more than possible that even the most devoted Elgar aficionado might not know that the late Romantic English master of the symphony and the oratorio also wrote piano music. At first, Elgar, like his contemporaries Sibelius and Strauss, seems to be a composer whose invention is invariably associated with the specific sound of the modern symphony orchestra, and that shorn of its coat of many orchestral colors, it would appear at best thin and threadbare. But as this disc of Elgar's piano music performed by the able young English pianist Ashley Wass proves, this was not at all the case. Indeed, while some of the works here are slighter salon pieces originally written for the instrument, the composer's transcriptions of the Enigma Variations sound nearly as magnificent played on the keyboard as by a full orchestra. And while it is true that the Variations' Finale's massive sonorities sound less impressive as rolled chords and tremolos, the sonorous depths of the famous Nimrod variation sound just as profound when played on the piano. Of course, Elgar's seductive salon pieces like May Song and Carissima can hardly match his mighty Nimrod, but Wass makes as persuasive a case as possible for their occasional hearing by dedicated fans of the composer. Naxos' sound is honest and straightforward.

• published: 17 Sep 2013
• views: 14182