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)