Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 - Variations X-XIV

X. Dorabella - intermezzo: allegretto

dora penny was a great friend who also had a stutter, depicted in the wind interjections in every bar. the first note of these little interjections is almost always stressed, giving a bit of an off-kilter feeling. the nickname was taken from mozart's cosi fan tutte. apparently elgar had a flirtatious but mild relationship with her, and this light and lovely variation reflects that. i particularly like the cello solo.

XI. G.R.S. - allegro di molto
ok it is actually all i can do to actually post this video because the images are kind of gross, please don't actually watch the video when you listen =/
george robertson sinclair was an organist at a cathedral. he owned a big bulldog called dan, and the variation has almost nothing to do with sinclair except that the dog was his. the first rapid descent shows the dog tumbling into a river. he struggles by swimming upstream, and finally manages to scramble to the bank, barking triumphantly.
sorry for the gross video...

XII. B.G.N - andante
basil g. nevinson was a well-known cellist, hence the big cello solo interlude that bookends this variation and the predominantly cello section melody. nevinson was the inspiration for the cello concerto, which elgar completed some years later.

XIII. *** - romanza: moderato
this is my favorite variation because of the transformative middle section. wiki reports that this was supposed to be lady mary lygon, a friend of elgar and his wife who just happened not to be available when the variations were finished and elgar sent her a note requesting to use her initials. but a different story gaining traction is that the stars actually refer to a secret lover that elgar had named dora adeline nelson, and they had a love child named pearl. nelson was a cook in the kitchens; being of lower caste, elgar could, of course, never acknowledge their existence or his love, but apparently it was an open secret in the servants' circles. who knows? but it would certainly be more of a reason to keep the stars - it somehow seems unlikely that lady mary lygon would have refused to let her name be used even post publication, and if it were innocuous it seems elgar had plenty of time afterwards to clarify it. buuuut, there are at least two other theories out there, including "helen weaver" and "alice stuart-wortley."
anyway, the variation's main material is graceful and lyrical and suggests a lady for sure. but the middle section i mentioned is introduced by a sudden cessation in the flowing movement of the theme, and seems really to have nothing to do at all with the theme. alternating thirds in the violas underly a timpani roll played with hard sticks, giving a metal edge to the sound, kind of an ominous rumbling on the horizon. the clarinet solo is apparently a quotation from mendelssohn's calm sea prosperous voyage. this is all in the harmonically far away key of a-flat major.

you get some bernstein for the last variation because the other guy is too noob to finish his collection of videos. (i would have uploaded all bernstein, but for some reason this is the only movement that was posted.)

XIV. E.D.U. - finale: allegro presto
edu was his wife's nickname for himself. the finale is longest besides perhaps nimrod, and includes throwbacks to the variations of the two biggest influences on his life, II (his wife) and IX (nimrod/jaeger). we end triumphantly in g major.