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- Elgar - Enigma Variations (piano)
Elgar - Enigma Variations (piano)
Arranged for piano solo
Edward Elgar's Variations for Orchestra, Op 36, were composed in late 1898 and early 1899, and have become known as the 'Enigma Variations'. The work features a wistful Theme followed by 14 variations that are character portraits of friends of the composer. It includes the well-known 'Nimrod' variation.
Elgar composed the piece in his usual fashion, writing it on two staves as a piano score. This was quickly published and remained the only piano version. In the process of orchestrating the piece, Elgar made copious alterations, improvements and additions to the score. These were never incorporated into the piano version, so this new version combines much of Elgar's original with an updated and fully pianistic arrangement.