Elgar: Enigma Variations
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
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D-D-O-R-Dum
The main idea of the variation, D-D-O-R-Dum, comes from a tune Elgar would often whistle when coming home to see his wife. The theme itself came after a long day of teaching which had exhausted him and left him feeling as hopeless as ever. So it makes sense that this brooding and intense theme could describe his friends since we are really seeing them through Elgar's eyes. After her death, Edward wrote no music for twelve years.
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