h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Over the years I've heard quite a few different theories that claim to solve Elgar's famous enigma. Here are few of them;
1]the variations are based on the main theme from the slow movement of Mozart's 'Prague' symphony.
2]or they're based on 'Auld Lang Syne'.
3]or on 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow'.
4]or the theme is non-musical;such as friendship or love,etc.
Any other suggestions?

I believe the original theme on which the Enigma Variations is based on four notes from the composition "Rule Brittania", certainly a popular compostion in Elgar's time. My basis for this belief is the fact that Elgar, always a great punster and jokester, to the query if he would ever divulge the secret of the "enigma", once responded, "Never!"

The first four notes of the theme correspond to the four notes in the phrase, "...never, never..." which appears in the lyrics of "Rule Brittania", but are played a slower.

Very interesting! I checked your idea out on the piano and the similarity between the two phrases is quite striking.

As a seperate point of interest, have you ever noticed the similarity between the opening of the "Nimrod" variation and the opening of the slow movement of Beethoven's "Pathetique" sonata?

I like that "Rule Britannia" theory. I'm convinced!

Sepulveda, the similarity between Nimrod and the Pathetique is no coincidence. Elgar said that Nimrod was intended to illustrate a conversation he had with his friend Jaeger on Beethoven's slow movements.

I've made a few changes to this entry and I'm going to put it into Peer Review soon.

I knew that.
Honest.

I am glad to find this thread. I am convinced that I have the solution in principle, with some details missing.

Joseph Cooper triumphantly announced a few years ago that a short extract of the Prague Symphony was the answer. I don't think this was the main theme of the slow movement - it was just a snatch. Yes, he was right: it is a deliberate and explicit micro-quotation.

But what Elgar said was that there is another, greater theme hidden in the work. A single extract, even from Mozart, doesn't match up to the grand phrase that Elgar used.

The correct answer is the fellowship of composers. This adds a double meaning to "My friends pictured within".

What we know is this: One variation (Nimrod) is based on the slow movement of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata; one (already mentioned) quotes the Prague symphony. I can identify quotations, just a few bars each, from Brahms' Second symphony (First movement), Bruckner's Ninth (3rd movement) and Saint Saens' Spinning Wheel (Le Roet d'Omphale) - with the same key and orchestration as the originals, to judge by ear. Some years ago, I heard a work by a 19th century English composer whose name unfortunately I can't remember (not Stanford, Parry nor Sterndale Bennett), but which I recognised as another of the Enigma variations.

I think we will eventually find that every variation contains a quotation from a different composer. We could even try guessing who the other composers will prove to be, on the basis of Elgar's enthusiasms. But I'll leave that for now.

Meanwhile - who can spot more quotations? I hope the Brahms, Bruckner and Saint-Saens are clear.

Now that's what I call interesting! I've been a fan of Elgar's music for years and yet I've never come across this theory before. Of course, I've heard about "Nimrod" being inspired by Beethoven's "Pathetique" and I've also heard about the Mozart theory, but never have I considered the fact that each variation might be a sort of tribute to various composers. It's given the Enigma Variations a whole new lease of life for me; I'll be trying to discover new themes all the time from now on!