Program note

Edward Elgar’s 1899 orchestral work Variations on an Original Theme, popularly known as the “Enigma Variations”, is a roughly 30-to-35-minute work dedicated to the composer’s “friends pictured within”. Each of the 14 variations depict a close acquaintance of Elgar’s, all of which are, according to Elgar, “commenced in a spirit of humour & continued in deep seriousness”. Some movements prominently feature an instrument that the dedicatee played, while others depict a particular personality trait or story involving the person. Elgar titles many of his variations with the initials of the featured person, such as Variation I, “C.A.E.”, depicting his wife, Caroline Alice Elgar.

Using Elgar’s original theme, I sought out to create variations that depict my own close high school friends. The variations often contain inside jokes and quotes of other pieces of music associated with that person. Variation I, A.T.D., is written for my violist friend and includes quotes of the music of Shostakovich and Kanye West. Variation II, D.J.J., depicts one of my friends who at the time was the butt of a running joke that his personality was too robotic. Also a composer, the second half of the variation quotes a couple of his early works. Variation III, B.H.S., includes a Celtic-inspired section and blatantly parodies Saint-Saens’ B minor Violin Concerto and Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, two pieces my friend had been practicing at the time. Variation IV, F.V.”F”.D, is a jazz-inspired movement dedicated to my high school theory, composition, and jazz piano teacher, Frank Doyle. Variation V, L.R.C., features the clarinet and makes reference to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, the Saint-Saens Clarinet Sonata, and a composition of my own, “The Accompanist’s Revenge”, which she and I had premiered. The final variation, G.I.G., is a nickname given to me by my family, just as the final variation of Elgar’s piece is “E.D.U.”, his wife’s nickname for him. G.I.G. is essentially a quodlibet of my own compositions I had written up to that point, as well as major pieces I had performed or studied, including the Shostakovich Piano Quintet, the Bruch G minor Violin Concerto, and Dvorak’s first Piano Quintet.