COMPOSER: Sir Edward Elgar
COMPOSED: 1899
This unforgettable and quintessentially English tune comes from the work that really established the reputation of Elgar in the British classical music scene: Enigma Variations. When they were performed for the first time, one of the reasons the new work caused so much interest was the intriguing dedication in the score: ‘to my friends pictured within.’ Each of the fourteen variations represents someone the composer knew; Elgar, who was a great lover of conundrums and puzzles, had headed each variation with oblique hints as to whom these people might be. ‘Nimrod’ – which is variation number nine – is the best-known of all;
Elgar later revealed that it represented one aspect of the character and temperament of August Jaeger. He was a German-born musician who worked as the publisher of Elgar’s music for the Novello firm. More than just a colleague, though, Jaeger did more than anyone apart from Elgar’s wife to help the composer through some pretty tough times of depression and self-doubt. This piece, which also plays on Jaeger’s name, – ‘Nimrod’ is the ‘mighty hunter’ mentioned in the Old Testament book of Genesis, and ‘Jaeger’ means huntsman in German – is a worthy tribute to Elgar’s close friend.