A nice little regular in my Blog [29th March 2012 & 12th January 2011], and each time i play it, there seems to be a new variation that bubbles to the surface, this time i found those 'forte' variations were the best, short and loud, lots of brass and timpani, many of the variations last only a minute, and it's easy to miss them if you don't pay attention, it's quite amazing how Elgar can create some of these variations that sound nothing like the original theme, very creative, there's a mood and style for everyone, an ingenious set of variations.
Yehudi Menuhin [1916-1999] was an American Violinist, but he spent much of his later years as a British citizen, he recorded this work in 1985, the front cover shows Menuhin and Lloyd Webber standing either side of a bust of Elgar [photo by Richard Holt], i love its symmetry, even the lettering adds to its centralness, also the oranges and browns create a lovely colour combination.
The variations that most inspired me were 1, 4, 7, 9, 11 & 13-14, that's roughly half of the work, and the variation that most moved me was probably 12, but i think i've talked about that one in the past quite a lot, so on this listen i was certainly affected by variation 11, it's one i don't normally mention, it's of course famous for the splashing bulldog, variation 11 is a musical depiction of GRS [George Robertson Sinclair],
Yehudi Menuhin [1916-1999] was an American Violinist, but he spent much of his later years as a British citizen, he recorded this work in 1985, the front cover shows Menuhin and Lloyd Webber standing either side of a bust of Elgar [photo by Richard Holt], i love its symmetry, even the lettering adds to its centralness, also the oranges and browns create a lovely colour combination.
The variations that most inspired me were 1, 4, 7, 9, 11 & 13-14, that's roughly half of the work, and the variation that most moved me was probably 12, but i think i've talked about that one in the past quite a lot, so on this listen i was certainly affected by variation 11, it's one i don't normally mention, it's of course famous for the splashing bulldog, variation 11 is a musical depiction of GRS [George Robertson Sinclair],
