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Welcome to Intermezzo from Interlochen Public Radio, where we take a few minutes to bounce some ideas around about classical music.
This week, Christy L'Esperance and her co-host Quinn celebrate this Thursday's National Puzzle Day with a musical puzzle — “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside of an enigma," Sir Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
Elgar dedicated the piece to "my friends pictured within." Elgar's sketches aren't really complete 'portraits' of the people he knew, but each variation contains a specific idea based on some particular personality trait or maybe a private incident that only that person and Elgar knew about. Yesterday, we inspected the mysterious opening theme of the Enigma Variations. Today, we'll talk about the first variation, titled "C.A.E."
It's not hard to figure out who this variation is about. His wife was Caroline Alice Elgar — C.A.E. But there's a private reference in the music: a 4-note motif that Elgar would whistle when he came home to his wife each day!
Edward Elgar - Enigma Variations: Variation I. "C.A.E."
This week's Mystery Melody
It's time to test your ears. Each week we have a mystery melody that we have to figure out together. It relates to our topic. (We'll make the melody less mysterious each day.)
If you know the mystery melody, text your name and the title and we’ll give you a shout out on Friday. The number to text is (833) 490-4718.
