Elgar Edward. Variations /Enigma/ for piano, op. 36

London: Novello & Co, 1899. — 42 p.Elgar wrote:
This work, commenced in a spirit of humour & continued in deep seriousness, contains sketches of the composer's friends. It may be understood that these personages comment or reflect on the original theme & each one attempts a solution of the Enigma, for so the theme is called. The sketches are not 'portraits' but each variation contains a distinct idea founded on some particular personality or perhaps on some incident known only to two people. This is the basis of the composition, but the work may be listened to as a 'piece of music' apart from any extraneous consideration.
Elgar composed the piece in his usual fashion, writing it on two staves as a piano score. This was quickly published and remained the only piano version. In the process of orchestrating the piece, Elgar made copious alterations, improvements and additions to the score. These were never incorporated into the piano version, so this new version combines much of Elgar's original with an updated and fully pianistic arrangement.