Elgar: Enigma Variations – Intermezzo – Dora Penny

Sir Edward William Elgar 1857 –1934. An English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King’s Musick in 1924.

About Dora Penny, the inspiration for this movement:-
Born in 1874, Dora was the daughter of Rev. Alfred Penny, then vicar of Swindon. Following her mother’s death shortly after Dora was born, her father sailed to Melanesia and the Solomon Islands where he served as a missionary for several years. She rejoined her father at Wolverhampton in 1895, when he became rector of St. Peter’s Collegiate Church. Soon after, he married Mary Frances Baker, a friend of Alice Elgar’s-wife of Edward Elgar. The Elgars frequently visited the Pennies, with the composer forming a close friendship with Dora-affectionately known as Dorabella-despite being forty years her senior.
She is famously the inspiration behind the tenth of Elgar’s Enigma Variations-the work that catapulted him to international fame. He used a dance theme in the variation, taking in mind Dora’s love for dancing. She was also the recipient of Elgar’s enigmatic Dorabella Cipher-a yet-undeciphered letter that he gave her in 1897.
Their friendship was hardly one-way: Dora was an advocate of cycling, regularly riding 40 miles to the Elgars’ home in Worcestershire, and once completed a 398.5-mile tour. It was she who convinced the 42-year-old Elgar to buy a Wolverhampton-made Royal Sunbeam bicycle, now immortalized by Oliver Dixon’s statue on the Hereford Cathedral Green.
It was also Dora who accompanied Elgar to the Wolverhampton Wanderers’ matches, helping cultivate the composer’s then-budding interest in football.
A Blue Plaque has just been installed on Dora’s former home at The Old Rectory on Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton. She was a remarkable lady a vicar’s daughter who pioneered women’s cycling, and encouraged her friend Elgar to acquire a Sunbeam (made in Wolverhampton) bicycle. She was a musician, singer and also a writer.

Album Info;-
British Ballet Music.
Intermezzo – Dorabella (Dora Penny) [2002 Remaster)
London Symphony Orchestra – Sir Adrian Boult.
2011 EMI Records.

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