The Elgar Enigma series celebrates the 150th anniversary of
Elgar's birth, the countryside that so inspired him and his first
widely recognised work, Variations on an Original Theme, more
commonly known as The Enigma Variations.
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Variation VI (Andantino) YSOBEL was dedicated to Isabel Fitton.
The Fittons were a well-known family in Malvern. Isabel was a keen
viola player and had been having some coaching from Elgar. One of
the difficult exercises for beginners is 'crossing the strings' and
this Variation makes much play of this. The melody of this
variation is also for a viola.
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Isobel Fitton
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Mordiford Bridge
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Elgar bicycled everywhere and while living in Hereford he would
often come along the road to Mordiford Bridge to fish and compose.
Here the river Lugg flows into the Wye and is crossed by the oldest
bridge in Herefordshire, dating in part to c. 1352 and completed in
the 16th century. It was here that many of the sketches for his
work 'The Music Makers' - a setting of the poem by Arthur
O'Shaughnessy - are believed to have been made.
The cache itself is just off a footpath on the hill in the
village. The tree cover will probably cause problems and the
difficulty reflects this.
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There is parking nearby to the start of the path for a couple of
cars.