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''Enigma Variations (My Friends Pictured Within)'' is a one-act ballet by Frederick Ashton, to the music of the Variations on an Original Theme for orchestra ("Enigma"), Op. 36 by Edward Elgar. The work was first given by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 25 October 1968. It has been revived in every subsequent decade. ==Background== Elgar's variations portray, in his words, "My friends pictured within", celebrating, and in some cases caricaturing, members of his circle. He commented to one of them, Troyte Griffith, years after the premiere that if the variations had been written by a Russian rather than an Englishman they would long ago have been turned into a ballet.〔 It was not until six years after the composer's death that an attempt was made to do so, by the choreographer Frank Staff for Ballet Rambert in 1940.〔Percival, John. "Ashton and the quality of friendship", ''The Times'', 26 October 1968, p. 9〕 Staff's ballet focused on the mood of the variations rather than on the personalities who inspired it.〔 The idea for Ashton's ballet originated in the early 1950s, when the designer Julia Trevelyan Oman, then still a student, submitted designs for a ballet to be based on Elgar's music. At the time the idea was not taken up, but in the 1960s Ashton had come round to it, and invited Trevelyan Oman, by then a rising star of theatre design, to collaborate.〔Cargill, Mary. ("Lincoln Center Festival; Ashton Celebration July 6–17, 2004 – "Enigma Variations" ), ''Dance View Times'', 4 July 2004〕 Ashton used the whole of Elgar's published score, with the exception of the finale, for which he went back to the composer's original ending. When completing the score in 1898, Elgar had been persuaded by his publisher (portrayed as "Nimrod" of the variations) to add a further 96 bars to the ending. With the permission of the Elgar estate, Ashton used the shorter version, previously unheard by even the most dedicated Elgarians.〔Ward, David. ("Enigma of Elgar Variations finale on record at last" ), ''The Guardian'', 16 April 2003, p. 8〕 The playing time of the ballet is about half an hour. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Enigma Variations (ballet)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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