ABSTRACT
When one confronts the works of Elgar it is difficult to keep analysis from merging into hermeneutics - explorations into broader systems of meaning. In this repertory of enigmas, embedded secrets, and allusive themes, merely technical analyses that steer clear of questions of larger interpretation can be unsatisfying, as if missing the point. Similarly, hermeneutic decodings that bypass close analysis can seem unmoored, insufficiently grounded in the actual workings of the music. But these two aspects are not separate domains in any repertory - and certainly not in Elgar’s compositions. Under these circumstances, our goal should be to devise methods whereby analysis and hermeneutics become one and the same thing, different modalities of the same issue. This essay, like others in this volume, is an exercise in both analysis and interpretation.
