Unknown Soldiers (reprised) (Chicago Symphony)

As noted here, I found the whole discussion of the British WWI memorial services to be quite compelling. I won't recount the earlier discussion except to note that it is difficult to try to imagine a more solemn, emotional setting than those raw years right after the war.

I ran across a Chicago Symphony version of Elgar's "Nimrod" Enigma (Adagio, Variation #9). (There is a whole story about how these came to be created, discussed here.) I have heard this work in various contexts and always thought it quite wonderful. Now I learn it is played every year at the Cenotaph (the one in London) on Remembrance Sunday - and I'll bet it has gained power over the decades.

Elgar was quite famous, late 19th century and early 20th century, also did "Pomp and Circumstance."

I like this version of Enigma #9 a great deal, perhaps because it is a touch slower than others I've heard. I try to imagine how this felt 90 years ago at the first memorial services at the Cenotaph.

(The entire piece is quite excellent, but I note the buildup with the double bass section that you can feel (and see!) starting at 2:28; then I like how the camera "moves back" at the climactic passages, around 3:30.)