Such “problem pictures” had a parallel in music, too. As I look back on that time by Sir Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations (what superb performances of this work have I heard by Nikisch!), I cannot help speculating on the possibility that it was partly due to these typically Edwardian elements of the cryptic and the argument-provoking- in short, due to the “Royal Academy problem picture” element- that this beautifully wrought work largely owes its popular appeal.