The identifications of the friends depicted in the variations are as follows:
I. Caroline Alice Elgar, his wife. II. Hew David Steuart-Powell, amateur pianist.
III. Richard Baxter Townshend, author. IV. W.M. Baker, 'country squire,
gentleman and scholar.' V. Richard P. Arnold, son of Matthew Arnold, amateur
pianist. VI. Isabel (not 'Ysobel') Fitton, amateur violist. VII. Troyte Griffith,
architect, piano student of Elgar. VIII. Winifred Norbury, amateur musician.
IX. A. J. Jaeger, office manager at Novello. X. Dora Penny. XI. George Robertson Sinclair,
organist of Hereford Cathedral. XII. Basil G. Nevinson, amateur cellist. XIII. Lady
Mary Lygon. XIV. Elgar himself (the initials are 'a paraphrase of a fond name').
