Pitches and Intervals:
This piece is mostly conjunct (small intervals) e.g. the first 5 intervals are: descending major 3rd, ascending major 2nd, ascending major 2nd, ascending minor 2nd, ascending major 3rd. Elgar uses these small intervals in order for the melody to be smooth and tuneful.
However, there are very occasional huge leaps; from the bar before fig. 93 to fig. 93, the interval is a compound minor 3rd, or a minor 10th. Elgar has put big leaps in to contrast with the rest of the melody, made up of more scalic intervals.
Rhythms:
Elgar wanted this theme to be fluid, so he put in a lot of ties over bar lines (e.g. between bars 1 and 2), and that also has the effect of putting the listener of balance rhythmically... it deviates from normal phrasing. Also there are some 'fast' rhythms (even though the piece is in a very slow tempo so the rhythms look faster than they actually are), like in bar 3 with the triplet semiquavers, and 3 bars after fig. 94 there are some hemidemisemiquavers (the B and the B#).
Tonality & Playing Directions:
The piece is based in a major key, with some chromatic tonality. The key is D major, with 2 #s in the key signature (F# and C#). Also notice the main clef, which is the alto clef (used pretty much only for the viola). It was Elgar's intention for this score to be very detailed; there are 29 dynamic markings for the first viola in this section alone, including crescendoes, diminuendoes, piano, forte, fortissimo, pianissimo, pianississimo, and mezzo forte. There are also some techniques indicated: Elgar wrote this for the viola, a stringed instrument, so there are bowings (e.g. 2 bars before fig. 93 there is an upbow marked on the F#), and also playing styles - arco (played with the bow e.g. 2 bars after fig. 94) and pizzicato (plucked e.g. fig. 94). The composer put all these things in because he wanted to make sure that the players played the piece exactly as he wanted it.
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