He commented to one of them, Troyte Griffith, years after the premiere that if the variations had been written by a Russian rather than an Englishman they would long ago have been turned into a ballet.
After the last of these, Ashton contributes his own "enigma"; a telegram arrives: the characters know, but the audience does not, that it is from the celebrated conductor Hans Richter agreeing to conduct Elgar's new work.
"[1][6] In The Observer, Alexander Bland found the character of Elgar himself remained ill-defined, but thought the work ideal for "Ashton's delicate water-colour talent and his inimitable gift for inventing short flowing variations, and it is a fine vehicle for the smooth, soft Royal Ballet style.
"[7] One dissenting voice was that of Bernard Levin in The Times, who wrote that the choreography did not enhance one's appreciation of the characters depicted in the music, but impeded it: "it was like those television sports commentators who carefully tell us what we have just seen.
"[8] In 2002, Joan Acocella wrote in The New Yorker of "a number of central-casting English eccentrics running around in tweeds and brandishing ear trumpets.
As of 2020 the most recent Royal Ballet production was in December 2019 as part of a heritage program featuring Kenneth MacMillan's Concerto and Act III of Rudolf Nureyev's Raymonda.