[1] The first version was commissioned by instrument maker Buffet Crampon as the finale for the 5th World Saxophone Congress, held at the Royal College of Music in July 1976.
[3] The piece, lasting around 20 minutes, is a set of variations on Auld Lang Syne in the form of a quodlibet - a musical composition that combines several different melodies, usually popular tunes, in counterpoint, often in a light-hearted, humorous manner.
[5] According to Tomlinson "it is a well known fact" that Elgar used Auld Lang Syne as the basis for the hidden theme of the Enigma Variations.
[2] Morag Grant has pointed out that, hidden among extremely famous melodies such as the Toreador theme from Bizet's Carmen, Beethoven's Ode to Joy and the carol Good King Wenceslas, the piece also includes a 12-tone variation "in distinctly Webernian style".
[5] Elgar's theme appears at rehearsal number 8 in the full score, set against Auld Lang Syne in the minor key.