Variation 15 (Dunkirk)

While Hans Zimmer served as the principal composer for Dunkirk, the score’s soft, ambient, and melodic textures were crafted by Benjamin Wallfisch and inspired by Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934).

The film’s most poignant theme is a reimagining of Elgar’s “Nimrod” from his famous Enigma Variations. Wallfisch arranged and orchestrated the original Adagio into a much slower, atmospheric track titled “Variation 15 (Dunkirk),” effectively adding a 15th variation to Elgar’s work posthumously.

The piece plays during the film’s finale as the Spitfire pilot (Tom Hardy) glides over the beach; given…