Elgar's Covert Theme: 'Ein feste Burg'

Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress)

"I am not satisfied with any man who despises music. For music is a gift from God. It will drive away the devil and makes people cheerful. Occupied with it, man forgets all anger, unchastity, pride and other vices. Next to theology, I give music the next place and highest praise."

Martin Luther

It is truly exciting to share my discovery of the unstated Principal Theme to Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress) by Martin Luther. How did I arrive at this surprising conclusion? I simply followed the clues, or to be more precise, fragments.


      Four Fragments

The first intriguing clue to capture my attention was the insertion of music by someone other than Elgar. Why would he “quote” another composer's music in an original work? Because the anomaly is a critical clue pointing to the identity of the hidden Principal Theme.
In a standard theme and variations, it is highly unusual to cite another composer’s material unless it has something to do with the original theme. There are four fragments in Variation XIII quoted from Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. The original title of that work is in German – Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt. Mendelssohn’s source of inspiration was the poetry of the famous German poet, Wolfgang von Goethe. Three fragments are performed by the clarinet: Two in A flat major and one a fourth lower in E flat major. In the score these major fragments are enclosed in quotation marks to denote Elgar’s deliberate musical borrowing. A fourth fragment in F minor is performed by six members of the brass section (i.e., two trumpets, three trombones, and the tuba). Since it diverges from the original major version by being in a minor key, no quotation marks are placed around it. However, it definitely comes from the same source.

There are four Mendelssohn fragments, each four notes in length, and twelve of those notes from the major fragments are enclosed in quotation marks. Taken together, all four fragments are performed by a sum total of seven instruments from the woodwind and brass sections with the strings relegated to playing only an accompaniment figure recapitulating the rhythmic palindrome from the Enigma Theme. Other than this brooding accompaniment figure, there appears to be absolutely no connection to the original Enigma Theme. The general consensus is the Mendelssohn fragments are extraneous to the Enigma Variations as there is no obvious connection with the Enigma theme. The music is by a different composer, the melody appears unrelated to the oddly sequenced theme, and the deathly stillness of the music with its poetic undertones seems completely out of character with the rest of the work.

Why would Elgar insert an unrelated musical fragment into not just any variation, but the one with a hidden friend denoted by three anonymous asterisks (***)? There is a hidden friend, a hidden theme, and in Variation XIII a hidden message. I reasoned Elgar inserted these four Mendelssohn fragments to serve as a cryptogram that, when properly understood, would help unravel the mystery of the hidden Principal theme.

The quotation marks around three of the four fragments imply Mendelssohn “quotes” the same source melody in one of his own works. By quoting another composer, Elgar is obliquely suggesting that same composer quotes the hidden Principal theme in his own music. Put another way, Elgar "quotes" Mendelssohn to hint at the fact Mendelssohn "quotes" the unstated Principal Theme. Since the Enigma Variations were composed for symphony orchestra, the implication is one of Mendelssohn’s symphonic works quotes the same missing Principal theme. The twelve notes in quotation marks suggest the number of letters in the theme’s title. The total number of fragments in both major and minor hints at the number of the movement from Mendelssohn’s symphonic work stating the mystery melody.

Is there a work by Mendelssohn that could conceivably account for each and every one of these clues?

Yes. Among my favorite works by Mendelssohn is his uplifting Reformation Symphony Op. 107. The fourth movement begins with a contemplative quotation of Ein feste Burg by the flute, and concludes with a rousing, augmented version of that hymn by the full orchestra. Martin Luther’s most famous hymn is commonly known as Ein feste Burg, a title consisting of twelve letters in length. The Reformation Symphony was composed in 1832 for the tercentennial of the Augsburg Confession, but it was not published until 1868 over two decades following Mendelssohn’s untimely death. For this reason it is numbered incorrectly as his fifth symphony when it was actually his first extended symphonic work. In a revealing parallel, Elgar’s first extended symphonic work was the Enigma Variations.


      The Unstated Principal Theme
      I decided to test my hypothesis, and Figure 3.1 is the outcome. The unstated Principal Theme is played on flute, a symbolic gesture because in addition to being an influential theologian and writer, Martin Luther was a flutist.  This ostensibly explains why Mendelssohn introduces Ein feste Burg on flute, a decision that baffled some music critics. The Enigma Theme is played on piano, an instrument Elgar played well and taught, most notably to his wife Alice. Figure 3.1 documents something truly remarkable: Both the Enigma Theme and Ein feste Burg begin and end together over the course of seventeen bars. This is an astonishing outcome as almost everyone declared it impossible to find any tune that could fit the Enigma Theme's odd seventeen measure length. With Ein feste Burg, this objection is obliterated. A sound file of Figure 3.1 is available here.

      The version of Ein feste Burg cited in Figure 3.1 is based almost entirely on Bach’s realization from Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn, the final choral of his most famous sacred cantata Ein Feste Burg BWV 80. Two small changes from Bach's version are denoted in measures 13 and 14 by the placement of Mendelssohn's name in parentheses, and both are based on Mendelssohn’s rendering of Ein feste Burg from his Reformation Symphony.  In place of Bach's half note on beats one and two of measure 13, Mendelssohn introduces an eighth note turn downwards that returns to a quarter note. In measure 14 on beat three Mendelssohn repeats the eighth note turn, mirroring Bach's original version, but only a third lower. The end result is the melodic solution presented in Figure 3.1 is a tribrid [1] extracted from three distinct sources: Luther, Bach, and Mendelssohn. The placement of the double bar at the end of measure 8 of Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn closely resembles the placement of a double bar at the end of measure 6 in the Enigma Theme. As will be shown in a future post, this elusive double bar does far more than establish a close resemblance to Bach’s work. It signals the presence of a musical cipher.
      Ein feste Burg satisfies all five conditions specified by Elgar concerning the correct melodic solution to the Enigma Variations:

1.     The Enigma theme is a counterpoint to the Principal theme.

2.     The Principal theme is never heard.

3.     The Principal Theme is a melody that can play “through and over” the whole set of Variations including the Enigma theme.

4.     The Principal Theme is famous.

5.     Dora Penny was very familiar with this work as she was the daughter of an Anglican missionary and Rector.

      Figure 3.1a shows how the original 1529 version of Ein feste Burg may play 'through and over' the Enigma Theme. To complete this mapping, note values from the Ein feste Burg were diminished by half, e.g., a half note becomes a quarter note, a quarter an eighth and so on. Rhythmic differences from Bach's version resulted in the insertion of three quarter note rests between phrases in measures 10, 13, and 15. All eighth note rests forming breaks between phrases in measures 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, and 15 are found in the original version as quarter note rests. Due to the gaps in this mapping, it appears Elgar relied on Bach's more popular version of Ein feste Burg rather than Luther's.

Point and Counterpoint
      Some may object to the dissonance between the G in Bach's version of Ein feste Burg with the F sharp in the Enigma Theme on the first beat of measure nine. This objection is undermined by the fact Elgar combined G with F sharp on the second and third beats of measure 9, proving such a combination is consistent with his harmonization of the Enigma Theme. The original 1529 version of Ein feste Burg does not contain this dissonance (see Figure 3.1a), and for this reason is a more compelling contrapuntal match. Why would Elgar contemplate the use of a dissonant interval like the major seventh? Elgar had no greater authority than Bach to justify such a combination. In Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn from the finale chorale of the Ein feste Burg cantata, there are no less than six pairings of F sharp and G. These dissonant note combinations are found in measures 1, 4, 5, 8, 14 and 16 of that movement. If such a dissonant note combination was good enough for Bach, it was certainly permissible for Elgar. It is remarkable Elgar uses at least five pairings of G and F sharp in measures 7, 8, and 9 of the Enigma Theme.

      In addition to Bach's rendering of Ein feste Burg, G and F sharp pairings are prevalent in Elgar's own music written before and in the same year the Enigma Variations were completed in 1899. For example, in 1892 Elgar composed Andantino in G for violin and piano, a short work of only 25 bars that is replete with G and F sharp combinations in measures 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 18, 19, and 23. In 1899 Elgar completed Chanson de Matin for violin and piano, a work of 110 bars that contains numerous G and F sharp combinations in measures 6, 13, 22, 45, 54, 61, 70, 75, 92, 93, and 94. A companion movement, Chanson de Nuit, was also completed that same year, and it contains G and F sharp pairings in measures 5, 11, 36, 37, 38, and 44. Based on this ample evidence, the combination of G and F sharp in measure 9 of the Enigma Theme does not pose a fatal exception that rules out Ein feste Burg as the covert Principal Theme. On the contrary, such a note combination is idiomatic of Elgar's compositional style, serving as a form of contrapuntal fingerprint that authenticates rather than invalidates the correct melodic solution. Those who would reflexively rule out such a dissonant note combination reveal not only their ignorance of Elgar's music, but also Bach's.

      In his overture Cockaigne (Op. 40, 1901), Elgar composed the lover’s theme as a counterpoint to the ‘Wedding March’ from Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is an example of one of his practical jokes (‘japes’) because of concerns the lovemaking was not “strictly proper.” For those who endorse the ludicrous theory there is no hidden melodic theme behind the Enigma Variations, it is worth mentioning this particular jape involves the presence rather than absence of a famous melodic theme. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music defines the following intervals as consonant: Unison, minor third, major third, perfect fifth, minor sixth, major sixth and octave. All other intervals are considered dissonant. Based on this definition, an excerpt of Elgar’s counterpoint sketch of the lover’s theme with Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March’ as shown below contains no less than nine dissonances in three out of a four measures. Elgar venerated the music of Bach, a composer who generously adorned his contrapuntal writing with dissonant intervals. Dissonance, particularly in the romantic era, is essential for an effective counterpoint. The contention that any dissonance between Ein feste Burg and the Enigma Theme rules out Luther's greatest hymn is not only misguided, but also misinformed.

      Melodic Interval Mirroring

Figure 3.2 shows how Ein feste Burg was mapped over the Enigma Theme. This process was not done according to the ethereal dictates of free rhythm or some other nebulous criteria. On the contrary, Ein feste Burg was carefully mapped above the Enigma Theme by means of deliberate process of Melodic Interval Mirroring. This involves structuring the Enigma Theme based on the same sequence of note intervals found in the hidden Principal Theme, and cloaking them with various contrapuntal techniques. Melodic interval mirroring occurs when intervals in Ein feste Burg are mirrored or reflected in the Enigma Theme over similar or identical durations between notes. In the vast majority of cases, melodic intervals are mirrored not only over the same number of beats, but also by the same notes appearing in Ein feste Burg. Additional factors weighed in the mapping process were the contrapuntal devices of contrary and similar motion. Similar motion occurs when Ein feste Burg moves in the same direction as the variation, but not necessarily by the same intervals. Contrary motion takes place when the melody from Ein feste Burg moves in the opposite direction of the variation, again not necessarily by the same interval. When two voices move in the same direction by the same intervals, this is known as parallel motion. When two voices move in the same direction but not with the same intervals, this is known as similar motion.

Table 3.1 identifies 13 shared notes or melodic conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and the Enigma Theme spanning measures 1 through 16. Column one indicates the measure number, column two the beat, and column three the shared melody note. These share melody notes are confined to A, D, E and G. Any violinist would notice something about these letters right away. They match the strings of the violin, an instrument Elgar claimed as his own above all others. Interestingly, three of these four letters are found in the Latin acronym used by Elgar to dedicate his musical works to God (A.M.D.G.). The fourth letter M looks like an E prostrate before the D, accounting for highest string on the violin. These four notes make up 36.36% of the 11 note chromatic scale without repeating the tonic at the octave. Interestingly, 36 is the opus number of the Enigma Variations. If the octave is factored into this calculation for a total of 12 notes, the percentage drops to 33.33%, a number mirroring Elgar’s initials of two capitalized double cursive E’s (E.E.). There are a total of 73 notes in the Enigma Theme and 75 for Ein feste Burg, hence 17.8% of the notes from the Enigma Theme overlap with 17.3% of those from Ein feste Burg over the entire 17 bars. This is a highly unusual sequence of seventeens. Such a low percentage of shared notes should be expected of a counterpoint, particularly when the composer is intent on concealing the identity of the hidden Principal Theme. That the percentage happens to mirror the number of bars is provocative.

TABLE 3.1
Melodic Conjunctions between Ein Feste Burg and Enigma
Measure Number	Beat	Shared Melody Note
1	2.5	G
4	4	A
5	2.5	G
6	3	G
7	4.5	E
8	1	D
	2	E
9	2	G
	4	E
10	1	D
	3	D
15	2	G
16	4	A
Totals
10 Measures	13 Notes

      Table 3.2 breaks down melodic conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and the Enigma Theme by note type. There are 4 types of shared melody notes with frequencies range from 2 to 5. It is both fascinating and emblematic the shared note types are confined to the strings of the violin (E, A, D and G). These notes closely mirror the Latin acronym used by Elgar to dedicate his works to God (A.M.D.G) with the E prostrating itself before D, the letter for God (Dei).

TABLE 3.2
Total melodic conjunctions by note type between Ein Feste Burg and Enigma
Notes	A	D	E	G
Frequency	2	3	3	5

      Table 3.3 shows 48 case of shared notes between Ein feste Burg and the Enigma Theme. Melodic conjunctions are indicated in bold enclosed in a double box. All other conjunctions (Nonmelodic conjunctions) are indicated in bold within a single box.

Table 3.4 condenses data from Table 3.3, showing the number and breakdown of note matches in each measure. There are 48 note matches between Ein feste Burg and the piano reduction of the Enigma Theme. There are 8 discreet note types (A, C, D, E flat, E, F, F sharp and G), and 6 discreet note letters (A, C, D, E, F and G).

      Based on Figures 3.1-3.2 and Tables 3.1-3.4, the preponderance of the evidence shows the Enigma Theme is a convincing and credible counterpoint to Ein feste Burg.


      About Ein feste Burg
      Bach composed his most famous cantata in Leipzig between 1727 and 1731 for a festival celebrating the Reformation. It is essentially a set of fugal variations based on Ein Feste Burg, and the final chorus presents the melody in its simplest, purest form with four voice harmony devoid of instrumental accompaniment. Figure 3.2 is a piano reduction of this final choral. It is in common time and in the key of D major. Similarly, the fourth movement of Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony is essentially a theme and variations based on Ein Feste Burg, and it is also in common time and a fourth higher in G major.  The Enigma Theme is in common time, but begins in the parallel minor of Mendelssohn’s version, and also a fourth higher than Bach’s in D major. In all three cases, the time signature is represented with a capital C on the staff signifying the word “Common”. Considering the devout Lutheran faith of both Bach and Mendelssohn, the capital C is equally suggestive of the word “Christ.” Such a reading would not be outlandish for Elgar because he was a practicing Roman Catholic. This impression is reinforced by the way common time is traditionally conducted with the conductor’s baton cycling through the four corners of the cross in a manner mirroring how Catholics cross themselves. When the Enigma Theme is conducted, the conductor literally crosses the orchestra like a pious Catholic. It is fascinating the words Catholic, Conductor and Christ all begin with the letter C.

Commonly known as Ein feste Burg or A Mighty Fortress, it is Luther’s most famous and performed hymn. Based on Psalms 46, Ein feste Burg was composed around 1527 and sung to great acclaim at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530 where Luther defiantly uttered his famous words, “Here I stand. I can do no other.” It has been translated into English at least seventy times, and over the past five centuries has been performed around the world in many other languages. It is generally acknowledged Elgar was an avid disciple of the German School. His chief musical role models were Bach, Schumann, and Wagner. If there ever were a melodic cornerstone to the German School, it would have to be Ein feste Burg since it is quoted in the music of J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Schumann, Nicolai, Raff, Wagner, Listz, and Reinecke. No other melody is quoted by the great German masters so frequently or famously. As late as March 1853, Robert Schumann (Elgar’s ‘ideal’) was actively planning to compose a sacred oratorio about Martin Luther featuring Ein feste Burg in the final climactic chorus.[2] If Ein feste Burg was epic enough to attract the attention of some of the greatest composers of the German school, particularly those Elgar venerated and emulated in his own works, then the magnetic allure of this powerful hymn could not have escaped Elgar’s notice.

      Was Ein feste Burg famous during Elgar's era?
      Was Luther’s hymn popular in England at the time Elgar composed the Enigma Variations? Absolutely. For those who question this fact of history, one merely should consider the coronations of 1902 and 1911. These coronations were global events attended by leaders and representatives from around the world, an Edwardian era when the sun did not set on the British Empire. At the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII, Ein feste Burg was performed multiple times, first as a hymn during the processional, and later in Wagner’s Kaisermarsch.[3] This hymn was also performed at the 1911 coronation of King George V and Queen Mary, again as part of the processional music and also in the homage anthem composed by Sir Frederick Bridge “making liberal use of Ein’ feste Burg.”[4] Elgar certainly heard if not performed Ein fest burg on numerous occasions in the years preceding the genesis of his Enigma Variations because of the Bach resurgence sweeping England and the rest of the Western world. Bach's works were routinely performed at the Three Choirs Festival beginning in the early 1870's. In 1871 Bach's St. Matthew's Passion was first performed there, and performances of Bach's and Mendelssohn's music were commonplace in England throughout the 1880's and 1890's. Elgar first played violin in the Festival orchestra in 1878. The Monthly Musical Record confirmed Bach’s Cantata A Stronghold Sure (Ein feste Burg) was performed at the Three Choirs Festival on September 10, 1890.

The April 1, 1898 issue of The Musical Times reports on a successful performance of Elgar’s King Olaf attended by the composer. Lower on that page in the same column are remarks about Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony and Martin Luther’s A safe stronghold our God is still (a translation of Ein feste burg). Elgar’s wife was in the habit of cutting out pages of this journal to memorialize her husbands budding career. He most assuredly read that page, and it was issued just under seven months before he began work on the Enigma Variations.

      Why Elgar Refused to Disclose the Hidden Theme
      For Elgar to openly acknowledge Ein feste Burg as the source melody to one of his greatest symphonic works would certainly cast doubt on his devout Roman Catholicism. This necessitated the veil of secrecy achieved by substituting an ingenious counter melody in place of the original Principal theme. It would be inconceivable for Elgar to openly quote the battle hymn of the Reformation, a work composed by a heretic excommunicated by the Pope. His staunch refusals to reveal the hidden theme begin to make complete sense when considered in this context. As a form of penance for his indulgence with such a Protestant theme, he promptly composed The Dream of Gerontius shortly after completing the Enigma Variations.

      Another more compelling reason why Elgar adamantly refused to disclose the identity of the missing Principal Theme, particularly after 1914, was its overwhelmingly Teutonic character. Following the deaths and maiming of millions of British soldiers during World War I (1914-1917), anything remotely German was roundly reviled by the people of England.  After World War I, there was no possible way for Elgar to divulge the secret Principal Theme to the Enigma Variations without risking his elevated status in English society and the arts. During the war August Jaeger’s widow changed her last name to Hunter to avoid suspicion, Hans Richter and Max Bruch renounced their honorary doctorates from Cambridge, and Gustav von Holst dropped the “von” from his name.[5] After the beginning of World War I, it would have been social if not artistic suicide for Elgar to acknowledge such a German melody as the inspiration for one of the great English symphonic works. Ein feste Burg was not only the Marseillaise of the Reformation, but also a very popular war song among German soldiers. When war between Germany and France erupted in 1870, Ein feste Burg was played in Berlin during a grand concert to commemorate the march on Paris.  After taking Paris and concluding a punitive peace, Wager commemorated their victory with his famous Kaisermarsch that liberally quotes Ein feste Burg. In English society, the powerful association between Ein feste Burg and the German military was widely recognized.

A "Negative" Inspiration?
      It is worth mentioning the famous photographic negative of the Shroud of Turin was taken by Secondo Pia on May 28, 1898, five months before Elgar began composing the Enigma Variations. What many believe to be the face of Jesus hidden in plain sight on the shroud suddenly became visible in the form of a photographic negative. That anyone could suggest a reverse image with three dimensional data could be created centuries if not millennia before the advent of photography is wildly absurd. This miracle first revealed by the latest technology was widely reported in the media and Catholic press. Copies of the negative showing the face of the crucified Christ were shared with the public and venerated as icons among the Catholic faithful.  It is quite conceivable Elgar was inspired by that unique discovery to create the contrapuntal equivalent of a photographic negative based on a famous hymn about Jesus. The second stanza of Ein feste Burg as translated by Frederick Hedge reads:

Did we in our strength confide,

Our striving would be losing,

Were not the right man on our side,

The man of God’s own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is he,

Lord Sabbath his name,

From age to age the same,

And he must win the battle.

The musical cipher I discovered in Variation XIII more than suggests Elgar found inspiration from the famous photographic negative of the Shroud of Turin taken in May 1898. If you want to learn more, keep reading.

Soli Yah Gloria

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[1] A neologism obtained from conflating the words “tri” (for the number 3) and “hybrid”.
[2] Patterson, A. W. (1908). Schumann. New York & London: J.M. Dent & Co. and E.P. Dutton and Co. (Original work published 1903), p. 83

[3] The Musical Times, September 1, 1902, p. 577-578

[4] Richards, Jeffrey (2001). Imperialism and music: Britain, 1876-1953. Manchester: Manchester University Press, p. 108-109

[5] Kennedy, Michael. The Life of Elgar (Musical Lives). illustrated edition ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 141