Elgar's Enigma Theme Unmasked: A Missing Dedicatee

1899 The ‘Enigma’ Variations (Opus 36)

Dedicated to my friends pictured within

Movement	Variation	Title	Dedicatee
1	nulla	Enigma	A counterpoint to the hidden Principal theme
2	I	C.A.E.	Caroline Alice Elgar (wife of the composer)
3	II	H.D.S-P.	Hew David Steuart-Powell
4	III	R.B.T.	Richard Baxter Townsend
5	IV	W.M.B.	William Meath Baker
6	V	R.P.A.	Richard Penrose Arnold
7	VI	Ysobel	Isabell Fitton
8	VII	Troyte	Arthur Troyte Griffith
9	VIII	W.N.	Winifred Norbury
10	IX	Nimrod	August Johannes Jaeger
11	X	Dorabella Intermezzo	Dora Penny (Mrs. Richard Powell on marriage)
12	XI	G.R.S.	George Robertson Sinclair
13	XII	B.G.N.	Basil Nevison
14	XIII	*** Romanza	A hidden friend
15	XIV	E.D.U. Finale	Edward Elgar (Edoo is a nickname based on the German spelling “Eduard”)

Each variation has a set of initials or name for a friend “pictured within” except for Variation XIII. In the place of a nickname or initials, Elgar gives three asterisks with the subtitle Romanza. Obviously he did not wish to disclose the person pictured within this variation, presenting a striking parallel with the missing Principal theme. The most popular theories regarding the identity of the missing dedicatee focus on Lady Mary Lygon (an aristocrat who served as a choral conductor, educator, committee member of the Worcestershire Philharmonic, and organizer of a music festival at Mandresfield Court)[1], and Helen Weaver (his first fiancée who ended a nine month engagement in 1884).[2] However, the lack of consensus demonstrates the issue is far from resolved, assuring the dedicatee’s identity remained shrouded in mystery.

The most prevalent theory claims Lady Mary Lygon as the hidden friend, but a glut of inconsistencies make this view untenable. For one, the earliest sketch identifies Variation XIII with only the capital letter ‘L’ instead of the initials ‘L.M.L’.[3] Secondly, Elgar’s comments for a set of 1929 piano rolls specify “The asterisks take the place of the name of a lady who was, at the time of the composition, on a sea voyage.”[4] Contrary to this claim, Lady Mary was not on a sea voyage during its composition. The score was completed February 21, 1889, and she did not depart for Australia until April 11, 1899.[5] To suggest his recollection of the timeline was clouded by the passage of time is contradicted by at least two earlier sources. In a letter dated May 2, 1899, he wrote of this variation, “The pretty Lady is on the sea & far away…”[6] In Ernest Newman’s 1906 biography he explains it “refers to a friend who was crossing the ocean when the Variation was written.”[7] Finally, three of Elgar’s longstanding friends – Rosa Burley, Ivor Atkins, and Ernest Newman – rejected the idea she could be the secret dedicatee.[8]

Some suggest Elgar refused to acknowledge Mary Lygon because he could not secure permission in time for publication. Alice’s diary documents Mary Lygon visited their home on the same day the score was sent to Richter’s agent, allowing ample time and opportunity to secure permission if that had been his real intention.[9] Prior to her departure, Elgar managed to secure permission to dedicate Three Characteristic Pieces to her, and there is no reason to assume he could not have also done so for Variation XIII.[10] As Turner astutely observes, there is absolutely no evidence he sought permission for any of the variations.[11] Given the confusion surrounding the hidden dedicatee, it is surprising no one has argued this too was a jape on the part of Elgar and that none exists.

Ivor Atkins was the first to suggest the hidden dedicatee was Helen Weaver, but the evidence for her is even less compelling than for Mary Lygon. Since neither was on a sea voyage at the time of composition, both are unacceptable candidates. Despite a mountain of evidence against Mary Lygon as the hidden dedicatee, some still hold to this deeply flawed theory by relying almost exclusively on the appearance in some later sketches of the initials “LML”. Nicholas Reed credibly contends these letters were added only years after the fact:

However, there is no reason to suppose that all such identifications were written on the sketches at the time; in fact, Elgar had a habit of keeping and annotating his sketches years later. One may compare, for example, the sheet of paper containing sketches dating from 1903 – 4. It starts with a theme for the projected ‘Cockaign no. 2’, to be entitled ‘City of Dreadful Night’; following this are two sketches, one of which became part of the Second Symphony. Above it the composer has written, at least six years after he wrote the sketch, ‘Sym II.’ So he might have added the letters ‘LML’ to the sketch of the variation much later, when the attribution was commonly accepted.’”[12]

Given the presence of the capitalized “L” on the earliest known sketch, it is possible Elgar added the letters “ML” to the solitary “L” years later when the Lygon theory enjoyed general acceptance. This may have been done as a form of misdirection to maintain the secret identity of the hidden dedicatee. My neologism to describe this unsubtle deception is “missdirection.” Another possibility is he was alluding to Roman numerals with L representing 50 and M for 1000. The significance of these numbers and potential literary parallels are explored in the near future.

It is often suggested Elgar was reluctant to identify anyone with a variation having the unlucky number thirteen. This myth is discredited by early sketches in which the Roman numeral XIII was assigned to B.G.N.[13] As was previously shown, the Enigma theme is in reality the first variation since it is a counterpoint to the unstated Principal Theme. The final version B.G.N. appears with the Roman numerals XII, so this early association is essentially preserved because B.G.N. is the thirteenth movement in the series. In other words, it is still the thirteenth variation even though it is assigned the Roman numeral XII because the Enigma Theme is in essence the first variation in the series.

In a letter to the editor of The Musical Times dated February 16, 1899, Elgar mentions the number thirteen in describing his Variations:

…As to myself the following are F A X about me. Just completed a set of Symphonic Variations (theme original) for orchestra – thirteen in number (but I call the finale the fourteenth because of the ill-luck attaching to the number). I have in the Variations sketched portraits of my friends – a new idea, I think – that is, in each variation I have looked at the theme through the personality (as it were) of another Johnny.[14]

Elgar clearly dissociates himself from the unlucky number thirteen, yet paradoxically that is the precise number of friends he portray in Variations I through XIII. As Variation XIV is the finale and a musical self portrait, he does not count it among his friends. This safely accounts for his initially confusing comment about thirteen variations because he elaborates by explaining they are portraits of his friends. The names for twelve friends are known, but the identity of thirteenth remains shrouded in mystery. The selection of twelve with the name of thirteenth kept secret is very symbolic in Elgar’s weltanschauung, and this subject will be explored more fully in the near future. Like the Principal theme and the ‘dark saying’, the thirteenth friend’s name and initials pose yet another secret in cipher.

Soli Yah Gloria

[1] Rushton, Julian. Elgar: Enigma Variations (Cambridge Music Handbooks). New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 8 & 53

[2] Anderson, Robert. Elgar (The Master Musicians Series). New York: Schirmer Books, 1993, p. 17

[3] Rushton, Julian. Elgar: Enigma Variations (Cambridge Music Handbooks). New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 14

[4] Cited from the notes of the Aeolian Company’s 1929 ‘Duo-Art’ piano rolls of the Enigma Variations.

[5] Turner, Patrick. Elgar's 'Enigma' Variations - a Centenary Celebration. London: Thames Publishing, 1999, p. 70

[6] Elgar, E. (1991). Edward Elgar: Letters of a Lifetime. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, p. 122.

[7] Newman, E. (1906). Elgar. London: John Lane. The Bodley Head, p. 135

[8] Turner, Patrick. Elgar's 'Enigma' Variations - a Centenary Celebration. London: Thames Publishing, 1999, p. 69-70

[9] Ibid, p. 74

[10] Ibid, p. 74.

[11] Ibid, p. 74