Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Variation II of Elgar’s Enigma Variations is dedicated to Hew David Stewart Powell (1851–1924), a gifted amateur pianist who met Alice before she married Elgar in 1889. Although based in London, Powell regularly took part in the musical life of Malvern throughout the 1890s, often in a trio with Elgar and Basil Nevison (the friend pictured within Variation VII).[1] Elgar described the variation as “a tribute to a very dear friend whose scientific and artistic attainments, and the wholehearted way they were put at the disposal of his friends, particularly endeared him to the writer.”[2] In My Friends Pictured Within, Elgar elaborated with characteristic humor:
Hew David Stewart-Powell was a well-known amateur pianist and a great player of chamber music. He was associated with B. G. N. (Cello) and the Composer (Violin) for many years in this playing. His characteristic diatonic run over the keys before beginning to play is here humorously travestied in the semiquaver passages; these should suggest a Toccata, but chromatic beyond H. D. S.-P.’s liking.
Powell’s pre-performance warm-up routine on the piano with quick, toccata-like passages is captured by the running sixteenth notes. The following exhibit illustrates how Ein feste Burg plays “through and over” Variation II. The hymn is adapted to the movement’s harmonic progressions and rich chromaticisms. The hymn’s phrase structure (ABCDEFB) is presented twice, with Phrase A omitted from the first round (bars 42-58). The final note of Phrase F overlaps with the beginning of Phrase B in bar 55. The ending of Phrase B overlaps with the only statement of Phrase A in bar 58, coinciding with a tonal and rhythmic derivation of the Enigma Theme in the bass staff. An audiovisual demonstration of this contrapuntal mapping underscores the solution’s efficacy.
The phrases of Ein feste Burg mapped over Variation II are sourced from three contrasting versions of the hymn, forming a tribrid melody, a pattern likewise observed in the contrapuntal mappings of the Enigma Theme and Variation I. Phrases B and A reflect Bach’s rendering in the final chorale (“Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn”) from his Cantata BWV 80. Phrase C is based on both Bach's and Mendelssohn’s distinct adaptation from the Finale of the Reformation Symphony, whose melodic contour aligns with Bach’s version. Phrase D follows the pattern of Luther’s original version, which Bach faithfully preserved in his rendering, and which Mendelssohn likewise retained. Phrases E and F reflect Mendelssohn's version exclusively. Consult the following exhibit to readily compare three renditions of Ein feste Burg by Luther, Bach, and Mendelssohn. Ecclesiastes 4:12 declares that a threefold cord is not easily broken — and so it is with this tribrid theme, woven from the distinct but harmonious contributions of Luther, Bach, and Mendelssohn.
The next exhibit illustrates precisely how Ein feste Burg was contrapuntally mapped over Variation II through a carefully aligned series of melodic and harmonic conjunctions. In the score, melodic conjunctions (exact matches between a melody note of the hymn and a melody note in Variation II) are marked with diamond-shaped note heads, while harmonic conjunctions (matches between a hymn melody note and any accompanimental note in the variation) appear with triangle-shaped note heads. Both types of conjunction require the notes to sound simultaneously. This dual approach yields 48 melodic conjunctions and 30 harmonic conjunctions, for a total of 78 note conjunctions. The higher number of melody notes relative to harmony notes in the variation readily accounts for the larger number of melodic conjunctions.
The mapping is based on core principles of counterpoint such as augmentation, diminution, similar motion, and contrary motion. Similar motion is when both voices move in the same direction (though not necessarily by the same interval). Contrary motion takes place when Ein feste Burg moves in the opposite direction to the variation (again, not necessarily by the same interval). An effective counterpoint typically employs a fairly balanced mix of contrary and similar motion, and this mapping clearly reflects that balance.
The following table documents 48 shared melody notes between Ein feste Burg and Variation II. These melodic conjunctions occur in 35 bars: 42-43, 45, 47-53, 55-75, 78, 81, and 83-84. This 56-measure movement features not melodic conjunctions in bars 41, 79, and 85-96 (most of the coda). Ten distinct pitches account for the 48 melodic matches with frequencies ranging from 1 to 11. The notes E♭/D♯ are grouped together due to their enharmonic equivalence.
The next table summarizes the 30 harmonic conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and Variation II, grouped by note type and frequency. Four distinct pitches account for all 30 matches: B♭ (9), D (6), E♭ (6), and G (9). These harmonic conjunctions are distributed across 17 measures, with the tonic G being the most frequent. As previously noted, the relative paucity of harmony notes compared to the far more active melodic line in Variation II naturally accounts for the lower total of harmonic conjunctions relative to the 48 melodic ones.
The combined melodic and harmonic conjunctions total 78, spanning 38 out of 56 measures (nearly 68%) that comprise Variation II. The hymn is dormant in 14 measures (41, 79, and 85-96), accounting for 25% of the total. Excluding these dormant measures increases the hymn’s contrapuntal coverage to 38 out of 42 measures for just over 90%. These null measures effectively serve to obscure the beginnings and endings of the counterpoint. Only twelve measures (21% of the movement) contain both melodic and harmonic conjunctions. The contrapuntal mapping faithfully preserves the phrase structure of Ein feste Burg (ABCDEFB) while strategically omitting Phrase A at the outset — a wily Elgarian tactic to obfuscate the hidden Theme. The retention of the hymn’s melodic line and original phrase structure offers compelling evidence of a deliberate counterpoint.
The test Elgar set is simple but demanding: the covert principal theme must play “through and over” the entire set of Variations as a counterpoint. More than a century of purported solutions have failed to meet that requirement, for none has ever been successfully mapped contrapuntally above any complete movement. Ein feste Burg has met that test across every movement without exception, replicating sequential note content phrase by phrase while preserving the hymn’s phrase architecture from the Enigma Theme to the Finale. Ein feste Burg stands in a class all its own because it accomplishes what no other attempted solution can: it plays “through and over” the set as a counterpoint.
Conclusion
The contrapuntal evidence presented above demonstrates that Ein feste Burg fits compellingly “through and over” Variation II (H.D.S-P.) in precisely the manner Elgar described in his 1899 program note. The mapping yields 48 melodic conjunctions and 30 harmonic conjunctions — a combined total of 78 — spanning 38 of the movement’s 56 measures. When the strategically dormant bars are excluded, the hymn’s contrapuntal presence extends across more than 90% of the remaining measures, a density difficult to attribute to coincidence.
Equally significant is the structural integrity of the mapping. The hymn’s phrase structure (ABCDEFB) unfolds twice across the movement, with the first statement omitting the opening phrase (BCDEFB). The final note of Phrase F overlaps with the beginning of Phrase B in bar 55. The ending of Phrase B overlaps with the only statement of Phrase A in bar 58, coinciding with a tonal and rhythmic derivation of the Enigma Theme in the bass staff. The deliberate omission of Phrase A at the outset aligns with Elgar’s well-documented fondness for misdirection — the same instinct that prompted him to describe the hidden theme’s connection to the Variations as “often of the slightest texture.” By withholding the opening phrase, Elgar obscures the point of entry while allowing the remainder of the chorale to proceed intact. The absence of conjunctions in bars 85–96 (the bulk of the coda) further suggests that the hidden theme withdraws with the same strategic purpose with which it entered. Significantly, the phrases of this mapped melody are drawn from three distinct historical versions of Ein feste Burg — those of Luther, Bach, and Mendelssohn — forming a tribrid construction consistent with the contrapuntal mappings of the Enigma Theme and Variation I, and recalling the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 4:12 that a threefold cord is not easily broken.
The absence of melodic conjunctions in bars 41 and 79 likewise serves a concealing function, marking the boundaries between the two statements of the phrase cycle without disclosing them. These null measures are not weaknesses in the mapping but intentional features—the seams of a carefully constructed musical disguise. The convergence of melodic conjunctions, harmonic conjunctions, phrase-structure integrity, and strategically dormant measures forms a coherent and mutually reinforcing body of evidence admitting only one conclusion: Variation II is a clear and convincing counterpoint to Ein feste Burg. To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my free eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Please support my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.
[1] Turner, Patrick. Elgar’s Enigma Variations: A Centenary Celebration (Thames Publishing, London, 2007), p. 130.
[2] Kennedy, M. (1993). Portrait of Elgar (Clarendon Paperbacks) (3 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, p. 91.
[3] Turner. Elgar’s Enigma Variations, p. 130.
[4] John 20:28 NIV
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