Table 10.3 gives a complete breakdown of shared notes between Ein feste Burg and the piano reduction of Variation VII. The number of shared notes is indicated by measure number. There are 236 shared notes dispersed over 64 measures out of a total of 72 measures. Of those conjunctions, 75 are melodic and 161 are chordal. Ein feste Burg was deemed active in 64 measures, so 100% of active measures have shared notes. There are 8 shared note types (A, A flat, B, C, D, E, F and G) with frequencies ranging from 3 (F) to 67 (G).
Table 10.4 summarizes all note conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and Troyte, and gives percentages for each note type employed in both the melodic and chordal categories.
Conclusion
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| Arthur Troyte Griffith |
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
Elgar dedicated Variation VII to Arthur Troyte Griffith (1864 - 1942), a member of an architectural firm based in Malvern operated by a brother of Basil Nevison. It is believed Elgar first met Arthur in 1897. As shown in Figure 10.1, Ein feste Burg plays through and over Variation VII. This phenonomenon is significant because Elgar said the missing Principal Theme plays "through and over" each of the variations. A sound file of this melodic solution is available here.
Figure 10.2 shows how Ein feste Burg was carefully mapped over Troyte based on melodic interval mirroring. Melodic interval mirroring occurs when note intervals from Ein feste Burg are mirrored or reflected in the variation over similar or identical durations between notes. In numerous cases, the same notes appear in both parts.
Table 10.1 summarizes 75 melodic conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and Troyte. A melodic conjunction is defined as a shared note between the two melody lines. Share melody notes are dispersed over 64 of 72 measures in Variation VII, or almost 89% of the time. Ein feste Burg does not play in 8 out of 72 measures, i.e., measures 210 through 213, 223 through 225, and 252. In measures in which the missing Principal Theme was deemed active, shared melody notes are present in 39 of those 64 measures, or almost 61% of all active measures.
Table 10.2 breaks down melodic conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and Variation VII by note type. There are six shared melody note types (A, A-flat, B, C, F and G) with frequencies ranging from 2 through 35.
Table 10.3 gives a complete breakdown of shared notes between Ein feste Burg and the piano reduction of Variation VII. The number of shared notes is indicated by measure number. There are 236 shared notes dispersed over 64 measures out of a total of 72 measures. Of those conjunctions, 75 are melodic and 161 are chordal. Ein feste Burg was deemed active in 64 measures, so 100% of active measures have shared notes. There are 8 shared note types (A, A flat, B, C, D, E, F and G) with frequencies ranging from 3 (F) to 67 (G).
Table 10.4 summarizes all note conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and Troyte, and gives percentages for each note type employed in both the melodic and chordal categories.
Conclusion
Based on the data in Figures 10.1-10.2 and Tables 10.1-10.4, the preponderance of the evidence establishes that Troyte is a clear and convincing counterpoint to Ein feste Burg.
4 comments:
Your numbers and statistics prove nothing.
When you choose to fudge the modality and actual melodic structure of Luther's tune to force it to "fit" the Troyte variation, you reveal your folly to the fullest.
This is not a musicological discovery here, it is merely a personal delusion amplified by verbiage and diagrams. You want this to be true and so you rig the evidence to make it so. But it is not so -- any reasonable musical ear can tell it is not so.
One would hope that if there is indeed a missing melody in Elgar's piece that if we were to hear if at long last it would add a musical dimension that would transcend the cleverness of the cipher.
But this ham-handed smearing of Luther's melody on top of Elgar's music is so hideous in its final audible result that it is a positive affront to the beauty of both original pieces.
Give this one up! The Enigma remains unsolved!
"Anonymous" rejects my thesis on the grounds the modality and melodic structure of Luther’s hymn does not fit cleanly and neatly over this particular variation. What "Anonymous" fails to appreciate is with any given variation, the melodic structure and modality are by necessity modified from the original. If this were not so, it would not be a variation. In a way, “Anonymous” bolsters my case by observing the obvious, namely that the melodic and modal divergences from the original structure of the hymn. Remember, Elgar was striving mightily to conceal the source melody, not facilitate its discovery.
Anonymous has clearly forgotten the determined and inspiring words of Sir Winston Churchill who said, "Never, never, never, never give up."
Anonymous disagrees with my mapping of "Ein feste Burg" over Variation VII using a bevy of derogatory terms instead of speaking to the evidence. The evidence speaks, or more specifically, sings for itself. The mapping is compelling, particularly to those with a musical ear. Moreover, Elgar made it perfectly clear in the original 1899 program note that “the connexion between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture.” In other words, the missing melody’s path over each of the variations is not apparent, but rather thin or trivial. Anonymous demands an obvious solution when Elgar made it perfectly clear at the outset that just the opposite would be the case. In this instance, Anonymous has overlooked the obvious.
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