F.A.E. ~ Frei aber einsam (Free but lonely)

 

Joseph Joachim (1831-1907)



"Frei aber einsam." (Free but lonely)

Joseph Joachim

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

Luke 5:16

"He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

  'The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
   because he has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
   and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.'

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'"

Luke 4:16-20 

In Variation XIII with the elusive subtitle ***, Elgar’s choice of keys for the Mendelssohn fragments (F minor, A flat major and E flat major) points to a famous work for violin and piano, the F-A-E Sonata. This four movement piece is dedicated to Joseph Joachim, a renowned violinist during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who supported the music of Listz and Wagner, and later championed the works of Schumann and Brahms. The letters F.A.E. are the acronym for Joachim’s personal motto, Frei aber einsam (Free but lonely).  In his youth Elgar desperately wanted to become a famous violin soloist, something beyond his grasp since he began his formal instruction with Adolph Politzer much too late. Joachim was one of the most celebrated violin soloists of his generation, so Elgar's admiration for him is understandable. Joachim's association with composers whom Elgar deeply admired, particularly Wagner and Schumann, surely intensified that fascination for one of the great violin soloists of the age and a favorite of Queen Victoria. Elgar's deliberate pairing of Joachim's personal motto with Mendelssohn's music makes complete sense because Joachim was a protégé of Mendelssohn. At the age of 12 Joachim performed Beethoven's violin concerto in London under the direction of Mendelssohn, and he remained a perennial favorite with the British nation for the duration of his career.
       The F-A-E Sonata was a collaborative work by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Schumann’s pupil, Albert Dietrich. The sonata was composed using on a musical cryptogram based on the notes F, A and E to represent the initials of Joachim’s highly romanticized motto. Dietrich composed the first movement in Sonata form, Schumann an Intermezzo for the second movement, Brahms a Scherzo for the third movement, and Schumann a Finale for the fourth. The titles of Schumann’s contributions match those for two movements of the Enigma Variations: Intermezzo and Finale. Elgar's allusion to Schumann could not be more apparent. The motto’s German origins serve as a vital clue about the language of the missing Principal Theme, Ein feste Burg.
      A second, less obvious allusion to Joachim’s motto is found in four subtitles given for the Theme (Enigma), Variations X (Intermezzo), XIII (Romanza) and XIV (Finale). The first letter of each subtitle is an anagram for frei. When the subtitles are arranged correctly so the first letter of each spells frei, the sixth letters also form the approximate phonetic spelling (ezam) for einsam. When the letters immediately before and after z in Romanza are included, this permits a complete phonetic spelling of einsam as "eanzam". It is fascinating these extra letters form the outline of a cross, and happen to do so on the subtitle Romanza. In this post I describe how the Roman numerals for Variation XIII portray a cross (X) and three nails (III), and the subtitle Romanza alludes to the Romans who crucified Christ.
       There is an even more revealing connection between Joseph Joachim, a Christian Jew, and the hidden friend of Variation XIII. In 1891 Joachim was granted the rare opportunity to play Antonio Stradivari's most treasured violin, the Messiah. Elgar's musical allusion to Joachim within Variation XIII serves as a carefully crafted reference to the hidden friend, Jesus of Nazareth. In Christianity Jesus is referred to as the Messiah.

F	I	N	A	L	E
R	O	M	A	N	Z	A
E	N	I	G	M	A
I	N	T	E	R	M	E	Z	Z	O

       But what about the missing word aber from Joachim's motto? The Enigma Theme is based on ternary form. Known more commonly as ABA form, ABA is a phonetic spelling for aber. Frei aber einsam, a secret message concealed within the Variations' subtitles and ternary form is confirmed by the keys for the Mendelssohn fragments in Variation XIII. Elgar's mastery of wordplay and ciphers is on full display for those with eyes that see and ears that hear. Not only is a familiarity with the German language required to discern this three-word mystery; it is equally necessary to uncover the three-word title of the covert Principal Theme, Ein feste Birg. Three words in German - are these not an obvious clue?
      There is a another cipher connection between the initials F.A.E. and the title of the unstated Principal Theme, A Mighty Fortress.

Soli Deo Gloria