Elgar’s Enigma Theme, Pi and C

Never, never rest contented with any circle of ideas, but always be certain that a wider one is still possible.

Pearl Bailey

The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.

C.S. Lewis

Edward Elgar’s use of common time in such an uncommon work as the Enigma Variations is rich with symbolism and hidden meaning. Also known as imperfect time, common time is represented in the time signature either by two fours (4/4) or a broken circle (C). The symbol for common time resembles a capital C, the first letter in the words checkerboard, cipher, Christ and circle. Richard Santa’s intriguing research concerning Elgar’s cryptographic reference to Pi in the opening measure of the Enigma Theme is undoubtedly linked to the semicircle as a symbol for common time. Pi is a mathematical constant describing the ratio of any circle’s circumference and its diameter. In his groundbreaking research, Santa observed the first four notes of the Enigma Theme sequentially approximate the number Pi using scale degrees (i.e., B flat = 3, G = 1, C = 4, A = 2). Notice Elgar used the first four notes of the G minor scale to approximate Pi with four numbers, thereby furnishing a subtle link to the Enigma Theme’s meter (4/4). The palindromic rhythmic pattern in the first two measures (two eighth notes, two quarter notes, two quarter notes and two eighth notes) is cycled three times over the first six measures, generating a sense of circularity.

Confirmation of Santa’s discovery is found in the finger pattern employed on the violin when playing the first four notes of the Enigma Theme in the third position on the D string: 3-1-4-2. This conclusion is bolstered by the fact that the opening measures of the theme are given to the first violins. In violin music, the D string is represented by the Roman numeral III because it is the third string. Consequently, the third position on the third string forms a clever numerological reference to Edward Elgar’s initials (EE) because two capital cursive Es form the mirror image of the number 33. Elgar was an accomplished violinist and cryptographer, so this inference is entirely plausible. In a covert manner, Elgar initialed his greatest cryptographic work.

For those who doubt this interpretation, consider the following: The intervals between B-flat/G and C/A are both minor thirds, so there is yet a second numerological equivalent to Elgar’s initials ensconced within the first measure of the Enigma Theme. There is also a third example when one considers that the third note of the Enigma Theme (C) occurs on the third beat of the first measure. The number three is important because it is the cryptographic equivalent of the third letter in the alphabet (C), the symbol for common time (C). In the case of the Enigma Theme, the third note is C. Santa was kind enough to share an early draft of his insightful paper with me, and I am delighted his discovery was recently presented in Columbia University’s music journal Current Musicology. Like many Elgarians, I wait in eager anticipation for The Elgar Society Journal to publish Santa’s pioneering research.

The discovery that Pi is encoded in the Enigma Theme invites a number of reasonable inferences, the uppermost being to Elgar’s circle of friends. While this conclusion is more than warranted (especially since the Variations are “Dedicated to my friends pictured within”), there are other less apparent but plausible inferences that complement and expand on this line of inquiry. For instance, tonal music is based on the circle of fifths.

The Circle of Fifths

In the circle of fifths, the major keys B-flat and G are arranged clockwise four steps apart. The same pattern holds true for the major keys C and A. Do these four-step sequences of notes denoting Pi allude to the stacked numerals (4/4) found in the Enigma Theme’s time signature? Or is there some deeper cryptographic significance to these repeated fours? The plagal cadence appears twice in the Enigma Theme (measures 6-7 and 16-17), representing another repetition of the number four as part of the Roman numeral harmonic formula (iv-I). Why are there so many number fours? The name for Elgar's God is a Tetragrammaton, a word consisting of four Hebrew letters (יהוה‎). Each of the first six measures of the Enigma Theme consists of four melody notes. Do the opening intervals of the Enigma Theme hint at the existence of a cipher? The inversion of a third is a sixth, so the two thirds formed in the first measure of the Enigma Theme may be viewed alternatively as a reference to two sixths. Could this be as a subtle clue about the presence of a 6-by- 6 checkerboard cipher?

There is a potent literary undercurrent to Elgar’s approximation of Pi and its association with the circle. This geometric form is referenced extensively in the first book Dante’s Divine Comedy – the Inferno – an allegory describing Dante’s trek through the bowels of the earth and the nine circles of hell.

Elgar makes multiple references to Dante’s epic poem in the Enigma Variations. One example is the title Nimrod for Variation IX, a movement that concludes with a dramatic blast from the brass section. In the Inferno, Dante portrays Nimrod as a babbling giant imprisoned in the ninth circle of hell who blows a piercing blast from his horn to draw attention to himself.

Nimrod in the Ninth Circle of Dante's Hell

There is a literary undercurrent to Elgar’s approximation of Pi and connection to the circle. This geometric form is referenced extensively in the first book Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Inferno, an allegory describing Dante’s journey through the bowels of the earth and the nine circles of hell. Elgar makes numerous references to Dante’s epic poem in the Enigma Variations. One example is the title Nimrod for Variation IX, a movement that concludes dramatically with a blast from the brass section. In the Inferno, Dante portrays Nimrod as a babbling giant imprisoned in the ninth circle of hell who issues a piercing blast from his horn to draw attention to himself. In Dante’s hell, Nimrod is cursed with inarticulate speech because he built the Tower of Babel in an attempt to make himself equal to God. As judgment, the Lord dispersed the people by causing them to speak different languages, an event known as the Confusion of Tongues. In imitation of that famous biblical narrative, Elgar follows Nimrod with Variation X, a movement that pokes fun at Dora Penny’s stutter – a speech impediment.

Similar to his description of Hell as a series of circular rings, Dante describes Paradise as a circular snow-white rose. A stunning print by Gustave Doré accompanying Longfellow's famous translation of Dante's magnum opus depicts this astonishing sight:

The White Rose of Paradise (Paradiso XXXI)

As a geometric figure the circle contains chords. Likewise, music also contains chords which are known as triads. A simple musical triad consists of three notes spaced by one major and one minor third with the top note forming a fifth with the first, omitting the second and fourth notes.

 

 

 

The Greeks are famous for their development of math and science. Hipparchus is known as the father of trigonometry in part for his creation of the table of chord function values. He was a contemporary of Polybius, a prominent Greek historian whose major contribution to cryptography is the checkerboard cipher. Below is an example of a Polybius cipher key with a six-by-six checkerboard key.

Polybius Cipher

Elgar uses an ingenious musical checkerboard cipher in the opening measures of the Enigma Theme to encrypt the title of the unstated Principal Theme. Similar to a chord from a circle that has two endpoints, a Polybius cipher requires two variables to encipher a single plain text letter in a grid of cells resembling a checkerboard. In this instance, Elgar brilliantly employs the melody and bass notes of the first six measures of the Enigma Theme to create this unique musical checkerboard cipher. Using this cipher, Elgar encodes the name for Jesus phonetically in measure 1 as “GSUS”. The pairing of Pie with Jesus in the first measure alludes to the Latin phrase Pie Gesu which means “Pious Jesus.” That phrase comes from the final couplet of the Dies Irae and is usually included in the Requiem Mass.

Elgar’s cryptographic reference to Pi using a music cipher alludes to the circle as a symbol for the Enigma Theme. After contemplating Elgar’s devout Roman Catholic faith at the time he composed the Enigma Variations, careful consideration should be granted to the religious significance of this geometric form. In measures 7 through 10, Elgar uses a sequential modulation known as rosalia to circle back from G major back to G minor. The term rosalia suggests the rosary, a circular necklace of prayer beads used by Roman Catholics in their devotions. The circle is widely recognized as a symbol of eternity and the divine, and for this reason is frequently found in Christian art, symbols, and rituals. Some examples are cited below:

1. Chi Rho 
2. Crown of Thorns 
3. Borromean rings 
4. Celtic Cross 
5. Sacramental bread or host in the Catholic Eucharist 
6. The wine cup use to celebrate the Eucharist 
7. Rose Cross 
8. Luther Rose 
9. Shield of the Trinity 
10. Trefoil 
11. Vesica Piscis

The circular Host and Wine Cup 

Jesus at the Creation of the world 

Speaking of circles, the seventeenth measure of the Enigma Theme is the only one comprised entirely of whole notes. Out of all the possible range of note values, the one that most resembles a circle is the whole note. It is highly appropriate the final measure of the Enigma Theme concludes with this note because the circle is a symbol of completeness.

Returning to the subject of common time, four of the fifteen movements of the Variations are set in that meter:

I suspect it is more than just a coincidence four of the fifteen Variations are set in 4/4 time. Common time may also be represented by a broken circle (C), a symbol that resembles the capital letter for Omega. In light of Santa’s discovery of the Pi reference in the first measure of the Enigma theme, it is remarkable the capital O in Omega resembles a circle. Returning to the title Enigma, it is noteworthy the capital E looks like the lowercase of Omega. The sixth and last letter in the word Enigma is a, or the lower case of Alpha. From a Christian perspective, one may interpret the E and a from the word Enigma as an allusion to the Alpha and Omega since these letters occur in the first and last positions of the title (albeit in reverse order). As for the reverse order with the Alpha last and the Omega first, it says in Matthew 20:16, “So the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.”

The tempo for the Enigma Theme is indicated by the Italian word Andante with the e and a in the opposite positions as the title Enigma. The letters a and e are also the first in the names Alice and Edward, the first names for Elgar and his wife. In light of the number of coded references to the Divine Comedy, it is noteworthy Dante's name appears in the musical term Andante. One of the many titles for Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. It is exquisitely appropriate that in the first measure of the Enigma Theme the name of Jesus is phonetically encoded along with the Morse code pattern for “I M,” a phonetic spelling for yet another title for Jesus, “I AM.” Elgar cryptically referred to this musical cipher as a ‘dark saying,' a description that meshes with the crucifixion of Jesus when darkness covered the land for three hours.

Conducting common time

The letter C is the phonetic equivalent of the word see. The word see contains Elgar’s initials (E.E.), something also found in the word common with two capital cursive Es turned downward in the form of two Ms. As a practicing Roman Catholic, Elgar was surely aware the word see is closely associated with the Roman Catholic Church. The Holy See is the central government of the Catholic Church in Rome whose head is the Pope. The central section of St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican is an elliptical semicircle, a feature that symbolizes the outstretched arms of the Church and closely resembles the symbol for common time. Remarkably, common time is conducted in a manner that mirrors the Catholic ritual of making the sign of the cross by directing the baton to the four corners of an inverted cross. According to Catholic historians, Peter was crucified upside-down. 

The Crucifixion of Petter

The Enigma Theme's melodic line is performed exclusively by two instruments, the violin, and clarinet. The first letters of these two instruments are V and C. A common acronym for the Pope is VC, an acronym for Vicar of Christ. The Apostle Peter is considered by Roman Catholics to be the first Pope.

The letter C is the phonetic equivalent of the word sea, a subject poetically described by Goethe's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt). In Variation XIII, Elgar sonically portrays the sea by quoting a fragment from Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. This early work by Mendelssohn was inspired by his friendship with Goethe and an admiration for his lyrical poetry. Three of these fragments are presented in the major modes A flat and E flat, and a fourth in the minor mode of F. In a prior article I describe multifaceted allusions to Jesus in Variation XIII. One example is is the Roman Numerals XIII and their alphabetical equivalents that encode his initials (J = X, C = III). There is also a musical cryptogram within the three keys of the Mendelssohn fragments that enciphers the acronym for the German motto  “Frei aber einsam” (Free but lonely).

Stradivari in his workshop

Elgar closely identified with the violin. Returning to the subject of Pi and its connection with the geometric circle, it is remarkable the design and construction of the violin entails the extensive use of circles.

The sound holes of the violin contain four broken circles. The scroll has eight circular holes in it for the pegs. The tailpiece has four broken circles to secure the ends of the strings. The scroll also has circular features along with the upper, middle, and lower bouts.

Some of the world’s most legendary violins were created in the 1700s by the great Luthiers Antonio Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesù, Nicolo Gagliano, and Carlo Bergonzi. Stradivari’s Golden Era spanned from 1700 to 1720 with the construction of some of his greatest instruments like the Messiah in 1716 and the Red Mendelssohn in 1720.

Elizabeth Pitcairn

Guarneri del Gesù made the Il Cannone in 1743 a name given by its most famous owner, Paganini. Guarneri’s name is appended with Del Gesù (of Jesus) because he placed the nomina sacra and Roman cross on his instrument labels. Some of his other famous instruments are the Vieuxtemps Guarneri (1741) the Lord Wilton Guarneri (1742). Edward Elgar performed on a Gagliano. Consequently, it is entirely reasonable to draw a numerological association of the number seventeen with the violin. The Enigma Theme is seventeen measures in length, and the melody is almost entirely confined to the violins with the exception of measures 7 through 8 when the clarinet carries the melody. The clarinet later performs three fragments from Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage in Variation XIII. The first letter in clarinet is c, the third letter of the alphabet.

C is the symbol for the speed of light, a mathematical constant formalized in 1894 by the German physicist Paul Drude, an extraordinarius professor at the University of Leipzig. Four years after c was formally established as the symbol for the speed of light, Elgar composed the Enigma Variations in 1898-99. Elgar’s hobbies included scientific pursuits such as photography and chemistry, so he was surely aware of the letter c’s mathematical connection to light. He composed his first oratorio in 1896 with the original Latin title Lux Christi (Op. 29), but his publisher insisted on giving it the English title The Light of Life. This alternate title is based on the words of Jesus from John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Like sound, light waves propagate in circular patterns. Perhaps this best explains why Elgar identified the earliest sketch of Variation XIII with a solitary capital L, the first letter in the words Lamb, Lion, Life, Light, Lord, Lux and Land.

It was previously observed that Elgar’s Romanza Cipher in Variation XIII makes reference to the Shroud of Turin. The amateur photographer Secondo Pia took the first official photograph of the Turin Shroud in May 1898. When developing the photographic plate he made a startling discovery: The shroud image only becomes clearly visible when viewed as a photographic negative. Elgar began composing the Enigma Variations five months after Pia’s famous photograph was taken. Did this stunning photograph plant the seed in Elgar's fertile imagination to create a contrapuntal “negative” of a well-known melody, one that celebrates the famous figure on the Turin Shroud? In the months leading up to Elgar’s Enigma epiphany, Pia’s photograph was popularized in the secular and Catholic press, and distributed widely among the Catholic faithful who wished to gaze and meditate on the Holy Face. The Shroud of Turin is viewed by many as the burial cloth of Jesus that captures the moment of his resurrection in the form of a photographic negative millennia before the technology ever existed. To this day, science has failed to provide a convincing explanation for the photographic negative on the shroud.

Shroud of Turin (Left) and its photographic negative (Right)

I close with this intriguing insight: The letters Pi and C form the first three letters in the word picture. Elgar hinted at this combination by his dedication of the Variations to his friends “pictured within.” For many, a picture is worth a thousand words. For Elgar, one very special photograph of his crucified Lord was worthy of a ravishing constellation of musical notes popularly known today as the Enigma Variations. 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.

Soli Yah Gloria

The Chi Rho with the Alpha and Omega

Elgar, Tasso and the Turin Shroud

Bramo assai, poco spero, nulla chieggio.

(I essay much, I hope little, I ask nothing)

Edward Elgar, Paraphrasing Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata

At the end of the original score of the Enigma Variations, Elgar quotes Torquato Tasso’s epic poem Jerusalem Delivered (La Gerusalemme Liberata). The quote as shown in the epigraph is followed by “(sic, 1595),” the name Tasso in brackets and the translation on the following page. There are several anomalies associated with Elgar’s use of literature in this instance. First, the quotation is modified from the third person to the first. The third person as written by Tasso is, “Brama assai, poco spera e nulla chiede.” Second, 1595 is not the year when Tasso wrote Jerusalem Delivered, but rather the one in which he died. Third, the translation is partly inaccurate because it should read “I desire much” rather than “I essay much.”

It is insightful to observe that the Tasso quotation consists of six words in a foreign language for those like Elgar whose native tongue is English. It is more than a mere coincidence these two elements are also associated with the unstated Principal Theme (Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott), a title made up of six words in a foreign language. The change from the third to first person further alludes to the numbers 3 and 1, or more likely the inverse found in the title of Variation XIII. By quoting Mendelssohn's overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage in Variation XIII, Elgar draws attention to Goethe, a poet who composed the play Torquato Tasso. On the eve of being crowned the king of poets in Rome by the Pope in 1595, Tasso died at the age of 51. When near death, Tasso told Cardinal Cinzio, “This is the crown with which I hoped to be crowned. It is not the glory of the poet's laurel, but the glory of the blessed in heaven.” It is remarkable General Gordon also died at the age of 51, bolstering the conclusion Variation XIV is indeed linked to that Anglican warrior-evangelist so deeply admired by Elgar. Considering Elgar’s careful use of literature, it is completely out of character for him to paraphrase a famous literary source, give the wrong year and furnish an inaccurate translation. With so many deliberate anomalies, Elgar clearly intended to draw attention to Tasso. The deeper question is why?

Following my discovery of the Romanza Cipher pinpointing the Turin Shroud as a source of inspiration for the Enigma theme, Elgar’s Tasso quote takes on a whole new level of significance.  In 1578 the Shroud was taken from France and delivered by Duke Emmanual Philibert to the city of Turin. On that day Turin was host to a very famous guest: Torquato Tasso. When a special Mass was given the next day to celebrate the arrival of Christendom’s most sacred relic, Tasso was among those present to receive Communion. When the Exposition of the Shroud was given, Tasso venerated the relic by kneeling before it, weeping and kissing it over and over again. It is an undeniable fact that Tasso and the Shroud of Turin are inextricably linked.

Understanding the special connection between Tasso and the Shroud of Turin underscores Elgar’s purpose for drawing attention to Tasso and his most famous work, La Gerusalemme Liberata. At the conclusion of that epic Christian poem, the knight Godfrey of Bullion liberates Jerusalem from pagan occupation, sheds his armor, and worships at the Holy Sepulcher like a humble pilgrim fulfilling a sacred vow. This is the very place where many believe the Shroud was miraculously transformed at the moment of the resurrection to capture a photographic negative of the body and face of Jesus. Secondo Pia took the first photographic negative of the Shroud of Turn in 1898, a little less than six months before Elgar began work on the Enigma Variations. The timing is too compelling to be ignored.

Left: The face on the Turin Shroud
Right: Photographic negative of the face area

This famous photographic negative was widely reported in both Catholic and secular media, and copies were distributed extensively among the faithful who wished to gaze on the face of their Savior. Elgar, a committed Roman Catholic, was surely aware of this famous discovery and moved by the secret image brought to light by modern photographic technology. In light of this analysis, Elgar’s Tasso quotation serves as a special clue concerning the hidden inspiration for the Enigma Variations. Just as the Shroud concealed the image of a famous personage, so too does the Enigma theme conceal using an ingenious counterpoint a famous melody, one that celebrates the very same person by name: Christ Jesus. He is certainly the hidden friend of Variation XIII, one whose initials were openly hidden (X = J, III = C). With the secret of the Enigma Variations being so sacred in character, is it any wonder secular scholars stumbled in the darkness of their own ignorance, groping and bumbling in vain for some other explanation? The scholars could no more unravel Elgar's enigmas than the wise men of old could discover and interpret King Nebuchadnezzar's mysterious dream. To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Like my heavenly Father’s gift of salvation, the price is free. Please support my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria

Elgar's character as a composer

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word “darkness” on the walls of his cell.

C. S. Lewis

Two events from Elgar’s life reveal a tremendous amount about his character as a composer. The first occurred in 1869 when he was just twelve years old. He recalled this episode of contrapuntal mischief in these words:

I composed a little tune of which I was very proud. I thought the public should hear it, but my opportunities of publishing it were decidedly few. I took my opportunity when my father was engaged in preparing the Handel parts for the forthcoming festival. Very laboriously I introduced my little tune into the music. The thing was an astonishing success, and I heard that some people had never enjoyed Handel so much before! When my father learned of it, however, he was furious! [1]

It was the Three Choirs Festival, and the parts were for Handel’s sacred oratorio Messiah.

The next occurred in 1901 when Elgar was in his early 40s and completed the overture Cockaigne. His sketchbook (Figure 1) shows he conceived of the lover’s theme as a counterpoint to the “Wedding March” from Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. [2] He invoked the counterpoint because Mendelssohn’s music is closely associated with marriage, and there were concerns by some that the lovemaking depicted in his music was not “strictly proper.”[3] This counterpoint is an example of Elgar’s practical jokes, or what he liked to call japes.

Although separated by a span of over 30 years, these two events from Elgar’s life share three commonalities:

1. He composed a counterpoint to a famous melody. 
2. The counterpoint is presented in an orchestral context. 
3. The counterpoint contains elements of humor and seriousness.

Consistent with Elgar's character as a composer, all three of these elements are associated with my discovery of the unstated Principal Theme to Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress). Concerning the Enigma Theme, those who insist Elgar did not compose a counterpoint to a famous melody betray a profound ignorance of the composer's known history and character. To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Like my heavenly Father’s gift of salvation, the price is free.

Soli Yah Gloria

Longfellow’s "Hyperion" and "Ein feste Burg"

The congregation began to assemble, and Flemming went up with them to the house of the Lord. In the body of the church he found the pews all filled or locked; they seemed to belong to families. He went up into the gallery, and looked over the psalm-book of a peasant, while the congregation sang the sublime old hymn of Martin Luther, 

“Our God, he is a tower of strength, 

    A trusty shield and weapon.”

From Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Hyperion

Edward Elgar was deeply grateful to the German conductor Hans Richter for agreeing to conduct the premiere of the Enigma Variations in June 1899. As a token of his gratitude, he presented Richter with a copy of Longfellow’s Hyperion. In a letter accompanying the book, Elgar wrote, “I send you the little book about which we conversed & from which I, as a child, received my first idea of the great German nations.” Little did Richter know the identity of the famous unstated principal Theme to the Enigma Variations could be found within its pages.

Martin Luther's Our God, he is a tower of strength is one of the many translations of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. No wonder Elgar thought the answer would soon be discovered, for he literally gave it away to an eminent musician who should have recognized it if he only had time to read the book. Elgar proved that sometimes the best way to hide something is in plain sight. To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Like my heavenly Father’s gift of salvation, the price is free. Please support my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria

Elgar and his Heroes: General Gordon

General Charles George Gordon

Tell me about your heroes, then I will tell you about yourself

Robert Wayne Padgett

In a palindromic meter he mused,
Anguished, lonely, and beset by sorrow,
Moved by the Spirit to sing a new song,
Encouraged by the clarity of friends,
Disavowing all trivialities,
Willing from heart and mind a miracle –
A counterpoint to some popular tune –
Riveting, radical, and resplendent,
Devised as a theme and variations,
Elgar defied the world to decipher
Love’s mystery shrouded in harmony,
Giving rise to a lock with many keys
About God’s Son whose word is like a sword,
Revered by Gordon as the risen Lord.

Robert Wayne Padgett 

The Gordon Symphony

In October 1898 Edward Elgar was not openly planning to compose a set of orchestral variations. Instead, he had a very different project in mind: A symphony in honor of the fallen hero of the Siege of Khartoum, General Charles Gordon. Up to that time, Elgar had never composed an extended symphonic work for orchestra alone, so this represented an escalation in his artistic ambitions. He proposed the “Gordon” Symphony in anticipation of a premiere at the Worcester Three Choirs Festival in September 1899. The day before beginning work on the Enigma Variations (October 20, 1898), he wrote to his friend August Jaeger:

‘Gordon Sym.’ I like this idee [sic] but my dear man why should I try? . . . I have to earn money somehow & it’s no good trying this sort of thing even for a ‘living wage’ & your firm wouldn’t give ₤5 for it – I tell you I am sick of it all: why can’t I be encouraged to do decent stuff & not hounded into triviality.[1]

Despite struggling with mixed feelings, he continued to ponder and plan his first symphony. Shortly after beginning the Enigma Variations, he still talked about the “Gordon” Symphony.[2] For instance, on November 11, 1898, he wrote, “Now as to Gordon: the thing possesses me, but I can’t write it down yet.”[3] It is significant that at the same time Elgar was composing his first extended symphonic work – the Enigma Variations – he was openly discussing his Gordon Symphony. Could the two projects be interconnected in some way? And if so, how? Before answering these questions, let us first familiarize ourselves with one of Elgar's heroes – General Gordon.

General Gordon’s Last Stand

 

General Gordon

Who was General Gordon and why of all people would Elgar turn to him as the inspiration for his first major symphonic work? He certainly exercised a considerable influence over Elgar. Consider the following examples. When Gordon was on campaign, he placed a flag on his tent to show that he should not be disturbed. Elgar adopted the same practice when composing in a tent erected outside his home during the warm summer months. Elgar was well known for maintaining a military bearing, emulating respected military figures like his wife’s father (Major-General Sir Henry Gee Roberts), and of course, General Gordon.

Sending messages in secret code is standard operating procedure among military leaders. One well-known from the history of cryptography is Julius Caesar and his Caesar cipher. Consistent with his imitation of military men, Elgar was deeply interested in secret codes and puzzles. In his correspondence, Gordon liberally peppered his prose with the Latin acronym D.V. (Deo Volente), an apotropaic that Elgar also used in his letters. In the Enigma Variations, Elgar cryptically incorporates these initials in his musical self-portrait (E. D. U.), the Finale. This is the case because the Latin letter U is equivalent of V. It is exquisitely appropriate this veiled allusion to Gordon occurs in the movement that sounds like a military march. Even more intriguing is the Finale is in the key of G major, an illuminating coincidence since Gordon was a Major-General at the time of his death.

A surprising conclusion that can be drawn from the fact Elgar talked about Gordon in connection with a symphonic work immediately before, during, and after composing the Enigma Variations is that both works are, in certain respects, one and the same. As evidence of this possibility, the initials for General Charles George Gordon are formed at rehearsal 62 of Variation XIV as shown below:

This musical cryptogram is highly reminiscent of Elgar's Allegretto on GEDGE (1885), a work based on the last name of some students who were sisters. The veiled reference to General Gordon in the most martial sounding of the Enigma Variations makes complete sense and reaffirms Elgar's public quasi-military persona.

Elgar’s greatest source of identification with Gordon was most assuredly his unwavering Christian faith. Gordon was an Anglican warrior-evangelist who died the death of martyr-hero at the siege of Khartoum in 1885.[4] He was also Queen Victoria’s favorite General. Following his tragic death mourned by not just one nation, but an Empire spanning the globe, his sister Augusta “presented the Queen with her brother’s Bible, which was placed in one of the corridors at Windsor, open, on a white satin cushion, and enclosed in a crystal case.” Gordon quotes the Bible extensively in his letters, and so does Elgar in his oratorios: The Light of Life, The Saga of King Olaf, The Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles, and The Kingdom. Gordon dedicated his life to God, and willingly sacrificed it rather than abandon his faith. Elgar dedicated the majority of his works to God with the initials A. M. D. G., and willingly endured decades of obscurity before being discovered for a talent he always enjoyed. Finally, Gordon encouraged a more ecumenical form of Christianity, a path that Elgar also embraced in later life.

Elgar, Gordon and the Bible 

The most influential book in Gordon's life was undoubtedly the Bible, and the same could be said concerning Elgar. For the vast majority of his oratorios, the Bible was Elgar's libretto. In Gordon’s case, it was the only book that mattered. The Bible is the most published and quoted book in history, so Gordon's lofty opinion is not without merit. In 1886, Henry William Gordon published a biography about his famous brother. In the introduction he states:

[Gordon] always took his stand upon the Bible. In distress of mind or in times of hesitation, he turned to it for advice. His Bible was to him his friend and companion in the time of trouble.[5]

He further explains Gordon “rested his faith upon the word of God, and upon the Savior, in whom he trusted.” A comparison is even made with the Apostle Paul: “Without meaning to affirm that General Gordon approached to the perfectness of the great apostle to the Gentiles, yet I discern a strong resemblance in the lives of the two men; while both suffered death, sooner than surrender their faith as Christians.”[6] At the Siege of Khartoum, General Gordon was granted multiple opportunities by the Mahdi to escape certain death by converting to Islam, but he refused to abandon his Christian faith or the people of that besieged city. Gordon believed it was noble to fall in battle, and that is exactly how he left this life and world behind.

Khartoum, the Crusades, and Gordon 

In many respects, the fall of Khartoum hearkens back to the Crusades and the historic clash between East and West, Christianity and Islam, broad sword and scimitar, and the conquest of Jerusalem. As one writer describes it, “The narrative of Gordon in China, in Africa, at home in Christian England, or abroad in the service of the Khedive or of his own sovereign, reads like a page torn from medieval history, when a religious fervor moved prince and knight to take up the crusade against the defilers of the Holy Sepulchre.” Elgar's fascination with Gordon and his martial zeal for Christ would account for his use of a modified Tasso quote at the end of the score of the Enigma Variations taken from Jerusalem Delivered. In that epic Christian poem, Tasso describes how an army of Christian Knights led by Godfrey (a General whose name begins with the letter G) liberates Jerusalem from Muslim occupation. After the city is saved, Godfrey and troops piously shed their armor and kneel beside other pilgrims to worship at the tomb of Christ.

Godfrey’s overarching goal in Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered is to secure unfettered access for pilgrims to the Holy Sepulcher. A sacred relic directly linked to the tomb of Jesus is the Shroud of Turin, the burial cloth of Christ. Elgar encodes a reference to this sacred relic in Variation XIII. It was previously shown how Luther's Ein feste Burg plays “through and over” Variation XIII. The object of Tasso's poem is directly connected with this sacred relic, for Christ rested in the tomb while wrapped in the shroud. It is remarkable Elgar alludes to the crypt of Christ and His burial shroud using cryptography and Christograms, a feat encapsulating Elgar's subtle and elaborate sense of wordplay. Another example of his affinity for wordplay is described here.

Gordon’s Calvary

There is an even more direct link between General Gordon and Jerusalem. In 1883 Gordon devoted almost an entire year in Jerusalem researching four questions:

1. The site of the Crucifixion 
2. The line of division between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah 
3. The identification of Gibeon 
4. The position of the Garden of Eden.

During his extended stay in the Holy City, he acknowledged and popularized a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem as the location of Golgotha (“skull” hill), the site where Jesus was reportedly crucified. Originally discovered in the nineteenth century by Otto Thenius of Dresden, Golgotha hill has the sinister outlines of a skull.

Gordon's Calvary (Skull Hill)

 

In the New Testament, Golgotha is also called Calvary (a word derived from the Latin calvus for “scalp” or “bald head”). Today “skull” hill is known as Gordon’s Calvary, for Gordon was convinced of its authenticity after discovering nearby what he believed to be the Garden Tomb. This is where Christ was reportedly interred following his gruesome crucifixion.[7] For Christians, it is also the place of the resurrection and where the Shroud of Turin was miraculously transformed into a photographic negative of the crucified Christ.

Gordon and Newman's Dream of Gerontius

During the siege of Khartoum, Gordon read and underlined in pencil a famous poem by John Henry Cardinal Newman called The Dream of Gerontius. He cherished that poem. When death and destruction loomed, he underlined passages such as “Now that the hour is come, my fear is fled.”[8] He died with a copy of it on his person, but not before his markings were duplicated and given to Frank Power, a special correspondent for The Times in Khartoum. It was soon published and became hugely popular. In a bid to comfort his future bride when her father died in 1887, Elgar lent Alice his personal copy of Gerontius with General Gordon’s markings. When they married in 1889, they received another copy of Gerontius with Gordon's markings as a wedding present.[9] Elgar immortalized this poetic work in his sacred oratorio, The Dream of Gerontius, composed in 1900 just after he completed the Enigma Variations in 1899.

The link between General Gordon and Gerontius is obvious, for he read and meditated on that poem in the Sudan before his tragic death. Since Elgar completed his sacred oratorio Gerontius just the Enigma Variations, the close proximity of the two works suggests some connection with Gordon. After all, Elgar’s correspondence mentions the Gordon Symphony before, during and immediately after he composed the Variations. Shortly after Hans Richter wired his acceptance to conduct the Enigma premiere in late March 1899, Elgar abruptly dropped his plans for the Gordon Symphony by mid-April 1899. Is it possible Elgar called off the Gordon Symphony because he had just completed it? All the evidence points in that direction.

General Gordon eschewed earthly honors, preferring instead to embrace an ascetic lifestyle characterized by hidden acts of charity at great personal sacrifice. One example of his noble generosity involves a great gold medallion he received from the Chinese government following his successful campaign against the Taipings. During the Lancashire famine in England, Gordon scratched the inscription off his gold Chinese medal and anonymously donated it to help feed starving widows and orphans. If he sought fame and earthly glory, he could have just as easily donated the medallion with his title still etched into it. He did not because he believed it was better to give than receive, and that charitable acts should be done in secret. Jesus told his disciples that “when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.” Gordon gave much of his earthly wealth to help underprivileged boys, and following his death, a school was founded in his honor to perpetuate his charitable work. Today is known as Gordon's School, but when it was originally founded in 1886 it was known as the Gordon Boys' School.

Given Elgar’s desire to emulate General Gordon, it is not unreasonable to conclude he finally recognized a symphony in Gordon's honor would contradict everything the General believed in. By April 20, 1899, Elgar abandoned the Gordon Symphony and likely did so after coming to terms with Gordon's austerity and revulsion for public recognition. What greater contradiction could he contrive than to overtly compose a symphony in Gordon's honor? That would be the last thing Gordon would want, and more importantly, condone. The best way for Elgar to honor Gordon would not be to praise the General publicly with a symphony, but rather to emulate his example by glorifying Gordon's spiritual Commander In Chief in secret.

Just as Gordon practiced his charitable acts in secret, so too Elgar found it fitting to honor Gordon’s God in secret. Ultimately this is what he did with the Enigma Variations. In his first great symphonic work, Elgar secretly honors Gordon's Lord, the God who hides himself, using a hidden theme, a hidden message and a hidden friend to all who will receive Him. These three hidden aspects of the Enigma Variations form a trinity of mystery. Elgar's choice for the unstated Principal Theme – Ein feste Burg – is readily associated with Gordon because he was Anglican, and hence a Protestant. A Mighty Fortress was the battle hymn of the Reformation. Gordon may also be associated with Ein feste Burg because of its military connotations as a war hymn performed on the eve of battle and to commemorate military victories. An excellent example of the latter is Wagner's Kaiser March, a work performed in England at the Coronations of 1902 and 1911.

A “Mighty” Coincidence 

On October 21, 1898 – the day he first performed the Enigma Theme for his wife – Elgar wrote, “‘Gordon’ simmereth mighty pleasantly in my (brain) pan & will no doubt boil over one day.”[10] Elgar's use of the word mighty on that day of days is an illuminating slip of the pen. Why? Because the covert Principal Theme to his Enigma Variations is Ein feste Burg – A Mighty Fortress. To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Like my heavenly Father’s gift of salvation, the price is free. Please support my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria

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Footnotes

[1]  Kennedy, Michael. The Life of Elgar (Musical Lives). Illustrated edition ed. New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 2004, p. 60

[2] Ibid, p. 63

[3] Ibid, p. 60

[4] McVeagh, D. (2007), Elgar the Music Maker. Rochester, New York: Boydell Press, p 58.

[5] Gordon, H. W. (2009). Events In The Life Of Charles George Gordon: From Its Beginning To Its End (1886). New York: Kessinger Publishing, Llc., p. 7

[6] Ibid, p. 1

[7] Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel According to Mark (Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, p. 471

[8] Michael Kennedy, The Life of Elgar (Cambridge, 2004), p. 75

[9] The Musical Times, October 1, 1900, p.654
[10] Rushton, Julian. Elgar: Enigma Variations (Cambridge Music Handbooks). New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, p.13