Elgar's Enigma Theme Unmasked: Elgar's “Psalm 46” Mendelssohn Ciphers

Felix Mendelssohn (1834) by Hadi Karemi

The essence of beauty is unity in variety.

The English romantic composer Edward Elgar was obsessed with cryptography, the science of coding and decoding secret messages. His specialization in that esoteric discipline merits an entire chapter in Craig P. Bauer’s book Unsolved! Bauer devotes most of the third chapter to Elgar’s meticulous decryption of an allegedly insoluble Nihilist cipher presented by John Holt Schooling in the April 1896 issue of The Pall Mall Magazine. A Nihilist cipher is based on a Polybius square key. Elgar was so gratified by his solution to Schooling’s purportedly impenetrable code that he specifically mentions it in his first biography published in 1905 by the music critic Robert J. Buckley.

Elgar painted his decryption in black paint on a wooden box, an appropriate medium as another name for the Polybius square is a box cipher. His methodology for cracking Schooling’s cryptogram is meticulously summarized on a set of nine index cards that give a glimpse of the inner workings of Elgar’s agile mind. On the sixth card, he likens the task to “. . . working (in the dark).” It is significant that he used the word “dark” as a synonym for cipher.

This parenthetical remark is revealing as he employs that same language in the original 1899 program note to characterize his eponymous Enigma Theme from the Enigma Variations. It is an oft-cited passage that deserves revisiting as Elgar lays the groundwork for his tripartite riddle:

The Enigma I will not explain – its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the connexion between the Variations and the Theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes’, but is not played . . . So the principal Theme never appears, even as in some later dramas – e.g., Maeterlinck’s ‘L’Intruse’ and ‘Les sept Princesses’ – the chief character is never on the stage.

Elgar uses the words dark and secret interchangeably in a letter to August Jaeger penned on February 5, 1900. He wrote, “Well—I can’t help it but I hate continually saying ‘Keep it dark’—‘a dead secret’—& so forth.” One of the definitions for dark is “secret,” and a saying is a series of words that form a coherent phrase or adage. Elgar’s odd expression — “dark saying” — is coded language for a cipher. In an oblique manner, Elgar hints there is a secret message enciphered within the Enigma Theme.

The conventional wisdom posits there is no answer to the Enigma Variations by speculating that Elgar concocted the notion of an absent principal Theme as an afterthought, practical joke, or marketing gimmick. The editors of the Elgar Complete Edition blithely deny the likelihood there could be any covert counterpoints or even cryptograms. Relying on Elgar’s recollection of playing new material at the piano to gauge his wife’s reaction, the editors tout the standard lore that he extemporized the idiosyncratic Enigma Theme mirabelle dictu without any forethought or planning:

There seems to have been no specific ‘enigma’ in mind at the outset: Elgar’s first playing of the music was hardly more than a running over the keys to aid relaxation. It was Alice Elgar’s interruption, apparently, that called him to attention and helped to identify the phrases which were to become the ‘Enigma’ theme. This suggests it is unlikely that the theme should conceal some counterpoint or cipher needed to solve the ‘Enigma’.

Such a blanket abnegation conveniently relieves these scholars of any obligation to probe for ciphers or cryptograms. The gargantuan irony is that proponents of this crude denialism extol the validity of their position based on a dearth of evidence for which they never executed a diligent or impartial search. This absurd state of affairs is a textbook case of confirmation bias pawned off as peer-reviewed scholarship.

The more sensible view (embraced by those who take Elgar at his published word) accepts the challenge that there is a famous melody lurking behind the Variations’ contrapuntal and modal facade. Regardless of what side is taken in this intractable debate, mainstream scholars insist the answer can never be known with certainty because Elgar allegedly took his secret to the grave in February 1934. This absolutism presumes he never wrote down the solution for posterity to discover. Such a rigid opinion glosses over or blatantly ignores Elgar’s documented obsession with cryptography. That incontestable facet of his psyche raises the prospect that the solution is expertly encoded within Enigma Variations’ orchestral score.

A decade of trawling that sublime masterpiece of British symphonism has netted over one hundred cryptograms in diverse formats that encode a set of mutually consistent and complementary solutions. Although that figure may seem extraordinary, it is entirely consistent with Elgar’s lifelong fascination with ciphers. More significantly, the solutions give definitive answers to the core questions posed by the Enigma Variations. What is the secret melody to which the Enigma Theme is a counterpoint and serves as the melodic foundation for the ensuing movements? Answer: Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress) by Martin Luther. What is the “dark saying” ensconced within the Enigma Theme? Answer: A musical Polybius box cipher embedded in its inaugural six bars cordoned off by a strangely positioned double barline. Who is the secret friend and inspiration behind Variation XIII? Answer: Jesus Christ, the Savior of Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith. The cryptographic evidence supporting these discoveries is diverse yet mutually consistent, multivalent, and decisive. Such a vast trove of cryptograms confirms that the Enigma Variations is Elgar’s musical homage to cryptography.

Variation XIII is a pelagic Romanza with an austere title consisting of three mysterious asterisks (✡ ✡ ✡). This movement features three major melodic quotations and one minor paraphrase from Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt) Op. 27. Each incipit symbolizes a calm sea and is performed quietly as pianissimo or pianississimo. The ebb and flow of the tides are captured by the accompaniment, an undulating ostinato that reprises the Enigma Theme’s palindromic rhythm of two alternating pairs of two eighth notes and two quarter notes.

First Mendelssohn quotation in A-flat major

Second Mendelssohn quotation in A-flat major

Mendelssohn paraphrase in F minor

Third Mendelssohn quotation in E-flat major

Four Mendelssohn fragments in the keys of A-flat major, F minor, and E-flat major rely on six discreet notes ( C, B-flat, A-flat, G, F, and E-flat) that cover the span of a major sixth. The sum of these melodic fragments draws attention to the number four, and their unique notes emphasize the number six. Why would Elgar incorporate these references to those particular numerals? The explanation is that four and six may be paired together to form 46, the chapter number from the Psalms that inspired the German reformer Martin Luther to compose Ein feste Burg, the secret melody of the Enigma Variations. Three of those six discrete notes (B-flat, F, and E-flat) are an anagram of the initials for Ein feste Burg. The numbers three and six stealthily encode the opus number (36) of the Enigma Variations. That same opus number is implied by three Mendelssohn quotations that consist of the same six unique notes.

The marriage of these Mendelssohn fragments with the Enigma Theme’s palindromic rhythm implies a link between these two ostensibly unrelated melodies. The Enigma Theme is a counterpoint to a famous yet absent Theme, and in a similar vein, the unconventional title of Variation XIII is also absent. Unmasking the hidden connections between the Enigma Theme and Variation XIII demands a mastery of music cryptography, a specialty that eludes legacy scholars who stubbornly tout the view that the Mendelssohn fragments are alien to the Enigma Theme. This superficial impression proves to be profoundly misguided.

My search for music cryptograms in the Enigma Variations was precipitated by a marvelous discovery by Charles Richard Santa. A retired engineer and amateur musician, Santa recognized that the scale degrees of the Enigma Theme’s opening four melody notes in measures 1 and 11 encipher the mathematical ratio Pi. The Enigma Theme's melody notes in those bars are B-flat, G, C, and A. The scale degrees of those four notes in G minor are 3, 1, 4, and 2 respectively. Those scale degrees in melodic order are a coded reference to the number Pi that is rounded from 3.1415 to four digits as 3.142. A rounded form of Pi typifies Elgar’s affinity for wordplay.

The Enigma Theme Pi Cipher is remarkable because a circle has 360 degrees, presenting an intriguing parallel with the opus number of the Enigma Variations — 36. Santa’s groundbreaking research showed for the first time how Elgar deftly inserted a cryptogram into the Enigma Theme, raising the tantalizing prospect of more ciphers. Elgar used the opening four melody notes from the Enigma Theme to encode Pi, thereby furnishing a numeric convergence with the four-note Mendelssohn fragments in Variation XIII. Could there be other cryptographic connections between these two overtly extraneous melodies?

On four occasions in Variation XIII from the Enigma Variations, Elgar features a four-note melodic fragment from the starting point of a theme in Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. Three are quoted by the principal clarinet with two in A-flat major and a third in E-flat major. Another fragment in F minor is performed in octaves by the trumpets and trombones but lacks quotation marks because it diverges from the original major mode.

The key letters of those Mendelssohn fragments are an anagram of a well-known music cryptogram (FAE) coined around 1853 by Joseph Joachim, one of the most celebrated violinists in England and Europe during the latter half of the 19th century. “FAE” is the acronym for Joachim’s romantic motto “Frei aber einsam” (Free but lonely), a three-word German saying that mirrors the three-word German title of the covert Theme. The letters of Joachim’s maxim were used as the musical foundation for the F-A-E Violin Sonata composed in October 1853 by Robert Schumann, Albert Dietrich, and Johannes Brahms. Mendelssohn mentored Joachim, introducing him to the British public in 1844 at age 12 in a command performance of Beethoven’s violin concerto for the Royal Philharmonic Society of London. An aspiring violinist in his youth and professional concert violinist as an adult, Elgar lionized Joachim as eloquently documented by Arthur Reynolds in the July 2007 issue of The Elgar Society Journal. For instance, Elgar reverently described a discarded E string from Joachim’s violin as “a precious relic.”

The inability of career academics such as Julian Rushton to detect such a simple musical cryptogram transparently concealed by the Mendelssohn fragments is ample proof of a punctum caecum, a gaping blind spot in their methods. Absent an informed sensitivity to the existence of ciphers, career academics casually dismiss that possibility on contrived grounds and make no effort to detect or decrypt them. This perspective feeds a perverse form of confirmation bias as the presumption that there are no cryptograms suppresses any search for them. Ignorance of these ciphers is elevated to the level of proof, leading scholars to dismiss all prospective cryptograms as conjectural or contrived.

The academic establishment missed the proverbial boat concerning the cryptographic significance of the Mendelssohn fragments. The key letters of the Mendelssohn fragments form part of a much larger cache of cryptograms that divulge and authenticate the covert melodic Theme of the Enigma Variations and the secret friend memorialized in Variation XIII. While incredible in their scope and number, these ciphers are entirely consistent with Elgar’s lifelong interest in cryptography. A meticulous analysis of the Mendelssohn fragments has netted 28 cryptograms, and there are undoubtedly more to be discovered. This impressive collection of ciphers is listed below with links to their detailed descriptions and decryptions:

Mendelssohn Quotations “Psalm 46” Ciphers

It is a privilege to report the discovery of a new set of interrelated ciphers ensconced within the Mendelssohn quotations of Variation XIII. These cryptograms encode the standard abbreviation of Psalm as “Ps” in tandem with the chapter number 46. Psalm 46 is known as “Luther’s Psalm” because it inspired him to compose Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress), the covert Theme of the Enigma Variations. The Mendelssohn quotations are four-note incipits of a subordinate theme from the concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. Likewise, the abbreviation “Ps” is a two-letter incipit of Psalm. Countless examples of the abbreviation “Ps.” abound in the literature. A Church of England Psalm-Book published in 1822 abbreviates Psalm as “Ps.” The same abbreviation appears often in the Authorized Version of the Holy Bible published in 1876. The Psalms published in 1884 also employs the abbreviation “Ps.”

Geoffrey Hodgkins documents an immense assortment of religious texts that filled Elgar’s personal library in the essay “Everything I Can Lay My Hands On’: Elgar’s Theological Library” from the July 2003 issue of The Elgar Society Journal. Based on available records, Hodgkins surmises “. . . there could have been more than one hundred bibles and theological books in Elgar’s collection . . .” Elgar referred to these and other borrowed books to compose the librettos for choral works and sacred oratorios. Consequently, it is safe to conclude that Elgar was exceedingly familiar with the standard abbreviation of Psalm as “Ps.”

The First Mendelssohn Quotations

The first Mendelssohn quotation is preceded by a soft metallic hum played by the timpanist to mimic the sound of a ship’s engine. Starting at bar 503, the timpanist performs a C tremolo which has the performance directions “Solo” and “ppp” (pianississimo). These two Italian terms form an acrostic anagram of “pS”, the same letters used to abbreviate Psalm with the upper and lower cases reversed. The timpanist is instructed to perform the tremolo “with side drum sticks” to imitate the hum of an ocean liner. The accompanying German translation below reads in italics, “mit Tamb. picc. Schlägel”. Three acrostic anagrams of “Ps” are formed from combinations of “picc.” with “Schlägel”, “side” and “sticks”. Three more acrostic anagrams of “Ps” are produced by pairing “ppp” with “side”, “sticks”, and “Schlägel”. Like the FAE Cipher, Elgar’s use of the German language hints at the Germanic origin of the secret melody.

First Mendelssohn Quotation: Timpani Solo

The principal cellist joins the timpani in bar 505 by playing a sustained harmonic C that doubles the tremolo C. The principal cellist is assigned the performance terms “Solo” and “pp” which provide an acrostic anagram of “pS” with the upper and lower cases of “Ps” exchanging places. A “ppp” in the viola staff atop “Solo” in the cello staff yields another “pS” acrostic anagram.

First Mendelssohn Quotation: Viola Ostinato and Cello Solo

When visiting Leipzig at the age of 26, Elgar proclaimed that Schumann was “my ideal!” composer in a July 1, 1883, letter to Dr. Buck. William H. Reed recalled that Elgar “. . . loved Schumann, and would discuss his symphonies at great length.” Elgar possessed a book of Schumann’s most popular piano works, and many of these contain music ciphers. Schumann encoded the letter S using an E-flat because that note is pronounced “Es” in the German notation system. Based on this key, the proximity of “ppp” next to an E-flat on the second beat of bar 505 in the clarinet staff furnishes a coded abbreviation of Psalm. Elgar identified his musical works with the letter E. In a March 1897 letter to Dora Penny, he explained that when mailing master scores to his publisher, Elgar would seal the envelope with a red wax seal that featured a prominent “E” so “my works may be E sily distinguished.”

The principal clarinet performs the first Mendelssohn quotation in A-flat major starting four bars after Rehearsal 56 in measure 505. The quotation consists of four notes accompanied by a soft metallic timpani roll on C, a harmonic C played by the principal cellist, and an ostinato figure of alternating harmonic sixths (C/A-flat and E-flat/C) in the key of A-flat major performed by the violas. The numbers four and six are underscored by the four-note Mendelssohn quotation and the ostinato figure of oscillating harmonic sixths. The performance directions “Solo” and “pp” (pianissimo) assigned to the clarinet staff form an acrostic anagram of “pS” with the upper and lower cases switched.

First Mendelssohn Quotation: Clarinet Solo

The performance term “espress.” in bar 506 is Italian for espressivo (expressive). The first syllable of espressivo is pronounced as exactly as the letter “S”. In bar 506, the clarinet staff has the performance direction “poco” (little). The pairing of “espress.” in bar 506 with “poco” in by 507 generates a phonetic acrostic anagram of “ps”. In his music ciphers, Schumann used the note E-flat to encode the letter S. According to the German notation system, E-flat is pronounced “Es” just like the first syllable of espressivo. In bar 507, “poco” is positioned directly above a concert E-flat written as F. Consequently, the phonetic translation of E-flat as “Es” mingled with the initial for “poco” furnishes yet another coded abbreviation of Psalm. The terms “Solo”, “pp”, “express.”, “poco”, and concert E-flat in bars 505-507 of the clarinet staff permit five abbreviations of Psalm as acrostic anagrams.

A rigorous study of bars 503-505 from the orchestral score that houses the first Mendelssohn quotation identified fourteen abbreviations of Psalm encoded in staves for the clarinet (4), viola (1), cello (2), and timpani (7). The number fourteen is conspicuous as there are fourteen numbered movements in the Enigma Variations. The Mendelssohn quotation’s four notes and the ostinato of alternative harmonic sixths implicate chapter 46 from the Book of Psalms which discloses the title of the covert Theme.

Although the score directs the timpanist to perform the tremolos accompanying the Mendelssohn quotations with side drum sticks, this is never done in practice. In reality, timpanists reproduce the distant metallic hum of a steam engine by executing the tremolos with two coins. This novel technique was devised by Wilhelm Geznink who performed timpani at the London premiere in June 1899. Although Elgar endorsed this technique, it is significant that he never instructed Novello to revise the timpani part or orchestral score to reflect this innovation. The explanation is that doing so would have relinquished some coded references to Psalm and his initials.

Various cryptograms in the Enigma Variations divulge coded forms of Elgar’s initials (EE). Some superlative examples are the “EE’s Psalm” Cipher in the first bar of the Enigma Theme and the “E’s Psalm” Cipher from the opening cello solo of Variation XII. The “Psalm 46” Ciphers affiliated with the Mendelsohn quotations expand on this pattern of enciphered initials. Similar to the abbreviation “Ps”, Elgar’s initials consist of two letters. The principal clarinet is directed to play the first Mendelssohn quotation “molto express.” Remarkably, the letter e appears twice in “express.”

The quotation is followed in bar 507 by an E-flat in concert pitch tied over the barline to a second E-flat. These tied E-flats give another coded form of Elgar’s initials. Similarly, the second violins perform an E-flat in bar 503 that is tied over the barline to a second E-flat in bar 504. The Mendelssohn quotations symbolize a calm sea. In this context, the tied E-flats illustrate Elgar’s penchant for wordplay as “tied” is a homonym of “tide,” a term used to describe the rise and fall of the sea.

The ostinato figure performed by the violas beginning in bar 503 features precisely two E-flats per measure. This pattern of two E-flats per bar continues until that total doubles to four E-flats per measure in bars 511-512. The English and German instructions for the timpanist in bars 503-504 also feature the letter e twice, first in the word “side” and again in “Schlägel”. The profusion of dual Es in the notes and performance directions of the orchestration for the first Mendelssohn quotation make a credible case that Elgar covertly initialed this series of “Psalm 46” cryptograms.

The Second Mendelssohn Quotations

The second Mendelssohn quotation in A-flat major is immediately preceded by a solo performed by the principal contrabassist that starts with an E-flat (bar 512) that descends a perfect fifth to A-flat (bar 513). The performance directions in bar 512 for the principal contrabassist are “Solo” and “pp”, providing an acrostic anagram of “pS” with the upper and lower cases reversed. The principal cellist performs a second harmonic C beginning in bar 513 with the performance terms “Solo” and “ppp” that provide another acrostic anagram of “pS” with the upper and lower cases trading places. The nearness of “ppp” in the viola staff just above “Solo” in the cello staff furnishes another acrostic anagram of “pS” with the cases reversed. The E-flat on beat two of bar 513 comes just after “ppp” to form another “pS.”

Second Mendelssohn Quotation: Viola Ostinato, Cello Solo, and Bass Solo.

The second Mendelssohn quotation is played by the principal clarinet starting at Rehearsal 57 and spans bars 513-515. The performance directions in bar 513 for the principal clarinet are “sempre ppp” which is Italian for “always pianississimo.” Like the preceding quotation in bars 505-507, these performance directions are an acrostic anagram of “ps”.

Scrutinizing bars 512-513 from the orchestral score harboring the second Mendelssohn quotation unmasked five coded abbreviations of Psalm in bars 512-513 of the full score in staves for the clarinet (1), viola (1), cello (2), and contrabass (1). The number five is significant because the fifth letter of the alphabet is E. Like the first quotation, the four-note Mendelssohn incipit and ostinato figure of alternating harmonic sixths accentuate the numbers four and six, subtly hinting at Psalm 46.

Second Mendelssohn: Quotation Clarinet Solo

Coded allusions to Elgar’s initials abound in the full score of the second Mendelsohn quotation. The letter e appears twice in “sempre”, a performance term in bar 513 of the clarinet staff. Like the first quotation, the second is immediately followed by two concert E-flats tied over the barline in measures 515-516 of the clarinet staff. The ostinato figure reprises the pattern of playing two E-flats per bar in measures 513-517 followed by two E naturals in bar 518.

The Third Mendelssohn Quotations

The third Mendelssohn quotation is preceded by a tremolo on G performed by the timpanist. Like the earlier tremolos accompanying the first and second quotations, Elgar directs the timpanist in bar 535 to perform the G tremolo with a very quiet dynamic of pianississimo (ppp). The timpanist is also instructed to execute the tremolo “with side drum sticks” accompanied by the German translation in italics, “mit Tamb. picc. Schlägel”. As observed earlier, there are three possible acrostic anagrams of “Ps” from those English and German phrases sourced from “picc.” and “Schlägel”, “side” and “sticks”. The inclusion of the first letter of pianississimo raises the number of possible “Ps” acrostic anagrams by three more.

Third Mendelssohn Quotation: Timpani Solo

The principal cellist plays a solo G in unison with the timpani that accompanies the third Mendelssohn quotation in bars 536-538. The principal cello staff is given the performance terms “Solo” and “ppp” which form an acrostic anagram of “pS” with the upper and lower cases trading places. In the second violin staff of bar 535, an E-flat placed directly over “ppp” furnishes another coded form of “Ps” based on the German pronunciation of E-flat as the letter S. The same formula also appears in the viola staff of bar 535 where an E-flat is placed directly over “ppp”.

Third Mendelssohn Quotation: Viola Ostinato, Cello Solo, and Cello Ostinato

The third Mendelssohn quotation is played by the principal clarinet beginning on the third beat of bar 537 four bars after Rehearsal 60. The performance directions for this final quotation open with “Solo” and “ppp” in bar 537, generating an acrostic anagram of “pS” with the upper and lower cases reversed. The first syllable of “espress.” in bar 538 furnishes a phonetic “S” that adds a second coded abbreviation of Psalm by pairing the Italian terms “ppp” with “espress.” The third Mendelssohn quotation concludes with two concert E-flats that encode the letter “S” in the German notation system. When paired with the first letter of “ppp”, these two coded forms of “S” provide two more coded abbreviations of Psalm.

An assessment of bars 534-539 from the orchestral score that features the third Mendelssohn quotation identified fourteen coded abbreviations of Psalm in staves for the clarinet (4), second violin (1), viola (1), principal cello (2), and timpani (6).

Third Mendelssohn Quotation: Clarinet Solo

Like the prior two Mendelssohn quotations in A-flat major, the third in E-flat major consists of four notes accompanied by a pulsating ostinato of alternating harmonic sixths. These subtle references to the numbers four and six provide the numerals needed to generate 46. Remarkably, the center of the third Mendelssohn quotation falls squarely in measure 583, the 46th bar of Variation XIII. Six coded abbreviations of Psalm in conjunction with multiple allusions to the number 46 pinpoints Psalm 46.

33 Coded Abbreviations Of “Psalm”

An analysis of the three Mendelssohn quotations uncovered a total of 33 coded references to the two-letter abbreviation of Psalm in the orchestral score. These are ensconced in the parts for the clarinet (9), timpani (13), second violin (1), viola (3), cello (6), and contrabass (1). 26 are acrostic anagrams obtained from adjacent performance directions. Seven are hybrids formed by performance terms beginning with p located next to E-flats, a homonym of the letter S in the German notation system. E-flat is the only pitch shared by the A-flat major and E-flat major triads. 33 coded forms of Psalm are conspicuous as that number is the mirror image of Elgar’s initials consisting of two capital cursive Es. The sum 33 is also significant that Roman Catholics endorse the tenet that Jesus was crucified at the age of 33.

Coded references to the Book of Psalms in passages with Mendelssohn quotations are significant because Jesus cited passages from the Psalms as he languished on the cross. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus recites the first line of Psalm 22, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” The phrase is Aramaic for “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This was the fourth of seven sayings uttered by Jesus from the cross. Elgar shows that Aramaic phrase over a section of instrumental music in the score of The Apostles. Psalm 22 is a prophetic chapter that gives a detailed account of the crucifixion. Luke 23:46 records that in his last saying from the cross just before he died, Jesus cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” This passage is a direct quotation from Psalm 31:5. Consequently, coded references to the Psalms in the Mendelssohn quotation passages reinforce the association with the crucifixion of Christ.

The poem Meerestille und Glückliche Fahrt by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe inspired Mendelssohn’s concert overture by the same name cited by Elgar in Variation XIII. Goethe invokes a calm sea as a metaphor for the terrible stillness of death (“Todesstille fürchterlich!”). Based on this poetic context, the Mendelssohn quotations denoting a calm sea indicate that Elgar’s friend had died. The number of quotations parallels the three days and nights that Jesus spent in the tomb. A marine reference is consistent with the response Jesus gave the religious authorities when they demanded a sign of his heavenly authority. As documented in Matthew 12:38-42, Jesus answered that the only sign they would be given is the Sign of Jonah. Jesus likened his death and resurrection to the plight of the prophet Jonah who spent three days and three nights in the belly of a whale before being miraculously spat out on dry land. Akin to a steamship that transports passengers across the sea, a whale carried Jonah on a sea journey to his port of call to resume his sacred calling. The Mendelssohn quotations are a theologically nuanced metaphor for the Sign of Jonah. This is why the Ichthys (Jesus Fish) is one of the most ancient and widely recognized Christograms.

The “DEAD G-D” Cipher

Other cryptograms implicate the death of Jesus in Variation XIII such as the “Dead G-D” Cipher. Symbolically buried in the lowest staff of the full score in Variation XIII, the bass section plays the notes “D-E-A-D” four measures after Rehearsal 55 and a second time four bars after Rehearsal 59. Incredibly, the bass part literally spells out what Elgar symbolically portrays with the conspicuous Mendelssohn fragments. Variation XIII is framed in the key of G major. The discrete notes in Elgar’s spelling of dead are D, E, and A. In the key of G major, the scale degrees of D, E, and A are 5, 6, and 2, respectively. When those three scale degrees are converted into their corresponding letters in the alphabet using a simple number-to-letter key, they become E, F, and B. The initials of the secret melody are encoded in order by the “DEAD” Notes Scale Degrees Cipher. Those letters are the initials in the appropriate sequence for the covert Theme, Ein feste Burg. The name of Elgar’s special friend who died and rose from the grave is cited in the second stanza of Luther’s renowned hymn Ein feste Burg.

On the heels of each spelling of “dead” in the bass line, the identity of who died is answered by the flute, oboe, and clarinet. Six bars after Rehearsal 55, the principal flute and principal oboe play in unison a G followed by D. Seven bars after Rehearsal 55, the principal clarinet repeats that same melodic sequence for a third time. This same pattern is reiterated six and seven bars after Rehearsal 59. Elgar’s answer to the question of who died is “G-D”, a common phonetic spelling of God. Three melodic note sequences of “G-D” intimate the Trinity with two overlapping to suggest God the Father and his earthly incarnation, God the Son. Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith leaves only one credible candidate for a God who died: Jesus Christ. Elgar raises a question by encoding the word “DEAD” in the lowest part of the score and then answers it in the three highest staves with three codes references to “G-D.” The use of three different woodwinds to spell out a phonetic rendition of “God” in the top three staves of the score is a transparent Trinitarian allusion.

The “Ps.” Sums Number-To-Letter Cipher

The discrete sums of these coded Psalm abbreviations — 1, 3, 6, 9, and 13 — may be converted into letters using an elementary number-to-letter key (1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C, etc.). This approach is justified by Elgar’s use of the same key to encode the initials of Jesus Christ (JC) using the Roman numerals in the title of Variation XIII. Elgar also applies the same key to Variation IX (Nimrod) to encipher the initials of August Jaeger. The translation of the discrete sums of 1, 3, 6, 9, and 13 into their corresponding letters of the alphabet generates the plaintext A, C, F, I, and M. The letters “AMF” are an anagram of the initials for A Mighty Fortress, a common English translation of Ein feste Burg. The remaining two letters “IC” come from the “IC XC” Christogram, an abbreviated form “Jesus Christ” (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ) in Greek using the first and last letters of each name. “IC” comes from the first and last letters of Jesus (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ). “IC” is similar to the two-letter abbreviation (Ps.) for Psalm. The letters “IC” and “XC” are commonly separated on famous icons as shown by the Jesus Christ Pantocrator mosaic in the Hagia Sophia.

Jesus Christ Pantocrator Mosaic with “IC XC” (Hagia Sophia)

In his paper The Shroud and the Ionocgraphy of Christ, Emanuel Marinelli identifies striking similarities between the depictions of Jesus (such as the Pantocrator mosaic) and the image on the Shroud of Turin. The Enigma Variations has a subset of cryptograms that encode references to that sacred burial cloth that many believe wrapped the body of Jesus. The first photographs taken of the Turin Shroud in May 1898 by Secondo Pia became an international sensation because the negatives on the photographic plates revealed a lifelike positive image. This discovery confirmed that the picture on the shroud is itself a photographic negative as a negative of a negative produces a positive image. Elgar was an observant Roman Catholic when he composed the Enigma Variations between October 1898 and July 1899. It is reasonable to concede that he was aware of Pia’s photographic negatives of the Turin Shroud when composing the Enigma Variations.

It is extraordinary that the letters encoded by the unique sums 1, 3, 6, 9, and 13 produce the English initials of the covert Theme (AMF) and the first Greek initial for Elgar’s secret friend (Jesus Christ) memorialized in Variation XIII. An alternative translation of “IC” is to read it phonetically as the phrase “I see.” The initials “IC AMF” may be translated as “I see A Mighty Fortress.” The first line of Psalm 46 ascribes to God the appellation “A Mighty Fortress.” This title technically applies to Jesus who is defined as a member of the Godhead by the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. His divinity is explicitly stated in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Consequently, the statement “I see A Mighty Fortress” may be distilled down to the declarations “I see God” and “I see Jesus.”

The Triple Cross “tranquillo” Ciphers

Jesus was crucified between two criminals according to Luke 23:32-33. For this reason, the symbol of three crosses symbolizes the sacrificial death of Christ. Two bars before the first Mendelssohn quotation, the performance direction “tranquillo” (calm) appears on three different staves of the full score. The lowercase “t” at the beginning of “tranquillo” closely resembles the Christian cross. Staves may be defined as “vertical wooden posts,” a meaning redolent of a wooden cross. In bar 503, “tranquillo” is poised above the staves for the principal flute and first violins, and below the staff for the contrabasses. These three performance directions in large black print provide the triple crosses acrostic “ttt” which is a coded allusion to three crosses. The word acrostic has the phonetic equivalent of cross.

Bar 503 Triple Cross “tranquillo” Cipher

In bar 535 two bars before the third Mendelssohn quotation, “tranquillo” appears again three times above the staves for the principal flute and first violins, and below the staff for the contrabasses.

Bar 535 Triple Cross “tranquillo” Cipher

On the earliest short score sketch of Variation XIII, Elgar wrote the title as “X X X” in blue pencil followed by “Var.” (Variation) in black ink and a large capital “L” in blue pencil. Three Xs resemble three saltire crosses, confirming that from an early stage Elgar entertained a triple cross symbolism. Remarkably, the first letters of each title element form a reverse acrostic of “LVX”, the Latin word for “Light” using the classical Latin alphabet V as U. Jesus professed in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.” Elgar gave his first sacred oratorio the Latin title Lux Christi (Light of Christ) which was marketed under the Anglicized title The Light of Life. The enciphering of “LUX” in the title of the short score sketch of Variation XIII is a luminous clue regarding the identity of Elgar’s secret friend.

XIII Short Score “LVX” Acrostic Anagram Cipher

E-flat Ostinato “EGG” Notes Ciphers

The initials “AMF” and “IC” fit a larger pattern in the Enigma Variations with titles that consist predominantly of initials. The title A Mighty Fortress is the English translation of the original German title Ein feste Burg. The letters “IC” come from the Christogram “IC XC” with “IC” sourced from the first and last letters of the Greek name for Jesus (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ). Three languages are associated with these two decryptions: English, German, and Greek. These three languages are an acrostic of “EGG”, a traditional symbol of the death and resurrection of Christ. An egg is also an apt symbol for a cipher because it must first be cracked before its hidden contents may be disgorged. Elgar uses strategically placed elliptical note heads that resemble small eggs to encode the word “EGG”.

Red Easter egg with a Christian cross

Red Easter Egg with a depiction of the Resurrection (c. 1890)

The pedal tone and ostinato figure accompanying the third Mendelssohn quotation are replete with notes named E and G. These repeated Es and Gs lay dozens of “EGG” anagrams in bars 535-542. When scanned vertically from top to bottom, notes in the viola and cello staves spell “EGG” on the first and third beats of bars 535, 537, 539, and 541. The same approach also spells “EGG” on the first and second beats of bars 536, 538, 540, and 542. In bars 535-542, numerous “EGG” anagrams may be assembled from aligned and adjacent note letters in the viola, cello, and contrabass staves. Similar to Easter eggs, these “EGG” anagrams are skillfully hidden within the orchestral score

E-flat Ostinato “EGG” Notes Ciphers

Traditional Easter eggs are painted red to represent the blood of Christ shed at Calvary. Remarkably, performance directions in bar 541 form a reverse acrostic of “red” — dim. e rit. These Italian terms appear in the staves for the clarinet, timpani, violas, and cellos. Not only does Elgar encode “EGG” dozens of times in bars 535-542, he also enciphers their traditional color in bar 541.

Italian Initials “CG” Pedal Tones Cipher

The pedal tones for the Mendelssohn quotations in A-flat major and E-flat major are C and G. The timpanist performs tremolos on C to accompany the first and second Mendelssohn quotations, and a tremolo G with the third Mendelssohn quotation. These same pitches are doubled by the cello solo. Remarkably, the note letters G and C correspond to the Italian initials for Jesus Christ (Gesù Cristo). When the first pedal tone C is translated phonetically as “See”, all three pedal tone notes (CCG) may be decoded as “See Cristo Gesù” (See Christ Jesus).

The Italian initials for Jesus Christ correspond with the prevalence of Italian throughout the score. That romance language is used for the instrumentation and the vast majority of the performance directions. The order of these Italian initials as “GC” corresponds to “Cristo Gesù” (Christ Jesus). It is significant that the name of Elgar’s covert friend is given as “Christ Jesus” in the second stanza of popular English translations of Ein feste Burg by Thomas Carlyle (A Safe Stronghold) and Frederic H. Hedge (A Mighty Fortress).

Ostinato Morse Code “MI IM” Cipher

The ostinato’s palindromic rhythm that accompanies the Mendelssohn quotations may be easily translated into letters using International Morse code. Two quarter notes correspond to two dashes, and two eighth notes to two dots. Two dashes encode the letter M, and two dots the letter I. Morse code converts the ostinato’s palindromic rhythm into the plaintext “MI IM”. This translation may be read phonetically as “My I AM”.

When Moses asked God for his name, God replied with the enigmatic title “I AM” in Exodus 3:14. Christian theologians teach that this encounter was a Christophany where Jesus appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Jesus invoked that same divine name when the Pharisees challenged his divine authority. As recorded in John 8:58, Jesus answers, “Truly, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus asserts his divinity in Mark 14:62, John 8:24, John 8:28, and John 18:5-6. With the enciphered statement “My I AM” via Morse code, Elgar personalizes his identification with Christ whose Italian initials are encoded by the pedal tones of the Mendelssohn quotations.

When treated as an anagram,“MI IM” may be reshuffled as “IM IM”. This solution is a phonetic realization of the double “I AM” from Exodus 3:14 that reads, “I AM WHO I AM.” The anagram “IM IM” shares similarities with the “IC XC” Christogram. Both begin the “I” and have the same letters in the second and fourth positions.

Jesus Calms the Sea

One of the miracles of Jesus performed on a boat was to rebuke a raging sea and windstorm and restore calm. Jesus and his disciples set out on a ship to cross the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus fell into a deep sleep, a ferocious windstorm churned up turbulent surf that threatened to swamp their ship. Fearing for their lives, the disciples roused Jesus and pleaded for his help. Jesus “. . . rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” This miracle is recorded in Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:36-41, Luke 8:22-25, and John 6:16-21. Jesus answered the storm with the command “Be still”, a phrase that famously appears in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The image of a calm sea presents a theological nexus between Psalm 46 and one of the few miracles of Christ performed on a ship.

Numerous scriptures describe how God miraculously walks on the sea. Job 9:8 declares that God “. . . alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the seas . . .” Psalm 77:19 proclaims about God, “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” The fulfillment of these scriptures is found in Mark 6:45-51. In this passage, Jesus walks on the sea in the midst of a storm and restores calm as soon as he steps into the boat holding his bewildered disciples:

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased.

Elgar’s depiction of a calm sea in a movement secretly dedicated to Christ reflects a profound knowledge of the Old and New Testament scriptures.

Mendelssohn the Hymnist

Mendelssohn composed the melodies for several Protestant hymns. His most memorable hymn melody is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. The music for this carol originates from his Festegesang, a cantata written in 1840 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the invention of movable metal type by Johannes Gutenberg. The first major book ever published with this new technology is the Gutenberg Bible, a watershed that launched the “Gutenberg Revolution.” The English musician Williams H. Cummings adapted the lyrics of Hymn for Christmas Day by Charles Wesley (with some changes by George Whitfield) to a melody from Festegesang. There is a lyrical rendition of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Celtic Women.

Mendelssohn composed the music for Still, Still With Thee. The poetic lyrics for that hymn were conceived by Harriet B. Stowe, the famed abolitionist author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

He also wrote the tune for O Word of God Incarnate, a hymn with lyrics by the Anglican Bishop William Walsham How.

Mendelssohn composed the hymn The Desire Of All Nations Shall Come.

He also composed the hymn Look Unto Jesus.

One of Mendelssohn’s more popular works is the Hymn of Praise (Lobgesang), a Symphony-Cantata for soloist, choir and orchestra with a libretto from various passages of the Bible. According to Hymnary.org, Mendelssohn composed at least 101 melodies used in a wide selection of hymnals. With so many hymns attributed to him, it is reasonable to suspect that Elgar quotes Mendelssohn in the Enigma Variations to hint that the famous hidden melody is also a hymn. This illustrates Elgar’s sense of wordplay as the terms him and hymn are homonyms.

Mendelssohn the Psalmist

Mendelssohn is virtually synonymous with the Psalms as he composed numerous symphonic and choral works inspired by that book of hymns. The Finale of his Reformation Symphony is one of the more outstanding examples with its quotation of Ein feste Burg followed by a set of variations. He quotes Psalm 51 in his sacred oratorio Saint Paul to convey the contrition of the Pharisee Saul of Tarsus following his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. Mendelssohn produced large choral cantatas based on Psalm 115 (1830), Psalm 42 (1837), Psalm 95 (1838), Psalm 114 (1839), and Psalm 98 (1843). Mendelssohn composed some of his Psalm settings specifically for English audiences. One example is Psalm 55 (1844). His oratorio Elijah premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival. In that large-scale work, he cites passages from Psalm 6, 7, 10, 16, 25, 55, 86, 88, 91, 93, 104, 108, 121, and 128. His other choral settings include Psalm 66 (1822), Psalm 5 (1839), Psalm 31 (1839), and Psalm 100 (1844).

Drei Psalmen Op. 78 was published after Mendelssohn’s death. These three a cappella choral works are settings of Psalm 2 (1843), Psalm 22 (1844), and Psalm 153 (1844). Drei means the number three in German. This figure presents an uncanny parallel with Elgar’s use of three Mendelssohn quotations in Variation XIII from the concert overture Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt. Elgar’s act of citing Mendelssohn’s music suggests the inverse, specifically that Mendelssohn quotes the secret melody in one of his own works. It may be argued that the specific number of Mendelssohn fragments enclosed by quotations in Variation XIII is another clue regarding the source of the covert Theme. Three Mendelssohn quotations herald from a work with a German title, and the German word for three is not coincidentally the first word in the title Drei Psalmen. The number three is directly linked to a work by Mendelssohn associated with the Psalms.

Elgar followed in the footsteps of Mendelssohn by composing numerous works that cite passages from the Psalms. Susan Gillingham catalogs some of these in her book Psalms of the Centuries:

The most significant English composer associated with the Romantic Movement who also arranged accompaniments for psalms is Edward Elgar (1857—1934). Drawing much of his inspiration from the Worcestershire countryside, from British culture and from his continental contemporaries, Elgar’s symphonies, oratorios and his nationalistic works gave him huge popular appeal. By the time he had started the major choral work using Newman's The Dream of Gerontius (1900), he had already established himself with his Enigma Variations and Sea Pictures, both performed in 1899. In The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar demonstrated something of his personal Catholic faith and, despite the muted reception and Elgar’s consequent distress at its first performance, it placed him as amongst the best of British performers of his day because of its universal import—the death of everyman. In The Dream, Elgar set to music Newman's Psalms — Psalm 31:5 (‘into thy hands I commend my spirit’), Psalms 147 and 150 as the subtext for 'Praise to the Holiest’, and especially Psalm 90, sung as Gerontius descends to purgatory. Later, Elgar composed other liturgical works from Psalms: in 1907 he arranged two single chants for the Venite (Psalm 95), and two double chants for more nationalistic Psalms 68 and 75. In 1912 he also wrote an accompaniment to Psalm 48 for a service at Westminster Abbey. But, in terms of psalmody, nothing perhaps excels his dramatic use of Psalm 90, with its balance of expression from orchestra and choir and soloists alike.

Elgar carefully studied the Psalms and quotes many selections from them in his musical output. This specialization would account for his interest in Ein feste Burg as one of the most famous hymns inspired by the Psalms.

Summation

Elgar was an inveterate cryptologist who admired Mendelssohn and Schumann, a composer who incorporated ciphers into his music. It is no surprise that the Enigma Variations are heavily infiltrated by cryptograms. The apparently anomalous Mendelssohn fragments in Variation XIII conceal a rich cache of cryptograms that disclose the covert Theme and secret friend memorialized in that maritime movement. The most current discovery is a group of ciphers associated with the Mendelssohn quotations that encode references to 33 abbreviated forms of Psalm (Ps), the chapter 46, the English initials (AMF) for A Mighty Fortress, the Greek abbreviation (IC) for Jesus, three crosses, dozens of spellings of “EGG” accompanied by the word “red”, and the Italian initials (CG) for Christ Jesus.

An analysis of the orchestral score in the vicinity of the Mendelssohn quotations identified 33 coded abbreviations of Psalm as “Ps.” There are fourteen connected with the first quotation, five with the second quotation, and fourteen with the third quotation. The numbers four and six are subtly emphasized throughout passages with a Mendelssohn quotation. Each quotation has four sounding notes, and these are accompanied by an undulating ostinato of alternating harmonic sixths. There are a total of four Mendelssohn fragments consisting of a total of six discrete notes. Pairing those numerals together generates the number 46. The presence of so many coded abbreviations of Psalm in the context of the numbers four and six collectively implicate Psalm 46, the epiphany for Ein feste Burg.

The decryptions “Psalm” and “46” converge in the passages of the Mendelssohn quotations to pinpoint the scripture that unlocks the title of the hidden melody. The first identifies the book, and the second the chapter. The specificity of this solution is mutually consistent with scores of other ciphers embedded within the orchestral score. One example is a coded allusion to Psalm 46 in the performance directions of the Enigma Theme’s opening bar. Another similar reference occurs in the performance directions for the solo cello in the opening bar of Variation XII.

33 coded forms of “Ps” in passages associated with the Mendelssohn quotations correspond to the age when Christ died on the cross according to Roman Catholic tradition. Coded references to the Psalm are relevant as Jesus cited various passages from that book at his crucifixion. Applying a basic number-to-letter key to the unique sums of Psalm abbreviations in each instrumental staff (1, 3, 6, 9, and 13) generates anagrams of the English initials for the covert Theme (AMF) and the Greek initials for Jesus (IC). “A Mighty Fortress” is the title of a famous hymn as well as for God. The anagram “IC AMF” may also be decrypted phonetically as “I see A Mighty Fortress.” The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that Jesus is God. Consequently, the statement “I see A Mighty Fortress” may be understood to mean “I see God” and “I see Jesus.” These statements resonate with another set of cryptograms in the Enigma Variations that encode references to the Turin Shroud and Sudarium, sacred burial clothes that covered the body and head of Christ.

The poetic context of the Mendelssohn quotations equates a calm sea to death, implying that Elgar’s secret friend had died. This impression is consistent with 33 coded references to Psalm that correspond to the age of Christ when he was crucified according to extrabiblical tradition. The “DEAD G-D” ciphers in Variation XIII bolster the conclusion that Elgar’s secret friend had passed away. The statement “Dead God” accurately describes the fate of Jesus who as the incarnation of God was brutally executed at Golgotha. The musical depiction of a steamer sailing on a calm sea also presents unmistakable parallels with the prophet Jonah’s sea voyage inside a great fish for three days and nights. A raging sea made suddenly calm is tied to miracles that Jesus performed from a boat.

The Italian performance direction “tranquillo” appears in triplicate two bars before the first Mendelssohn quotation and again two before the third quotation. The lowercase “t” resembles the Christian cross. The first letters of these aligned performance terms is the acrostic “ttt”. That three-letter sequence aptly portrays three crosses, a traditional Christian symbol of the crucifixion of Christ who was executed between two criminals. Notes with the letters E and G from the ostinato accompanying the third Mendelssohn quotation in bars 535-542 encode dozens of “EGG” anagrams. The red Easter egg is a traditional symbol of the death and resurrection of Christ. Near the end of that ostinato section in bar 541, the word “red” is encoded four times as a reverse acrostic by the performance terms “dim. e rit.”

The pedal tones accompanying the Mendelssohn quotations are C and G. These two letters are the Italian initials for Jesus Christ (Gesù Cristo). This decryption is consistent with Italian labels for the instrumentation and most of the performance directions which are in that language. The order of appearance as “CG” suggests the reverse as Cristo Gesù (Christ Jesus), the same appellation in the second stanza from popular English translations of Ein feste Burg by Carlyle and Hedge. The Italian initials for Christ Jesus (GC) and Greek Christogram for Jesus (IC) share a common letter in the second position.

The palindromic ostinato that accompanies the Mendelssohn quotations encodes the letters “MI IM” in Morse code. These may be decrypted as “My I AM.” This solution represents Elgar’s personal identification with the God who calls Himself by the enigmatic name “I AM”. God gave this mysterious name for Himself to Moses at the burning bush, a Christophany where Jesus appeared preincarnate. Jesus also called himself by this divine name in heated disputes with the Pharisees. When treated as an anagram, “MI IM” may be realized as “IM IM” which is a phonetic realization of the double “I AM” from Exodus 3:14. The anagram “IM IM” shares similarities with the “IC XC” Christogram as both begin the “I” and have the same letters in the second and fourth places.

Elgar’s decision to quote a fragment from Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage in the Enigma Variations injects nuanced associations with Mendelssohn’s sacred oratorios, Psalm settings, hymns, and most importantly, his Reformation Symphony that cites Ein feste Burg. Many of Mendelssohn’s sacred works cite passages from the Psalms. For example, the libretto of his oratorio Elijah quotes excerpts from Psalm 6, 7, 10, 16, 25, 55, 86, 88, 91, 93, 104, 108, 121, and 128. Mendelssohn’s melodies and harmonizations appear in the hymnals of Protestant denominations. To learn more about the secrets of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, read my free eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Please help support and expand my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria