Elgar’s Psalm Settings Ciphers

 

    It is well known that Elgar was always interested in puzzles, ciphers, cryptograms, and the like.

Dora Powell (née Penny) in Edward Elgar: Memories of a Variation

    

            Enigma Day’s Unveiling
His fingers danced among the keys with grace,
An Enigma sounds that confounds the ear,
Piano murmurs a Theme without a face,
Proclaiming a “dark saying” none can hear.
Yet in that tune, a melody lurks certain,
Enticing some to “search for something great.”
None can peer beyond its cryptic curtain.
Is there no escape from its silent fate?
Gentle Alice listened in rapt delight,
Marshalling Elgar’s genius with a word—
A gift unwrapped in the evening’s twilight,
Delivering coy counterpoints unheard.
A lonely anthem conceived in wry mirth
Yields joys that echo far beyond its birth.

An acrostic sonnet by Robert W. Padgett

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

ABSTRACT

This cryptanalytic investigation explores Edward Elgar’s fascination with ciphers, focusing on his integration of cryptographic techniques in orchestral and choral works, specifically his Enigma Variations and psalm settings. Elgar’s lifelong passion for puzzles, anagrams, and cryptograms permeated his music as shown by over one hundred cryptograms embedded in the Enigma Variations. These diverse cryptograms encode specific, mutually consistent solutions to three riddles posed by the work: The covert principal Theme (Martin Luther’s chorale Ein feste Burg), the Enigma Theme’s “dark saying” (a musical Polybius box cipher), and the identity of the secret friend honored in Variation XIII (Jesus Christ). Detailed analysis of Elgar’s correspondence, program notes, and score annotations unveils encrypted references to Psalm 46, the scriptural foundation of Ein feste Burg. Further cryptanalysis identifies a separate set of ciphers across Elgar’s later psalm settings that use numerology, anagrammatic keys, and performance directions to reinforce these core decryptions. The findings upend the prevailing academic assumption that the Enigma Variations’ secrets were never encoded, instead affirming that Elgar deliberately constructed a multilayered cryptographic matrix within his scores for posterity to detect and decrypt. This reframing positions Elgar as a composer profoundly engaged with cryptography, enriching interpretations of his music and deepening insight into the symbolic interplay between text, theology, and musical structure.

Introduction

The British composer Edward Elgar (1857–1934) was fascinated by phonetic spellings, wordplays, and anagrams. A well-known instance is Elgar’s naming of his Malvern home “Craeg Lea,” which housed his family between 1899 and 1904. That peculiar moniker is an anagram sourced from a reverse spelling of “Elgar” (Craeg Lea) interwoven with the initials for his daughter (Carice), wife (Alice), and himself (Edward). Elgar delighted in testing his friends about its origin. When Elgar challenged Rosa Burley (1866–1949) to decipher the unusual name of his residence, she quickly unraveled its meaning, as she later recounted in her memoir Edward Elgar: The Record of a Friendship.

Edward called the place Craeg Lea and challenged me to guess how he had found the name. By some stroke of luck, I realized that the key lay in the unusual spelling of “Craeg” and immediately saw that the thing had been built up anagrammatically from (A)lice, (C)arice, (E)dward ELGAR. I think he was a little annoyed that this mystification had fallen flat.

Elgar’s enthusiasm for word games spilled over into his obsession with cryptography, the science of coding and decoding secret messages. Ciphers elevate wordplay to a higher plane of complexity by obfuscating words behind a smokescreen of seemingly disorganized letters and symbols. His enthusiasm for that esoteric art merits an entire chapter in Craig P. Bauer’s treatise Unsolved! The bulk of its third chapter is devoted to Elgar’s skillful decryption of an allegedly insoluble Nihilist cipher by John Holt Schooling, published in an April 1896 issue of The Pall Mall Magazine. Elgar was so gratified by his solution that he mentions it in his first biography, published in 1904 by the music critic Robert J. Buckley (1847–1938). Elgar painted the solution in black paint on a wooden box, an appropriate medium as another name for the Polybius checkerboard is a box cipher.

Elgar’s methodical decryption of Schooling’s challenge cipher is summarized on a set of nine index cards. On the sixth card, Elgar relates the task of cracking the cipher to “working (in the dark).”

His use of the word “dark” as a synonym for “cipher” is significant as this same adjective re-emerges later in Elgar’s 1899 program note for the premiere of the Enigma Variations. It is an oft-cited passage that deserves revisiting as he lays the groundwork for his triplex 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 wields the words dark and secret interchangeably in a letter to August Jaeger (1860–1909), 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 definition of dark is “secret.” A saying is a series of words that form a coherent phrase or adage. Based on these definitions, Elgar’s odd expression—“dark saying”—may be interpolated as coded language for a cipher. In a roundabout way, Elgar hints that the Enigma Theme conceals a secret message.

Elgar composed the Enigma Variations from October 1898 to February 1899 and expanded the Finale by adding 96 measures in June and July 1899. That extraordinary work elevated him from provincial obscurity to international acclaim, transforming his career from an itinerant music teacher to a respected composer. The original title on the autograph score is “Variations for orchestra composed by Edward Elgar Op. 36”. With the opening theme dubbed “Enigma,” the work is popularly referred to as the Enigma Variations. In the 1899 program note and other primary sources, Elgar explained that the Theme is called “Enigma” because it is a counterpoint to a famous melody that is not heard but can play “through and over” the entire set of variations. This absent tune is the cornerstone underlying the whole work, a subject that has provoked considerable debate about what could be the correct melodic solution.

Mainstream scholars insist there are no valid solutions to the Enigma Variations because Elgar allegedly concocted the notion of an absent principal Theme as an afterthought, practical joke, or marketing ploy. The editors of the Elgar Complete Edition preemptively deny the likelihood of any stealthy counterpoints or cryptograms. Relying on Elgar’s recollection of playing new material at the piano to gauge his wife’s reaction, they tout the standard lore that he must have extemporized the idiosyncratic Enigma Theme, mirabile 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 renunciation conveniently relieves musicologists of any duty to probe for counterpoints and ciphers. Prominent offenders include such luminaries as Robert Anderson (1927–2015), Jerrold Northrop Moore (1934–2024), and Julian Rushton (1941–). The unavoidable irony is that proponents of such denialism extol the validity of their position based on a dearth of evidence for which they never executed a diligent or impartial search. Such a ridiculous state of affairs is a textbook case of confirmation bias pawned off as “scholarship.” Carl Sagan (1934–1996) warns against that perilous persuasion with the antimetabole, “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”

Embraced by those who take Elgar at his published word, the more judicious view accepts the challenge of a famous melody lurking behind the Enigma Variations’ contrapuntal and modal facade. In his sanctioned 1904 biography, Elgar plainly states, “The theme is a counterpoint on some well-known melody which is never heard . . .” Most scholars insist the answer can never be known because Elgar allegedly took his secret to the grave. This supposition precludes from consideration the prospect that he encoded the solution within the Enigma Variations for posterity to discover. Indeed, such a rigid judgment glosses over or blatantly ignores Elgar’s obsession with cryptography. That incontestable facet of his psychological profile enhances the possibility that solutions are skillfully encoded by the Enigma Variations’ orchestral score.

A decade of trawling the Enigma Variations has netted over one hundred cryptograms in diverse forms that encode a set of mutually consistent and complementary solutions. Although that figure may seem extraordinary, it is entirely consistent with Elgar’s lifelong passion for ciphers. More significantly, their solutions provide conclusive answers to the central riddles posed by the Enigma Variations. What is the secret melody to which the Enigma Theme is a counterpoint and serves as the melodic cornerstone for the ensuing movements? Answer: Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress) by Martin Luther (1483–1546). What is Elgar’s “dark saying” ensconced within the Enigma Theme? Answer: A musical Polybius box cipher embedded in its inaugural six bars cordoned off by an oddly placed double barline. Who is the secret friend memorialized in Variation XIII? Answer: Jesus Christ, the Savior of Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith. The cryptographic evidence supporting these discoveries is prodigious, diverse, and decisive. Ongoing research continues to uncover new cipher discoveries in Elgar’s symphonic homage to cryptography.

The title Ein feste Burg derives from the incipit of Psalm 46, a psalm traditionally designated as “Luther’s Psalm” on account of its close association with his most renowned chorale. Luther referred to Ein feste Burg simply as “the 46th Psalm.” In times of adversity, he rallied his companions with the exhortation, “Come, let us sing the 46th Psalm, and let them do their worst!” The superscriptions and marginal annotations preserved in the Psalms contain numerous directives concerning performance practice, including specifications for instruments, leaders of song, melodic formulas, and stylistic manner. Despite these textual indicators, no authentic musical settings from the ancient Temple repertoire have survived. This absence of the original Psalm melodies presents a striking analogy to the condition of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, whose structure is predicated upon an undisclosed principal Theme.  Indirectly, Elgar models his work on scriptural forms and themes.

Elgar’s Enigma “Psalm” Ciphers

The Enigma Variations contain a distinct subset of cryptograms with solutions that feature the word psalm, a word defined by Merriam-Webster as “a sacred song or poem used in worship.” The first is concealed in Elgar’s commentary cited by Charles Ainslie Barry (1830–1915) in the original program note for the June 1899 premiere directed by the Wagnerian protégé Hans Richter (1843–1916). In his published remarks, Elgar encloses with em dashes a reference to the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) and two of his French symbolist plays, L’Intruse (The Intruder) and Les sept Princesses (The Seven Princesses). It is exceedingly odd for Elgar only to mention a foreign dramatist and two of his plays when describing a work about his friends. Below are facsimiles of the cover, title page, and Elgar’s published remarks with misspellings of two forenames (Edgar and Maeterlink) from the original June 1899 program.

Why would Elgar employ two em dashes to set apart his anomalous Maeterlinck phrase? The label “em dash” was in common usage when he penned his program note, as it is identified in standard reference volumes published in London, e.g., Practical Printing (1884) and Lloyd’s Encyclopaedic Dictionary (1896). Two em dashes form an acrostic of Elgar’s initials as each “em” begins with an e. In addition, they also encipher the initials of Maurice Maeterlinck as a telestich acrostic. The coded presence of the initials for Elgar (EE) and Maeterlinck (MM) hints at the need to sift this passage enclosed by em dashes for other initials. When distilled down to simply its initials, the Maeterlinck clause reveals a reverse spelling of “Psalm” (Maeterlinck’s ‘L’Intruse’ and ‘Les sept Princesses’) using non-repeating letters. Remarkably, this cryptogram is constructed from 46 characters. That sum implicates Psalm 46, a chapter known as “Luther’s Psalm,” as it inspired Luther to compose his rousing hymn Ein feste Burg. This cryptogram is referred to as Elgar’s 1899 Program Note Maeterlinck Phrase “Psalm” Cipher.

The final two initials—I and L—from the Maeterlinck phrase correspond to the Roman numerals “IL” for 49. Verse 4 of Psalm 49, as rendered in the King James Version, declares: “I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.” Echoing the verse’s introduction of a “dark saying” to the accompaniment of strings, Elgar restricts the orchestration in bars 1–6 of the Enigma Theme to the string quartet comprising Violin I, Violin II, Viola, and Cello. Notably, Psalm 49 uses the same enigmatic phrase, “dark saying,” that Elgar references in his 1899 program note. The use of the number 49 subtly alludes to 46, considering that the glyphs for 9 and 6 are interchangeable.

The German initials of Ein feste Burg are enciphered by Elgar’s anomalous reference to Maeterlinck and his plays. Elgar is an English composer whose explanatory notes for the Enigma Variations are in his native language. In his published remarks, Elgar refers to the Belgian playwright Maeterlinck and two of his French plays. The three nationalities associated with Elgar’s 1899 program note—English, French, and Belgian—from an acrostic anagram of the covert Theme’s initials. The encoding of “Psalm” with the chapter number 46 and initials for Ein feste Burg brilliantly captures Elgar’s flair for cryptography.

A second cipher that encodes the word “Psalm” is found in the first measure of the Enigma Theme. In this inaugural bar, Elgar deploys seven discrete Italian musical terms: Andante, legato e sostenuto, piano and molto espressivo. The first letters from e and espressivo supply the composer’s initials (EE) in lowercase. Incredibly, the initials of the five remaining performance directions comprise an anagram for Psalm. The complete decryption of this acrostic anagram is “EEs Psalm,” which may be expanded to read as “Edward Elgar’s Psalm.” The cipher is constructed from precisely 46 characters, a sum that hints at Psalm 46. This cryptogram is known as the Enigma Theme “Psalm 46” Cipher.

Elgar’s elusive “dark saying” is a musical Polybius box cipher embedded within bars 1–6 of the Enigma Theme. This sophisticated cryptogram encodes the entire 24‑letter German title of the covert Theme, the opening line of Psalm 46. Adding a further layer of complexity, Elgar rearranges this title into a grand anagram of six four‑letter subsolutions. The repeated use of the numbers four and six deftly points to 46, the Psalm chapter associated with Ein feste Burg. These four‑letter anagrams are framed in Latin, English, and what Elgar, relying on popular biblical commentaries of the 1890s, would have reasonably concluded is Aramaic. The solution in bar 1 (GSUS) is a phonetic spelling of Jesus. The solution in bar 2 (GRTS) serves as a phonetic abbreviation of the Latin words gratias (thanks), gratus (beloved), and gratis (grace), with vowels strategically omitted. When the solutions to the first two bars are combined, “GSUS GRTS” may be read as “Jesus gratias,” a hybrid English–Latin phrase meaning “Thanks be to Jesus.” Both Elgar and his wife Alice use the similar Latin phrase “Deo gratias” (Thanks be to God) in their correspondence. The terms beloved (Matthew 3:17) and grace (John 1:16‑17) are theologically associated with Christ. The complete anagram with concise explanatory notes is presented in the following table.

Elgar’s affinity for wordplay is acutely evident as this particular cryptogram may be accurately described as a “music box” cipher. The timing is credible because Elgar carefully studied the Polybius square in the years leading up to the genesis of the Enigma Variations. Some scholars reflexively object that Ein feste Burg is too Protestant for a Roman Catholic composer to consider; however, this view overlooks Elgar’s willingness to openly cite the music of a Lutheran composer in Variation XIII,  or to select and conduct the Lutheran anthem “Wach Auf!” as the theme song for the Worcestershire Philharmonic Society in 1898-1899. Phonetic spellings in various languages testify to Elgar’s known practice of embellishing his correspondence with innovative spellings. Furthermore, the covert Theme’s title is skillfully anagrammed, reflecting Elgar’s known penchant for anagrams. Even more impressively, Elgar stealthily inserts his name as an acrostic anagram using the four languages unveiled by the complete decryption: English, Latin, German, and Aramaic. The solution is effectively autographed by the author using a second layer of encryption that parallels the anagrams found in the first tier.

Elgar formulated five different lists of the Enigma Variations before finalizing the published ordering. Careful analysis determined these listings were devised to construct a series of proximate title letters ciphers that encode solutions to Elgar’s enigmas. A superlative example is the anagram “PIE CHRISTI ABIDE” formed by proximate title letters from the opening three movements.

The first two words are in Latin, and the third is in English. This decryption reflects Elgar’s studies of English and Latin at three Roman Catholic schools between 1863 and 1872. “Pie” is the Latin term meaning pious, while“Christi” denotes Christ. The latter appears in the title of Elgar’s first sacred oratorio, Lux Christi, Latin for the “Light of Christ.” Published under the Anglicanized title The Light of Life, the oratorio premiered in September 1896 and was extensively revised in 1899—the same year Elgar completed his Enigma Variations. The word “abide” appears in hymns, most notably Abide With Me by Henry F. Lyte,  a favorite of General Gordon that was performed at his memorial service in early September 1898. In the Fall of that year, Elgar was planning to compose a symphony in honor of Gordon when he abruptly altered course to write the Enigma Variations. The bilingual anagram “PIE CHRISTI ABIDE” means “Pious Christ abide.” Jesus is the secret friend memorialized in Variation XIII.

There is a coded reference to “Psalm” created by proximate title letters in Variation II that forms a meaningful part of two related anagrams. The first anagram is “C E HIDE PS” sourced from contiguous title letters from the opening three movements. The letters required to assemble this anagram are obtained from the initial of the Theme (Enigma), the Roman numeral, the first and third initials from Variation I (C. A. E.), and the initials of Variation II (H. D. S-P.). “C” is a homonym of the verb see. The initial “E” served as Elgar’s signature on his correspondence and was likewise employed by his wife when referring to him in her diary. Merriam-Webster defines the verb hide as “to put out of sight,” “to conceal,” and “to keep secret.” “Ps.” is a standard abbreviation for Psalm in common usage in England during the 1890s when Elgar composed the Enigma Variations. Relying on the foregoing analysis, the anagram “C E HIDE PS” may be decoded as “See Elgar hide Psalm.” This solution neatly captures how Elgar conceals Ein feste Burg, a hymn inspired by Psalm 46. 

A related anagram obtained from proximate title letters in the opening three movements is “C EE HIID PS”. The letters required for this anagram are sourced from the initial of the Theme (Enigma), the first and third initials from Variation I (C. A. E.), the Roman numerals and initials from Variation II (H. D. S-P.). As previously noted, “C” serves as a homonym for see, while “EE” represents Elgar’s initials. The sequence “HIID” functions as a phonetic spelling of hide, with its double Is mirroring the two Es in Elgar’s initials. “HIID” presents a subtle wordplay as “I” is a homonym of eye, and Elgar is hiding something from his audience’s eyes (II). It was noted earlier that a standard abbreviation of Psalm is “Ps.” The proximate title letters anagram “C EE HIID PS” may be decrypted as “See Edward Elgar hide Psalm.” This is a cryptic variation of the “C E HIDE PS” anagram with the Es and Is doubled.

With 150 chapters in the Book of Psalms, there is a pressing question about which Psalm Elgar is actively concealing. It was observed how other coded references to “Psalm” in the 1899 program note and opening bar of the Enigma Theme are each formulated from 46 characters. That same number is encoded by the sum of letters in the titles of Variations I and II, with four letters in the title of the first variation (ICAE), and six in the second (IIHDSP). When paired together, the attendant sums of these title letters convey a coded version of the number 46. When considered in the context of these title anagrams, that figure implicates chapter 46 of the Psalms, the afflatus for Luther’s hymn Ein feste Burg. This conclusion is reinforced by the presence of the initial “D” in Variation II, which signifies David, the forename of that Psalm’s author.

In a revealing gesture, Elgar substitutes the Star of David for typical asterisks in the title of Variation XIII (✡✡✡) on both the autograph and published scores. Dedicated in secret to Jesus Christ, that marine movement cites anomalous quotations from Felix Mendelssohn’s overture Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage). Elgar’s peculiar choice of stars is deeply symbolic as one of the many titles for Jesus is the “Son of David” (e.g., Matthew 1:1, Matthew 9:27, Matthew 12:22-23, Matthew 15:21-22, Matthew 20:30-31). Stars are closely associated with Christ. A miraculous star announced his birth (Matthew 2:1-2) to the Magi from the East. In a vision, John of Patmos saw Jesus holding seven stars in his right hand (Revelation 1:16). One of the many titles for Jesus is the “bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16). These astral scriptural references supply a firm theological basis for interpreting Elgar’s nebulous stars as emblems of Christ. This assessment is bolstered by the realization that the Roman numerals “XIII” encode the initials of Jesus Christ (X = J, III = C) using a basic number-to-letter key (1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C, etc.).

The two titles anagrams obtained from Variations I and II may be expanded by appending the chapter number 46 to read “C E HIDE PS 46” and “C EE HIID PS 46”. These integrated anagrams may be interpolated as “See Elgar hide Psalm 46” and “See Edward Elgar hide Psalm 46,” respectively. The precision and specificity of these solutions are nothing short of extraordinary, supplying an apt characterization of Elgar’s novel treatment of Ein feste Burg as the hidden principal Theme. Elgar incorporates his initials within these proximate title letters cryptograms as a stealth form of authentication. He clearly enjoyed signing his work. This series of cryptograms is referred to as Elgar’s “HIDE PSALM 46” Titles Ciphers.

A third series of ciphers that refer to a standard abbreviation of Psalm (Ps.) is located in the Mendelssohn quotations of Variation XIII, a pelagic Romanza with an austere title consisting of three mysterious asterisks (✡✡✡). This movement features three major melodic quotations and one minor paraphrase from Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. Each incipit symbolizes a calm sea and is performed quietly as pianissimo or pianississimo. The ebb and flow of the tides is 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. The numbers four and six are underscored by the four-note Mendelssohn quotation and the ostinato figure of oscillating harmonic sixths.

An analysis of the orchestral score in the vicinity of the Mendelssohn quotations identified 33 coded abbreviations of Psalm as “Ps.” A few specimens amply illustrate this encipherment technique. The first Mendelssohn quotation is preceded by a soft metallic hum played by the timpanist to mimic the distant throb of a ship’s steam engine. Starting at bar 503, the timpanist executes a C tremolo marked with the performance directions “Solo” and “ppp” (pianississimo). These two Italian terms in close proximity to one another 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 reads in italics, “mit Tamb. picc. Schlägel”. Three acrostic anagrams of “Ps” are formed from pairings of “picc.” with “Schlägel,” “side”, and “sticks.” Three more acrostic anagrams of “Ps” are produced by pairing “ppp” with “side”, “sticks”, and “Schlägel”. Elgar’s use of the German language hints at the Teutonic provenance of the secret melody.

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 supplies an acrostic anagram of “pS” with the upper and lower cases exchanging places. The dynamic “ppp” in the viola staff atop the term “Solo” in the cello staff yields another “pS” acrostic anagram. Beginning four bars after Rehearsal 56 in measure 505, the principal clarinet performs the first Mendelssohn quotation in A♭ major. 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♭ and E♭/C) in the key of A♭ 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.

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 are permeated with music ciphers. Schumann encoded the letter “S” using an E♭ as that note is pronounced “Es” in the German notation system. Following that method, the proximity of “ppp” next to an E♭ on the second beat of bar 505 in the clarinet staff presents another coded abbreviation of Psalm. Elgar identified his musical works with the initial “E.” In a March 1897 letter to Dora Penny (the dedicatee of Variation X), Elgar explained that when mailing master scores to his publisher, he would seal the envelope with a red wax seal that featured a prominent “E” so “. . . my works may be E sily distinguished.” Note his droll phonetic spelling of easily.

The performance term “espress.” in bar 506 is an abbreviated form of espressivo, the Italian term for “expressive.” The first syllable of espressivo is pronounced exactly as the letter S. In bar 506, the clarinet staff has the performance direction “poco”, which means “little.” The pairing of “espress.” in bar 506 with “poco” in bar 507 generates a phonetic acrostic anagram of “ps.” It was previously observed that Schumann uses E♭ to denote the letter S. According to the German notation system, E♭ is pronounced “Es” just like the first syllable of espressivo. In bar 507, “poco” is positioned directly above a concert E♭ written as F. Consequently, the phonetic translation of E♭ as “Es” mingled with the initial for “poco” provides yet another coded abbreviation of “Psalm.” The terms “Solo”, “pp”, “express.”, “poco”, and concert E♭ in bars 505-507 of the clarinet staff encode up to five abbreviations of Psalm as acrostic anagrams.

In all, there are fourteen coded abbreviations of Psalm connected with the first Mendelssohn quotation, five with the second quotation, and fourteen with the third quotation. The numbers four and six are subtly emphasized throughout each passage that begins with a Mendelssohn quotation. For instance, every quotation has four sounding notes 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 also produces 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. 33 coded forms of “Ps” in passages associated with the Mendelssohn quotations correspond to the age when Christ was executed according to Roman Catholic tradition. Coded references to “Psalm” are relevant as Jesus cited certain passages from the Psalms at his crucifixion. This array of cryptograms is called Elgar’s “Psalm 46” Mendelssohn Ciphers.

The serene seascape evoked in Variation XIII harbors rich theological allusions to psalmic passages that proclaim the Lord’s sovereignty over the turbulent seas. Several Psalms describe God’s power to calm the waters: Verse 7 of Psalm 65 states that God “stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,” while Psalm 89:9 affirms, “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” Psalm 107:29 echoes this theme with, “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed,” and Psalm 46:2-3 attests to God’s sustaining presence amid chaotic waters. These Old Testament affirmations anticipate the New Testament episode where Jesus calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee, thereby exercising his divine authority extolled in the Psalms (Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25).

Elgar’s musical evocation of a tranquil sea in Variation XIII may be interpreted as an intentional theological gesture, subtly invoking the scriptural motif of God—and, by extension, Christ—as the one who restores peace amid the tumult. This intentionality is further deepened by Elgar’s anonymous dedication in Variation XIII, which intersects with Psalm 77:19: “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” The verse’s imagery of a powerful but unseen presence mirrors the composer’s hidden theme and his undisclosed friend “pictured within,” thus enriching the work with a profound Christological resonance.

A fourth nexus of ciphers at Rehearsal 52, the beginning of Variation XII, encodes references to Psalm and the chapter number 46. Four performance directions consisting of six words appear on the principal cello staff in the opening measure of Variation XII (bar 465): Solo, piano, ad libitum, and molto espressivo. These six Italian words form an acrostic anagram of “Es Psalm” (Elgar’s Psalm). The number of performance directions (4) and their words (6) implicate Psalm 46, a chapter inextricably linked to Ein feste Burg. Confirmation of this melodic solution is afforded by other cryptograms in this section of the score that encode its initials “EFB.” This series of ciphers at Rehearsal 52 is known as Elgar’s Rehearsal 52 Enigma Ciphers.

The close connection between the covert Theme and the Psalms fuels fresh insights into Elgar’s actions after the successful premiere of the Enigma Variations under Maestro Richter in June 1899. Following that triumph, Elgar was urged by both Richter and Jaeger (the dedicatee of Variation IX Nimrod) to expand the last movement. Elgar initially balked at this request. In a letter dated June 30, 1899, he wrote to Jaeger, “You won’t frighten me into writing a logically developed movement where I don’t want one by quoting other people! Selah!” Jaeger was privy to the secret melody and would have easily discerned Elgar’s allusion to the covert Theme because “Selah” appears at the end of verses 3, 7, and 11 of Psalm 46. Fortunately, Elgar soon relented and sketched a 96-bar extension to the Finale between June 30 and July 20. Maestro Leonard Slatkin does a masterful job of comparing the original ending with the revised standard version. Elgar capped off his new ending with a quotation from the poem “Elegiac Verse” from the 1882 book In the Harbor by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882): “Great is the art of beginning, but greater the art is of ending.” Longfellow was clearly on Elgar’s mind when he put the finishing touches to the Enigma Variations in July 1899.

Variation XIV Autograph Score with Longfellow quotation

Richter’s endorsement of the Enigma Variations presented new opportunities for Elgar to compose more serious and large-scale works. As a token of his gratitude, Elgar presented Richter with a copy of Longfellow’s 1839 novel Hyperion: A Romance. In an October 1899 letter accompanying his gift, Elgar explained, “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.” Richter’s limited command of English prevented him from appreciating the magnitude of Elgar’s gift. Little did the Maestro realize that ensconced within the pages of that novel are the answers to Elgar’s enigmas. Hyperion contains the title of the covert principal Theme, the name of its composer, and the identity of Elgar’s anonymous friend depicted in Variation XIII. Elgar even encodes the initials of Ein feste Burg as an acrostic anagram on the last page of the extended Finale.

Variation XIV Autograph Score

Hyperion is far from a “little book” as it consists of four parts with a total of 36 chapters. In a striking coincidence, the opus number of the Enigma Variations is also 36. Where should one search for answers to Elgar’s enigmas in the pages of Hyperion? The citation from Longfellow’s “Elegiac Verse” at the conclusion of the Finale answers that question by magnifying the ending over the beginning. Applying this insight to Hyperion takes us to the ending in Chapter IX, Book IV with the title “The Last Pang.” In those closing pages, the protagonist Paul Flemming attends a service at a nearby cathedral:

    He was still sitting at breakfast in his chamber, the next morning, when the great bell of the cathedral opposite began to ring, and reminded him that it was Sunday. Ere long the organ answered from within, and from its golden lips breathed forth a psalm. 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.”

The Psalm emanating from the organ is Luther’s “sublime old hymn” Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress). One may be forgiven for not recognizing this title due to Longfellow’s idiosyncratic translation of the opening lines from Psalm 46. In place of the more familiar phrase, “A mighty fortress is our God,” Longfellow offers the more poetic version, “Our God, he is a tower of strength.” The singular form of “psalm” appears three times in Hyperion, and its plural form five times. As intimated by the quotation from “Elegiac Verse,” the key to untangling Elgar’s contrapuntal Gordian knot is to consult the ending of Hyperion where the reader encounters the name “Martin Luther” and the title of his most famous hymn. It is noteworthy that no other songs are explicitly mentioned together with their composers in Hyperion.

There are coded clues in the Enigma Variations that allude to Longfellow and his novel Hyperion. The most direct is the quotation from “Elegiac Verse” at the end of the expanded Finale. An even more revealing hint is the Italian subtitle for Variation XIII—Romanza. The English translation of that subtitle is the third word in the title Hyperion: A Romance. On the earliest short score sketch, Elgar identified Variation XIII with a prominent capital “L”, the initial for Longfellow.

Var. XIII short score sketch with working title “XXX Var. L”

Longfellow’s earliest published works were identified in precisely the same manner. In the same year that Hyperion was published, The Knickerbocker Magazine featured Longfellow’s poem “The Reaper and the Flowers” under the title “A Psalm of Death.” It was accompanied by “A Second Psalm of Life,”  later renamed “The Light of Stars. This revised title intersects with the nebulous title of Variation XIII, which consists of three cryptic stars. In place of Longfellow’s name, these poems are attributed to “L.” The original titles of these early poems make repeated use of the term Psalm. Consequently, there is literary precedent to associate Longfellow’s initial with a poetic psalm and stars.

Elgar devoted considerable time and attention to assembling the librettos for his sacred oratorios from biblical sources, including the Psalms. On page 54 of her memoir, Dora Powell (née Penny) recounts how she assisted Elgar (identified by his initials) with the libretto of The Apostles in February 1903:

I found E.E. very busy with the ‘book’ of The Apostles. The study seemed to be full of Bibles. He had a Bible open on the table in front of him and there seemed to be a Bible on every chair and even on the floor.

    ‘Goodness!’ I said. ‘What a collection of Bibles! What have you got there besides the Authorized and Revised Versions?’

    ‘I don’t know; they’ve been lent to me. I say, d’you know that the Bible is a most wonderfully interesting book?’

    ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I know it is.’

    ‘What do you know about it?’ Oh, I forgot, you do know something about it. Anyway, I’ve been reading a lot of it lately and have been quite absorbed.’

    He appeared to be looking out texts and I offered to help.

    ‘I want something that will fit in here’—pointing to a line.

    I thought for a moment and fortunately something suitable occurred to me and I quoted it.

    ‘You don’t mean to tell me that comes in the Bible? Show it to me.’

    I found the 85th Psalm in one of the Bibles and laid it before him.

    ‘Well! That’s extraordinary! It’s just what I want here.’

    I think it is very astonishing, when one looks at the words which are set in The Apostles, and sees the immense skill with which they have been selected and put together, that the work was mainly done by one who was finding out the beauties of the Bible almost for the first time. Is there anything more moving, for instance, than the words, and the music, of that final chorus?

The passage that Dora recited is Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Elgar quotes this text in the second scene of The Apostles, called “By the Wayside.” Dora recounts other episodes when she and Elgar conversed about the Psalms. On pages 93-94 of her memoir, she recalls a visit to Plȃs Gwyn when she helped Elgar sort through his mail. This sparked a conversation about another Psalm:

    The following day I heard more of The Kingdom music. E.E. worked alone all the afternoon, and after tea I helped him with sorting papers in the study.
    We heard the postman come and I went to see if there were letters for either of us. The Lady was in the hall.
    ‘One for you, dear Dora, and some dull things for H.E. [His Excellency] Will you take them in’
    ‘What’s all this rubbish? I can’t be bothered with it.’
    ‘Shall I see what they are?’
    Most of it was easily disposed of, but I stared at the last one in silence.
    ‘It’s from a Temperance Society.’ I said, ‘They want you to join, and the Secretary encloses a card for the coming season.’ Hardly able to speak for sheer joy I put the card down in front of him, adding, ‘They’ve chosen a good motto for their Society, haven’t they?’ Printed in old English lettering at the top of the card was, ‘Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe.’
    ‘That’s from the Psalms, isn’t it?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘the hundred and nineteenth.’
    ‘Could you believe it?’ he began ⸻ and then I’m afraid we simply exploded with laughter!
    I have never known him more delighted with anything.

One reason for the levity is that, as an observant Roman Catholic, Elgar routinely drank wine as part of the Eucharist. The quotation is from Psalm 119:117, “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.” Dora’s knowledge of the scriptures was extensive, as affirmed by her ability to recognize specific passages from the Psalms.

Dora makes a final reference to the Psalms on page 163 of her memoir when marvelling about how Elgar meticulously selected passages from the Bible to construct the libretto of The Apostles:

    With great skill he chose the ‘text’ of The Apostles with a view to showing how the sayings of Christ struck the Disciples at the first hearing, and he does so, not only in the language of the Holy Scripture but in quotations from many parts of the Bible, parts that would be known to the Apostles: the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms of David. So cleverly is it done that they sound as if really consecutive.

    

In the Prologue of that oratorio, Elgar cites Psalm 2:1-2. In the first scene, the choir sings Psalm 8:4-6 in “The Calling of the Apostles.” Elgar quotes Psalm 68:18 in “The Ascension”, the final scene of Part II. In that uplifting scene, he also cites Psalm 24:7-10. Concerning the libretto of The Apostles, Elgar advised in his 1904 biography, “I have been thinking it out since boyhood, and have been selecting the words for years, many years.” The Psalms were clearly a subject of interest from his youth and remained so far into his professional career as a composer. There are undoubtedly many other conversations between Elgar and Dora about the Psalms that never made it into her book.

Dora repeatedly pestered Elgar with many unsuccessful attempts to identify the concealed Theme of the Enigma Variations. Elgar egged her on in November 1899 by asking, “Haven’t you guessed it yet? Try again.” She inquired, “Are you quite sure I know it?” He answered, “Quite.” On another occasion, she pleaded with Elgar for the answer. He replied, “Oh, I shan’t tell you that, you must find it out for yourself.” “But I’ve thought and racked my brains over and over again,” she insisted. “Well, I’m surprised,” he answered, adding, “I thought that you of all people would guess it.” Dora’s intimate knowledge of the Psalms and Protestant hymns made her an ideal candidate to guess the famous covert Theme of the Enigma Variations. The title of Ein feste Burg comes from the first line of Psalm 46, a chapter dubbed “Luther’s Psalm” by Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881).

Elgar’s Psalm Settings Ciphers

The preceding overview documents how a discrete subset of cryptograms from the Enigma Variations enciphers varied combinations of Psalm, its standard abbreviation, the chapter number 46, and Elgar’s initials. This cryptographic subgroup highlights the importance of Psalm 46 and its connection to Ein feste Burg, the mysterious missing Theme. The clandestine significance of Psalm 46 demands a reassessment of Elgar’s subsequent treatment of other Psalms following the completion of the Enigma Variations in 1899. The ensuing analysis will identify cryptograms incorporated within Elgar’s psalm settings that encode answers to his enigmas.

Elgar produced seven psalm settings between 1907 and 1914. His earliest psalm settings are four liturgical chants composed in 1907 for the Anglican church. Anglican chant is a practice of singing unmetrical texts such as psalms and canticles in a congregational setting, accompanied by simple harmonized melodies usually performed on pipe organ. A chant consists of one verse of music divided into two parts, with the first consisting of three or four bars, and the second of six or seven bars. Elgar divides each chant verse into three and four bars for a total of seven measures. Liturgical chants of the psalms play an important part in Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic services. Elgar composed double chants in D major for Psalm 68 and Psalm 75, and two single chants for Psalm 95, one in D major and a second in G major. These brief works were published in 1909 by Novello in The New Cathedral Psalter Chants, a collection edited by the organist Sir George C. Martin (1844–1916). The Choir of Norwich Cathedral released an excellent recording of Elgar’s double chant for Psalm 68.

Two single and two double psalm chants add up to four chants with six different verses. Blending the numerals for these sums (4 and 6) generates 46, the chapter from the Psalms that served as the catalyst for Ein feste Burg. Two single and two double chants further place a coded emphasis on the number 22. An allusion to that sum in the context of psalm chants points to Psalm 22. In his fourth saying from the cross, Jesus cried out the first verse of Psalm 22, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” His anguished plea in Aramaic translates as, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” A coded reference to Psalm 22 unmasks the identity of Elgar’s covert friend memorialized in Variation XIII, and four chants hint at Jesus’ fourth saying from the cross, a recitation of Psalm 22:1.

The opening of Psalm 22 is famously set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach in his Saint Matthew’s Passion. Elgar revered Bach and his setting of “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” Elgar declares in his first biography, “No man has a greater reverence for Bach than I. I play three or four preludes and fugues from ‘The Well-tempered Klavier’ every day.” Above the orchestral introduction to Part V. “Golgotha” of his oratorio The Apostles premiered in 1903, Elgar inscribed Jesus’ impassioned plea in the original Aramaic.

The Apostles Part V. Golgotha

Elgar was commissioned in 1911 by Sir Frederick Bridge (1844–1924) to compose an Offertorium for the coronation of King George V (1865–1936) and Queen Mary (1867–1953). By March of that year, Elgar set the second and third verses of Psalm 5 for chorus and orchestra in A♭ major. The title of his communion hymn is “O hearken Thou” (Op. 64) with a duration of approximately 2 minutes. The text is in English with an alternate Latin Vulgate translation, a subtle acknowledgment of Elgar’s Roman Catholic heritage that bridges the divide between Anglican and Catholic traditions. The Roman Catholic Church affirms that the communion elements of bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ, an article of faith shared by the Lutheran church. Pairing the inversion of the opus number (46) with a psalm setting presents a coded allusion to Psalm 46. Dedicated to King George V, the offertory was premiered in English at Westminster Abbey on June 22, 1911. The regal nobility of this communion hymn is captured in a March 1969 performance at Worcester Cathedral directed by Christopher Robinson with Harry Bramma on organ.

There are close ties between Ein feste Burg and England’s sovereigns during the era when Elgar unfurled his Enigma Variations. Ein feste Burg was performed at the 1902 and 1911 coronations, global events attended by dignitaries from around the world when the sun did not set on the British Empire. At the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII (1841–1910), Ein feste Burg was performed as a hymn during the processional, and again as quotations in Kaisermarsch by Richard Wagner (1813–1883). Ein feste Burg was reprised at the 1911 coronation of King George V and Queen Mary, first as processional music and then in the homage anthem composed by Sir Frederick Bridge that made “liberal use of Ein’ feste Burg.” There can be no doubt that the English public was exceedingly familiar with Luther’s most popular hymn when Elgar unveiled the Enigma Variations.

“Great is the Lord” (Op. 67) is a choral anthem of Psalm 48 for bass solo, mixed chorus (SATB), with an orchestral or organ accompaniment. Like the Enigma Variations, Elgar’s setting of Psalm 48 was not commissioned. Composed between August 1910 and March 1912, it was first performed at Westminster Abbey in London on July 16, 1912. Elgar began writing the anthem three months before the premiere of his Violin Concerto in B minor (Op. 61) in November 1910. Set in D major, “Great is the Lord” has a duration of approximately 10 minutes and is dedicated to the Very Rev. J. Armitage Robinson, D.D., Dean of Wells. There is a superb recording of “Great is the Lord” by the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge.

The King James Version of Psalm 48:3 likens God to a “refuge,” posing an organic connection with Psalm 46 that likewise describes God as a “refuge” in verses 1, 7, and 11. The Lord is also described as a “refuge” in the libretto of The Dream of Gerontius, an oratorio based on the poem of the same name by John Henry Newman (1801–1890). The quotation originates from Psalm 90:1 and is based on Newman’s poetic rendering drawn from traditional sources like the Douay-Rheims Bible and The Book of Common Prayer. Newman’s translation of Psalm 90:1 begins, “Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: in every generation,” diverging slightly from the original texts that read “from generation to generation” and “in all generations.” A psalmic description of the Lord as a “refuge” resonates with other references to God as a “refuge” in Psalms 46 and 48. An early 18th century English translation of Ein feste Burg by John Christian Jacobi (1670–1750), published in Psalmodia Germanica, opens with the text, “God is our Refuge . . .”

“Give unto the Lord” (Op. 74) is a sacred anthem of Psalm 29 verses 1-5, 7-8, and 9b-11. Framed in the key of E♭ major, the work is for mixed choir (SATB), orchestra, and organ with a duration of approximately 8 minutes. Composed in 1914 on the eve of World War I, it premiered at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on April 30, 1914. “Give unto the Lord” is dedicated to Sir George C. Martin, organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral and editor of The New Cathedral Psalter Chants. His surname “Martin” is conspicuous as it matches Martin Luther’s forename, the composer of Ein feste Burg. The key of E♭ major is also notable as the first letters of “E-flat” and the flat symbol—a lowercase b from the Italian word bemolle—supply “Efb”, the initials of Luther’s renowned hymn.

Elgar produced seven different settings of six Psalms (5, 29, 48, 68, 75, and 95) in four major keys (A♭, D, E♭, and G). The numbers of separate keys (4) and Psalms (6) may be consolidated to produce 46, a chapter intimately linked to Ein feste Burg. This cipher parallels how Elgar used four psalm chants with six verses to encode that same chapter. These elementary ciphers confirm that Elgar encodes specific information about the Variations’ covert Theme through his psalm settings. The reference to God as a “refuge” in the text of “Great is the Lord” reinforces this conclusion because Psalm 46 equates God to a “refuge” in verses 1, 7, and 11. Recall that when Elgar initially rejected Jaeger’s petition to lengthen the Finale of the Enigma Variations, he concluded his rejection with the interjection “Selah!” That Hebrew term appears three times in Psalm 46 at the end of verses 3, 7, and 11.

Elgar’s Psalm Settings Key Letters Ciphers

Two of the four discrete key letters (A, D, E, and G) from Elgar’s psalm settings spell “ED,” a short form of Edward. It is remarkable that these four key letters correspond to the strings of the violin: E, A, D, and G. There is an autobiographical aspect to these decryptions as Elgar taught and played the violin professionally and composed popular solo pieces for that instrument. Elgar began sketching his setting of Psalm 48 in August 1910, three months before the first performance of his Violin Concerto in B minor. Three of the violin’s string letters supply the first, third, and fourth initials of “AMDG,” the Latin acronym of the Jesuit motto “Ad majórem Dei glóriam” (For the Greater Glory of God). The discrepancy between the E and M is easily reconciled because the glyphs are interchangeable as illustrated by Elgar’s cursive script on the Dorabella Cipher.

Examples of E, M, and W glyphs on the Dorabella Cipher

Rotating the capital cursive E 90° to the right produces an M, a process akin to rotating the dial on a safe. This is a symbolic gesture as the capital E, the initial for Elgar, must prostrate itself on its face before the D, the initial of Dei (God). Elgar’s choice of keys for his psalm settings supply a coded reference to “AMDG,” a sacred dedication inscribed on some of his master scores, most notably The Dream of Gerontius.

The Dream of Gerontius autograph score cover with “A. M. D. G.” dedication

A system of anomalous dots on the Dorabella Cipher encodes the same Latin dedication. The first dot above the ciphertext symbol in the third row pinpoints the glyph for the letter M. The application of an elementary number-to-letter key (1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C, etc.) to the dotted numbers in the date produces the letters A, D, and G. As a separate group (ADG), those three plaintext letters form the acronym for “Ad Glorium Dei” (To God’s Glory). The combination of letters set apart by the four dots generates the complete anagram “A. M. D. G.” The four dots conveniently supply the periods needed to segregate those initials to complete the dedication. This subcode is called the Dorabella Dots Dedication Cipher.

The chronological order of the keys from Elgar’s psalm settings is D, D, G, D, A♭, D, and E♭. This key letter sequence generates identifiable acronyms relevant to Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith. The first two key letters (DD) are an acronym of Doctor Divinitatis, the Latin title meaning Doctor of Divinity. That august title was held by the Anglican priest Armitage Robinson, the dedicatee of “Great is the Lord” (Op. 67). Elgar was awarded honorary Doctor of Music degrees from the universities of Cambridge (1900), Oxford (1905), Yale (1905), Birmingham (1906), Leeds (1907), Aberdeen (1908), Durham (1910), London (1924), and Manchester (1931). These honorary degrees were conferred after the publication of some or all of the following sacred works: Te Deum and Benedictus (1897), The Dream of Gerontius (1900), Ave Maris Stella (1902), Ave Maria (1902), Ave Verum Corpus (1902), The Apostles (1903), The Kingdom (1906), and his seven psalm settings composed between 1907 and 1914. In his booklet The Significance of Elgar, published in 1934, Everard Jose explains on page 20 how Elgar masterfully set the Gospel message to music:

It is impossible to fully enter into and understand either the earlier or the Elgarian Oratorios without a preceding familiarity with the New Testament itself, and a faith in and sympathy with the truths and forces therein contained. The Elgarian pair are a veritable musical translation of the Gospel content itself, brought out in a deeply set, contemplative potency, wherein every orchestral and vocal strand serves as an integral part of the through which it conveys.

The awarding of nine honorary doctorates was motivated in part by Elgar’s contributions to sacred music. Although these doctorates were granted expressly for music, it is undeniable that Elgar’s expertise extended to the scriptures and theology. His close friend William Henry Reed (1875–1942) describes Elgar’s profound knowledge of the Bible and Apocrypha on page 67 of his 1936 book Elgar As I Knew Him:

On 31st July, it is recorded, Elgar, wishing to write his own libretto for the oratorio, The Apostles, began to collect material. As is well known, his knowledge of the Bible and the Apocrypha was profound. He certainly consulted his friends also, both in his own Roman Catholic church and in the Anglican, for instance Canon Gorton, who helped him a great deal in his researches.

A short newsreel from November 1931 shows Elgar conducting a performance of the trio from his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 at the grand opening of the Abbey Road Studios, with Reed leading the first violins as concertmaster.

Continuing with the chronological key letters of Elgar’s psalm settings, the third and fourth key letters (GD) yield a phonetic spelling of God, the divine personage of praise and adoration in the Psalms. “God” is the final word in the full title of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, famously translated by Frederick Henry Hedge as A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. The fifth and sixth key letters (AD) are the Latin acronym for Anno Domini, a shortened version of the phrase “Anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi” (In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ). The final key letter (E) supplies Elgar’s initial, a stealth signature for his Key Letters Psalms Cipher.

When treated as an anagram, the key letters of Elgar’s psalm settings (DDGDADE) may be reshuffled as “DED GD AD”. The first five letters are a phonetic realization of “Dead God”, a solution consistent with Elgar’s correspondence which is seasoned with inventive phonetic spellings. The remaining two letters are the Latin acronym for Anno Domini, an abbreviation of a phrase that explicitly names Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God who died on a Roman cross at Golgotha. The key letters anagram “DED GD AD” expands to “Dead God Anno Domini,” supplying complementary and mutually consistent solutions.

Elgar encodes the expression “Dead God” in Variation XIII, a marine movement that captures the deathly stillness of the sea epitomized by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) in his poems Meeresstille and Glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage). It is significant that the German pronunciation of “Goethe” rhymes with “Luther.” Goethe’s poems served as the inspiration behind Mendelssohn’s concert overture which is quoted by Elgar. Buried in the lowest staff of the score, the double bass section plays the notes “D-E-A-D” four measures after Rehearsal 55 (bars 497-498), and a second time four measures after Rehearsal 59 (bars 529-530). Incredibly, the double bass line literally spells out what Elgar sonically portrays through the Mendelssohn fragments. Variation XIII is set in the key of G major. When the melodic intervals of the notes used to spell “DEAD” (D = 5, E = 6, and A = 2) are converted into their corresponding letters in the alphabet using a number-to-letter key, they become E, F, and B, respectively. Those are the initials for the secret melody, the hymn Ein feste Burg.

The dead friend memorialized in Elgar’s Romanza is encoded via the same enciphering method by the flute, oboe, and clarinet in the measures that immediately follow the double bass part. In measure 500, the first flute and oboe play the notes G and D, and these are repeated by the clarinet in bar 501. This same pattern is revived in measures 535 and 536. Elgar’s answer to the question of who is dead is “G-D,” a phonetic spelling of God. Three statements of the notes “G-D” in close succession intimate the Trinity. Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith leaves only one credible candidate for a God who died, and his name is implicated by the XIII and Romanza ciphers: 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 coded references to “G-D.”

Elgar’s Psalm Settings Chapters Differentials Cipher

Further analysis revealed that the sequential differences in chapter numbers used across Elgar’s psalm settings never exceed 26, the number of letters in the English alphabet. This pattern suggests a number-to-letter cipher, a technique applied in several of Elgar’s other cryptograms, e.g., the Enigma Theme “Locks” Cipher.” The differences between the chapters used in Elgar’s psalm settings are in ascending order: 24 (29-5), 19 (48-29), 19 (67-48), 1 (68-67), 7 (75-68), and 20 (95-75). Converting those differentials into their corresponding letters of the English alphabet using a number-to-letter key (1 = A, 2 = B, 3 = C, etc.) generates the plaintext X, S, S, A, G, and T. The table below summarizes the plaintext encoded by the chapter differences in Elgar’s seven psalm settings.

Table of plaintext letters encoded by chapter differences in Elgar’s psalm settings

The first and sixth letters of the plaintext, X and T, embody two distinctive types of crosses in Christian iconography. The X denotes the saltire, also known as Saint Andrew’s Cross or crux decussata, which is prominent both in heraldry and as an emblem of humility and suffering in Christian tradition. The T stands for the tau cross, alternatively called Saint Anthony’s Cross or crux commissa, a symbol revered in Franciscan spirituality and regarded as a mark of salvation and penance since antiquity. Collectively, the saltire and tau represent two of the four principal cross forms in Christian iconography. The positioning of these crosses as the first and last letters is evocative of Christ’s titles “the First and the Last” in Revelation 1:17 and 22:13, directly connecting symbolic typology to New Testament revelation. The reference to two out of four cross forms subtly points to the number 24, which is the total number of letters in the covert Theme’s title, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. This embeds numerological significance into Elgar’s cryptogram.​

As typographical Christograms, the first and sixth letters—X and T—corroborate the identity of Elgar’s anonymous dedicatee in Variation XIII, evoking themes of divine illumination and revelation. The Latin title of his oratorio Lux Christi (“Light of Christ”) notably centers a saltire (X) within its name, while the opening chorus cites Psalm 146:8—“The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind”—thereby underscoring the motif of spiritual enlightenment. The letter X reappears in the title of Variation XIII, which encodes an homage through a simple alphanumeric cipher (X = J, III = C), and the short-score heading further conceals “LUX” as a reverse acrostic. The association with John 8:12—“the light of the world”—extends this theological resonance, suggesting a deliberate interrelation between biblical symbolism and Elgar’s compositional design.

The first two plaintext letters X and S create a phonetic spelling of excess, a noun defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “an amount that is more than acceptable, expected, or reasonable.” There is precedent for viewing “XS” as a phonetic spelling of excess because Elgar respelled the similar word excuse as “xqqq”. Martin Luther famously denounced the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church, which had amassed vast wealth and authority through the sale of indulgences and ecclesiastical offices, an abuse called Simony. In his sermons and Table Talk (Colloquia Mensalia), he likewise condemned personal forms of excess—gluttony, drunkenness, vanity, and luxurious living. His warnings parallel the admonition in the King James Version of Ephesians 5:16: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.” Note that the final three letters of “wherein” spell “ein,” the first word in the covert Theme’s title. The Apostle Peter also uses the term “excess” in 1 Peter 4:3-4 to censure the licentiousness of unbelievers, while in Matthew 23:25 Jesus reproves the scribes and Pharisees for their inward “extortion and excess.” Thus, the phonetic spelling of excess as “XS” alludes not only to moral restraint but also evokes the reforming ministries of Christ and Luther, the composer of Ein feste Burg.

The second through fourth plaintext letters, SSA, are a reverse spelling of “ASS,” the initials of two English translations of Ein feste Burg as A Safe Stronghold and A Stronghold Sure. In his article “Luther’s Psalm” published by Fraser’s Magazine in 1831, Carlyle presents Luther’s original German text of Ein feste Burg accompanied by an original English translation with the title A Safe Stronghold Our God Is Still. Standard practice shortens the title to the first three words as A Safe Stronghold. Carlyle’s translation is dominant in Anglican hymnals such as Hymns Ancient and Modern. A less popular translation by John Troutbeck has the title A Stronghold Sure Our God Remains which is routinely abbreviated as A Stronghold Sure. In 1876, Novello published J. S. Bach’s Cantata Ein feste Burg BWV 80 under the title A Stronghold Sure using Troutbeck’s version.

A Stronghold Sure (Ein' Feste Burg) by Novello (1876)

Elgar’s correspondence supplies evidence that he associated the concealed principal Theme with the word ass. He first played the Enigma Theme on the piano for his wife during the evening of October 21, 1898, a date commemorated annually by Elgarians as Enigma Day. The 127th anniversary of that pivotal event falls on October 21, 2025. Three days later on October 24, 1898, Elgar wrote his friend Jaeger to apprise him of a new orchestral project:

Since I’ve been back I have sketched a set of Variations (orkestry) on an original theme: the Variations have amused me because I’ve labeled ‘em with the nicknames of my particular friends—you are Nimrod. That is to say I’ve written the variations each one to represent the mood of the ‘party’—I’ve liked to imagine the ‘party’ writing the var: him (or her) self & have written what I think they wd. have written—if they were asses enough to compose—it’s a quaint idee & the result is amusing to those behind the scene & won’t affect the hearer who ‘nose nuffin. what think you?”

Elgar’s provocative wordplay that likens his friends’ compositional labors to “asses” demands closer scrutiny to crack its hidden meaning. At first glance, the term evokes the stubborn perseverance essential to crafting music. Yet a deeper reading reveals “ASS” as the acronym for two venerable English translations of Luther’s Ein feste Burg as A Safe Stronghold and A Stronghold Sure. Tellingly, ass doubles as a synonym for rump and backside—a coded nod to the hymn’s ending phrase. This emphasis proves prescient because Elgar initiates his counterpoint with the Enigma Theme not with the opening of Ein feste Burg, but instead with its final phrase, defying the conventional expectation of a forward alignment. In a masterful inversion, he overlays the hidden melody in retrograde above the Enigma Theme, compelling the hidden tune to unfold backward from end to beginning. This esoteric contrapuntal device—rare in the repertoire—fully justifies the movement’s title “Enigma,” functioning as a sly auditory sleight-of-hand that obscures the melody from casual listeners and seasoned musicians. Elgar alludes to this reversal through the backward spelling of “ASS” as “SSA” via his Psalm Settings Differentials Cipher.

The fifth plaintext letter G serves as a versatile linchpin that connects five key interrelated terms. First, it is the initial for God, the fifth word in the English hymn titles A Safe Stronghold Our God Is Still and A Stronghold Sure Our God Remains. Second, it is also the initial for Gott, the sixth term in the title Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. Third, it is the initial for German, the language used for the titles of the covert Theme and Mendelssohn’s concert overture Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt. Fourth, it is the initial for Gesù, the Italian translation of Jesus. Fifth, it is the initial for Gerontius, the protagonist in Elgar’s sacred oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, which he playfully abbreviated as “DoG” (a reverse spelling of God) in his correspondence. The oratorio’s libretto refers to Jesus as “Jesu” (which sounds like Gesù) and includes a poetic allusion to Psalm 90:1, depicting God as a “refuge,” while also citing Psalm 31:5 (“Into thy hands I commend my spirit”), Jesus’ seventh saying from the cross. Thus, the initial G anchors an intricate web of reciprocal solutions tied to the covert Theme, its scriptural roots, and Elgar’s enigmatic dedicatee.

The third through sixth plaintext sequence is “SAGT,” a conjugation of the German verb sagen, meaning “to say” or “to tell.” The word sagt is the third-person singular present tense form translated as “says.” The positioning of this decryption between the third (3) and sixth (6) plaintext letters provides a coded version of 36, the opus number of the Enigma Variations. “SAGT” uses four of the six plaintext letters, further hinting at the chapter number 46. The insertion of this particular Teutonic word in the plaintext sequence is immensely germane because A Safe Stronghold and A Stronghold Sure are English sayings of the German title Ein feste Burg. “SAGT” overlaps with the abbreviation “ASS,” the initial “G,” and the Christogram “T.” Consistent with the German word sagt, the psalms are said melodically with Elgar’s various psalm settings. The Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal of Music), co-founded by Robert Schumann and Friedrich Wieck, states at the top of page 370 in the June 1902 issue, “Alles in allem ist Elgar, wie der Engländer sagt, ‘a man of genius’, von dem naches zu erhoffen ist.” The translation reads, “All in all, Elgar is, as the English say, ‘a man of genius’, from whom we can hope for more.” Note the word sagt preceding the English phrase “a man of genius.” Elgar’s wife, Alice, retained and organized domestic and foreign press clippings for the family archives and undoubtedly shared this article with her husband. In May 1899, Dora Penny began assisting Alice with this growing task, eventually being appointed as “Keeper of the Archives” to manage Elgar’s personal and professional records.

Elgar’s Psalm Settings “Y” Enigma Cipher

Five separate plaintext letters—A, G, S, T, and X—are encoded by the Psalm Settings Chapters Differentials Cipher. That amount is a coded version of Elgar’s initial because E is the fifth letter of the alphabet. These five letters correspond to fourteen capital letters dispersed among the titles of the Enigma Variations, a total corresponding to the number of movements assigned Roman numerals. The distribution of these matching uppercase title letters is two As in Variations I and V, two Gs in Variations XI and XII, two Ss in Variations II and XII, and six Xs in Variations IX through XIV. For this analysis, lowercase letters among the titles were disregarded as Elgar reserved uppercase for initials and Roman numerals.

The titles harbor four pairs of uppercase As, Gs, Ss, and Ts, and a total of six Xs. The sums four (4) and six (6) are conspicuous as they may be combined to create 46, the Psalm chapter intimately tied to the covert Theme. Movements devoid of matching uppercase letters are the Theme, Variations IV, VI, and VIII. The numerals for two of those movements (IV and VI) also supply a coded form of 46. Four plaintext letters with a frequency of two spell “SAGT,” the German verb says. The sums two (2) and four (4) hint at 24, the number of letters in the German title Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. Six Xs correlate with the precise number of initials (E. F. B. I. U. G.) from the hidden melody’s full title. On the original short score sketch of Variation XIII, Elgar used capital Xs in place of asterisks to represent three absent initials. Similarly, six capital Xs may be interpolated as symbolizing six missing letters. Remarkably, it is possible to assemble the covert Theme’s six initials with title letters sourced from Variations XII, XIII, and XIV.

Tracing the sequence of uppercase letters A, G, S, T, and X downward through the titles of the Enigma Variations reveals a curvilinear pattern that resembles an inverted florid “y.” What rationale might underlie Elgar’s decision to encode such an upside-down ornamental “y” in this cryptic manner?

The answer is that the “y” is a homophone of Wye, a river that Elgar frequented on pastoral promenades around the village of Mordiford to commune with nature and record his musical epiphanies with pencil and staff paper. Nearing the end of his life, Elgar recalled those bucolic episodes in a letter written on January 16, 1931:

    Most of my’ sketches’,—that is to say the reduction of the original thoughts to writing, have been made in the open air. I finished the Wye round about Mordiford & completed many pencil memoranda of compositions on the old bridge, of which I have vivid & affectionate memories.

Mordiford is known for its historic nine-arch bridge that spans the River Lugg. Significantly, the confluence of the Lugg and the Wye near Mordiford has an inverted “y” configuration. The Lugg forms the stem connecting to the curve in the Wye that completes the U-shaped crown.

The confluence of the Wye and Lugg rivers (Google Maps)

The confluence of the Wye and Lugg rivers in an inverted “Y” pattern.

The River Wye forms the backdrop of Variation XI, a movement dedicated to the Hereford Cathedral organist George Robertson Sinclair who owned an English Mastiff named Dan. In 1927, Elgar wrote explanatory notes for a set of pianola rolls that were published as a booklet in 1948 by Novello under the title My Friends Pictured Within. Elgar disclosed the following about his friend depicted in Variation XI:

George Robertson Sinclair, Mus. D., late organist of Hereford Cathedral. The variation, however, has nothing to do with organs or cathedrals, or, except remotely, with G. R. S. The first few bars were suggested by his great Bulldog Dan (a well-known character) falling down the steep bank into the river Wye (bar 1); his paddling up stream to find a landing place (bars 2 and 3); and his rejoicing bark on landing (2nd half of bar 5). G.R.S. said, “Set that to music.” I did; here it is.

A coded portrayal of the letter “y” flowing downwards through the titles of the Enigma Variations signals that Elgar withdrew deposits of musical inspiration during his many walks along the banks of the River Wye.

Mordiford Bridge

Summation

Elgar’s correspondence and notebooks document a sustained fascination with phonetic spellings, wordplay, anagrams, and cryptography. His bona fides in this domain are exemplified by the Dorabella Cipher, a coded message that has resisted decryption for over a century. When cracking a sophisticated Nihilist cipher released by John Holt Schooling in 1896, Elgar remarked that the process was like “working (in the dark).” His use of dark as a synonym for cipher is telling, particularly since he later acknowledged in his 1899 program note that the Enigma Theme conceals a “dark saying.” Elgar’s obsession with ciphers is not adequately appreciated within academic circles, feeding the persistent presumption that he absconded with his secrets to the grave rather than enciphering them in Enigma Variations for posterity to discover. Comprehensive cryptanalysis of the score has identified over a hundred cryptograms encoding mutually consistent and complementary solutions that point to the missing principal Theme, the Enigma Theme’s “dark saying,” and the anonymous friend memorialized in Variation XIII.

The Book of Psalms preserves the lyrics and performance directions for many sacred songs, but provides no records of their original melodies. The absence of these tunes parallels the absent principal Theme of the Enigma Variations. A distinct subset of cryptograms from that work encodes various combinations of the word “Psalm,” its standard abbreviation, the chapter number 46, and Elgar’s initials. The first instance appears in the Maeterlinck clause from Elgar’s 1899 program note, which conceals a reverse acrostic of “Psalm” using precisely 46 characters—a total that unmistakably alludes to Psalm 46. Within this same passage, the two remaining initials arrange to form the Roman numeral “IL” (49), whose glyphs subtly reference 46 through the inversion of the 9 to a 6. Psalm 49:4 in the King James Version employs the same phrase “dark saying” that Elgar deploys in his program note. The nationalities identified in that note—English, French, and Belgian—supply the acronym for Ein feste Burg as an acrostic anagram, further reinforcing the web of encoded allusions.

A second cryptogram, ensconced within the first bar of the Enigma Theme, encodes “EE’s Psalm” (Edward Elgar’s Psalm) as an acrostic anagram using the initial letters of seven distinct Italian performance directions: Andante, legato e sostenuto, piano, and molto espressivo. Like the Maeterlinck clause, this cipher employs exactly 46 characters, directly evoking Psalm 46. Further, a musical Polybius box cipher spanning bars 1–6 of the Enigma Theme encodes the full 24-letter German title of the covert theme—Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott—as six four-letter anagrams in three languages with some phonetic spellings. The systematic arrangement of these anagrams subtly highlights the numbers four and six, referencing the Psalm that inspired the hidden theme. Additionally, the four languages represented in the cryptogram—English, Latin, German, and Aramaic—form an acrostic anagram of Elgar’s surname, providing a covert signature that attests to the authenticity of the multilayered decryptions.

Elgar created five distinct lists for the Enigma Variations to construct a series of proximate title letter ciphers. One striking example is “PIE CHRISTI ABIDE” (Pious Christ Abide), which is assembled from adjacent title letters in the opening three movements. This bilingual decryption underscores the divine identity of Elgar’s hidden friend. The Roman numerals XIII encode the initials for Jesus Christ using a basic number-to-letter key (X = J, III = C). Another set of ciphers emerges from neighboring title letters in Variations I and II, yielding the related anagrams “C E HIDE PS” (See Elgar hide Psalm) and “C EE HIID PS” (See EE hide Psalm). Incorporating some phonetic spellings and abbreviations, these cryptograms complement the acrostic anagram “EE’s Psalm” derived from the discrete performance directions in the Enigma Theme’s opening bar. The sum of letters in the titles of Variation I (4) and II (6) encodes a reference to 46, pointing to the Psalm chapter that inspired the covert Theme.

The central role of Psalm 46 in the contrapuntal and cryptographic design of the Enigma Variations suggests that Elgar’s later psalm settings, written some eight to fifteen years after, may likewise harbor related cryptograms. Cryptanalysis of his seven settings from 1907 to 1914 uncovered an interlocking network of cryptograms. Elgar produced seven settings of six different Psalms (5, 29, 48, 68, 75, and 95) across four major keys: A♭, D, E♭, and G. The quantities of unique keys (4) and Psalms (6) combine to yield 46, a number intimately tied to both Psalm 46 and the secret Theme, Ein feste Burg. The same symbolic number is further enciphered by Elgar’s four psalm chants that consist of six verses. These interwoven numeric cryptograms verify that Elgar’s psalm settings encode vital information about the hidden melody of the Enigma Variations.

Elgar’s three larger settings of Psalms 5, 29, and 48 offer further encoded links to Psalm 46 and the covert Theme. His 1911 offertory, based on verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 5 and dedicated to King George V, bears the opus number 64; reversing this number yields 46, pairing the scriptural source (Psalm) with this important chapter. Ein feste Burg was performed at King George V’s 1911 coronation, reinforcing the thematic association. Elgar’s setting of Psalm 48, the choral anthem “Great is the Lord,” features in verse 3 a description of God as a “refuge”—a term echoed in verses 1, 7, and 11 of Psalm 46. “Give unto the Lord”, Elgar’s 1914 setting of Psalm 29 dedicated to George C. Martin (whose surname matches Luther’s forename), is set in E♭ major—a key whose initials “Efb,” derived from E-flat and the flat symbol (a lower case b), subtly align with the initials of Ein feste Burg.

Within Elgar’s corpus of seven psalm settings, the four recurrent major-key tonics—A, D, E, and G—invite interpretation on autobiographical and symbolic grounds. Collectively, they not only permit the anagram “ED” but also correspond to the tuning of the violin’s open strings (E, A, D, and G), an instrument of personal and professional import to the composer. The key letters are also an anagrammatic rendering of the Jesuit dedication Ad majórem Dei glóriam (AMDG), contingent upon a visual transformation of the letter E into M by a 90° clockwise rotation, analogous to rotating a safe’s dial. When the tonic keys are ordered chronologically (D, D, G, D, A, D, E), a network of semiotic associations emerges: the Latin academic degree Doctor Divinitatis (DD), a phonetic representation of “God” (GD), the calendrical designation Anno Domini (AD), and Elgar’s initial (E). When treated as an anagram, this tonic sequence produces “DED GD AD” (“Dead God Anno Domini”), a formulation whose textual content resonates with the cryptographic note patterns embedded in Variation XIII of the Enigma Variations.

The sequential intervals between the Psalm chapter numbers selected for Elgar’s settings consistently remain within the bounds of 26, the total number of letters in the English alphabet. This constraint hints at a deliberate application of a number-to-letter cipher, a cryptographic device Elgar employed in other contexts. When these chapter differentials are run through a number-to-letter key, they generate the plaintext sequence X, S, S, A, G, and T. The first and last plaintext letters—X and T—are typographical representations of two types of crosses, Christograms that identify Elgar’s secret friend. The positioning of these crosses in the first and last positions hints at one of Christ’s titles as “the First and the Last.”

The first and second plaintext letters “XS” are a phonetic rendering of excess, signifying that which surpasses what is proper or reasonable. Martin Luther repudiated the excesses of the Roman Church—its accumulation of wealth and authority through the sale of indulgences and ecclesiastical offices, a corruption known as Simony—and likewise condemned personal indulgence in gluttony, drunkenness, and vanity in his sermons and Table Talk. His admonitions accord with the injunction in Ephesians 5:18 (“be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess”). Note that the last three letters of “wherein” spell “ein,” the first word in the covert Theme’s title. Comparable usages of excess appear in 1 Peter 4:3–4 and Matthew 23:25, both censuring moral intemperance. Thus, the phonetic encoding of excess as “XS” connotes moderation and alludes to the reforming ministries of Christ and of Luther, the composer of Ein feste Burg.

The second through fourth plaintext letters (SSA) form the reverse of “ASS,” an acronym shared by two well-known English translations of Ein feste Burg: A Safe Stronghold by Carlyle and A Stronghold Sure by Troutbeck. Carlyle’s version achieved broad acceptance in Anglican hymnals, whereas Troutbeck’s translation was adopted by Novello for their edition of Bach’s Cantata Ein feste Burg, published under the English title A Stronghold Sure. In a letter written three days after first performing the Enigma Theme on the piano for his wife, Elgar humorously used the word “ass” to describe his friends’ imagined efforts at composing their own variations. The backward spelling of the covert Theme’s initials thus wittily anticipates Elgar’s unexpected counterpoint of Ein feste Burg in retrograde above the Enigma Theme. As a synonym for “rump” or “backside,” “ass” provides a cheeky double entendre, suggesting Elgar’s mischievous decision to begin his counterpoint with the closing phrase of the secret melody. ​​In a flourish of exquisite impropriety, Elgar turns art upon itself and bares the backside of his Theme in silent retrograde, proving that even restraint may undress with elegance.

The fifth plaintext letter “G” signifies a nexus of theological and linguistic associations encompassing God, Gott, German, Gesù, and Gerontius. In the complete English hymn titles A Safe Stronghold Our God Is Still and A Stronghold Sure Our God Remains, the word “God” occupies the fifth position, while in the German counterpart Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, “Gott” is the sixth. The Italian Gesù corresponds to Jesus, evoking a resonance with the name “Jesu” as it appears in the libretto of The Dream of Gerontius. This sacred oratorio, whose title Elgar abbreviated as “DoG”—a retrograde form of “God”—dramatizes the spiritual trial of the soul of Gerontius. Within the text, Jesus’ final invocation from the cross (Luke 23:46, cf. Psalm 31:5) is cited, while Psalm 90:1, describing the Lord as a “refuge,” reinforces the metaphoric imagery also present in Psalms 46 and 48. The initial “G” thus functions as a symbolic anchor interlinking theological, linguistic, and musical dimensions—binding the cryptographic fabric of the hidden Theme to its biblical resonances and to Elgar’s cryptic dedicatee.

The third through sixth plaintext sequence “SAGT” spells the third-person singular present tense of the German verb sagen, meaning “to say” or “to tell,” with sagt translated as “says.” This sequence is particularly relevant as A Safe Stronghold and A Stronghold Sure serve as English “sayings” of Ein feste Burg, positioning “SAGT” as a linguistic bridge between the source and its adaptations. “SAGT” overlaps with the plaintext abbreviation “ASS,” the initial “G,” and the Christogram “T,” expanding its symbolic breadth and resonance. The spelling of sagt with the third through sixth plaintext letters hints at 36, the opus number of the Enigma Variations. “SAGT” consumes four of the six plaintext letters, sums that allude to the chapter number 46. The expression sagt appears prominently in a June 1902 issue of Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, lauding Elgar with the English phrase, “a man of genius.” Alice Elgar, aided by Dora Penny from 1899 onward, carefully curated clippings like this, preserving records of critical reception in the family archives.

Five distinct plaintext letters (A, G, S, T, and X) encoded by the Psalm Settings Chapters Differentials Cipher match fourteen uppercase letters distributed throughout the titles of the Enigma Variations, a sum that corresponds to the number of movements assigned Roman numerals. The frequencies and positions of these matching plaintext letters unveil significant patterns connected to the covert Theme and Elgar’s creative process. Four pairs of plaintext pairs (A, G, S, T) and six Xs points to 46, the Psalm chapter inextricably linked to Ein feste Burg. Two of the four movements without any matching letters—Variations IV and VI—supply a coded form of 46. Four plaintext letters with a frequency of two spell “SAGT,” the German verb for “says.” The sums two and four furnish a coded form of 24, the number of letters in the German title Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. Six instances of X align precisely with the six initials (E. F. B. I. U. G.) for that German title. When these particular letters are traced vertically through the titles, they form an elegant inverted “y” pattern. This visual cipher alludes to the River Wye, a waterway that caused Elgar’s pencil to flow with musical innovations. He enjoyed formulating his musical ideas while walking along the banks of the Wye whose confluence with the River Lugg near Mordiford forms a similar inverted “y” configuration. The “y” shape not only cryptically points to Elgar’s creative forays along the Wye, especially for Variation XI, but also presents a multidimensional tribute to both place and personal muse within the work’s architecture.

The foregoing analysis demonstrates that Elgar employed an intricate array of cryptographic strategies—encompassing letter ciphers, acrostic anagrams, number-to-letter substitutions, and phonetic spellings—across both his Enigma Variations and subsequent psalm settings. Far from being the actions of a composer dabbling in cryptography, Elgar’s systematic, multilayered approach yielded a complex tapestry of interlocking codes that reference Psalm 46, the hymn Ein feste Burg, and aspects of his own biography. This cryptanalytic perspective challenges the prevailing conventional wisdom that Elgar’s Enigma remains an unsolved personal secret, positing instead that he deliberately embedded mutually reinforcing solutions within his scores for those prepared to seek them out. Elgar’s enduring fascination with puzzles not only enriches interpretations of his music but also affirms the depth of his engagement with both textual and musical symbolism, cementing his place as one of music history’s most inventive and inveterate cryptographers.

To learn more about the secrets of the 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