Elgar’s Diamond Jubilee

Elgar’s Variations are my Everest,
Elevating song to the starry heights,
Lasting music by one of England’s best,
Guarded by ciphers, a trove of insights,
A labyrinth of dark enigmas unguessed,
Rousing strains of love’s labors lost, now found,
Solved by one willing to endure the test;
Jesus spoke in 'dark sayings' to confound,
Unveiling truth not to the rich and wise,
But rather to fools, the poor, and the lame,
In music Elgar mimics that disguise,
Lifting up in secret his Savior’s name,
Enduring to the end he ran his race,
Emboldened by seeing Christ’s Holy Face.

Robert W. Padgett

This article celebrates a new milestone for this blog: 50,000 page views. This number is understated as some posts range between ten to forty pages in length, yet a view is counted as a single page. A more conservative estimate of real page views is ten to fifteen times greater, or approximately 750,000. Considering the subject is something as esoteric as a British symphony by Edward Elgar, this is by no means a small feat. A Google search of “Elgar enigma solution” lists my blog as the number one search result, beating out other popular sites like Wikipedia and Answers.com. This favorable condition has been the case for over six months. Based on this web ranking, I must be onto something.

On the third of February 2009, I was fortunate enough to discover the covert principal Theme to Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Ein feste Burg by the German Reformer Martin Luther. This extraordinary event took place in my hometown of Pacific Grove precisely on the bicentennial of Felix Mendelssohn’s birth, something I was blissfully unaware of at the time. It was also 110 years after the completion of the Variations in February 1899 and 75 years following Elgar’s death in February 1934. The passage of 75 years after an event is known in the United States as a Diamond Jubilee. In commemoration of this discovery, I composed an acrostic sonnet that spells “E ELGAR'S JUBILEE.” I chose a sonnet because it has fourteen lines, and similarly, the Enigma Variations has fourteen variations.

The credit for this marvelous discovery belongs to my heavenly Father who graciously answered my fervent prayer, blessing me with the wisdom and endurance needed to surmount the seemingly insurmountable. As this was His gift, I have not sought to profit from it in any way. On the contrary, I prefer to emulate Elgar’s excellent example, for the Variations were his first major noncommissioned work. I seek no reward in this lifetime but prefer to collect my treasure in the next. I suspect Elgar’s motivations in 1898-99 were similar, preferring to follow the great commission rather than toil for one from a publisher hungry for trifles rather than triumphs. Jesus told his followers to do their good works in secret to ensure they are not recognized and rewarded by the world, but rather by our heavenly Father. My exhaustive study of the Enigma Variations has produced some fascinating findings as described in my free eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed.

Why was I chosen, of all people, to make these unprecedented discoveries? I never attended a conservatory, but then neither did Elgar. On closer analysis, a comparison of Elgar’s life history with my own produces a lengthy list of similar life experiences. Elgar and I share an astonishing number of similar life experiences. Like me, he was: 

1. The son of a musician father who “who hated all religions”[1] 
2. The son of a devout Christian mother who taught him to revere God and the arts 
3. The fourth child born to his parents 
4. A husband and father 
5. A Christian 
6. A concert violinist 
7. A piano accompanist 
8. An instructor of violin, viola, and piano 
9. A violin student of a respected teacher 
10. A self-taught composer 
11. An enthusiast for golfing, kite flying, bicycling and experimenting in a home laboratory 
12. A law student in his youth 
13. Employed for a few years in an asylum as a musician 
14. Planning to attend conservatory but could not afford to do so 
15. An ardent admirer of Bach, Mendelssohn, and Wagner 
16. A Native English speaker 
17. Able to speak, read and write German 
18. An award-winning composer 
19. Viewed as an outsider because of his faith, profession, and class 
20. Suspicious of career academics 
21. Fascinated by puns, anagrams, and cryptograms

These similar life experiences have undoubtedly helped in my quest for answers. The scripture says, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” In my case, the Lord could not have chosen a more foolish messenger from the perspective of secular academia. In their eyes, I am a dithering fool, and they have told me so in no uncertain terms. The scripture also assures us that “there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested.” [2] No matter how hard the world strives to hide the truth, it eventually gets out. In the case of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, the waiting lasted 110 years, and now the answers are finally here. To learn more about the secrets behind one of Elgar’s most celebrated symphonic achievements, read my free eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Please support my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria

---

Footnotes

[1] McVeagh, D. (2007), Elgar the Music Maker. Rochester, New York: Boydell Press, p 57.

[2] Mark 4:22 KJV

C. A. E., ✡ ✡ ✡, and F. A. E.

Jesus heals the blind beggar

They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
    noses, but cannot smell.

Psalm 115:5-6

Elgar dedicates Variation I of the Enigma Variations to his wife (Caroline Alice Elgar) by assigning her initials (C. A. E.) to the title of this poignant movement. It is remarkable two of her initials are exact sequential matches for those secretly enciphered in Variation XIII: F. A. E. More intriguing still is these hidden initials (✡ ✡ ✡) are encoded by musical fragments that sonically portray the sea, the phonetic equivalent of Alice’s first and remaining initial, “C.” In this context, it appears Elgar hinted at a connection between the letters “A” and “E” in the sea fragments of Variation XIII by means of his wife’s initials. The Enigma Theme's time signature is in common time, and that meter may be represented by a capital “C”. This suggests a link between XIII and the Enigma Theme. The Mendelssohn fragments are drawn from the symphonic overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage (Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt). These melodic incipits are quoted in the keys of A-flat major, F minor, and E-flat major.

In the orchestral score, three of the four Mendelssohn fragments are enclosed by quotation marks and are performed by a solo clarinet. Two of these quotations are in A-flat major and begin on the major third of that key (C) the phonetic equivalent of sea.

Could this all be just a coincidence? The answer is most emphatically no. Elgar is portraying the sea, deliberately beginning the symbolic quotation with the note C to subtly reinforce this imagery. It is deeply symbolic that the circular bell of the clarinet closely resembles the letter “C”. It is hardly coincidental Elgar would use an instrument whose name begins with the letter C to capture the ocean’s deathly stillness so ominously conveyed by Goethe's poetry that inspired Mendelssohn's concert overture.

Clarinet Bell

The connection to the letter C ventures beyond Elgar’s symbolic use of the clarinet to begin two of the Mendelssohn fragments on the note C, the major third of the A-flat major scale. The two A-flat major quotations are buoyed by an accompaniment figure played by the violas and cellos. In an interesting twist, both instruments have C-bouts and C strings. As part of the accompaniment figure, the violas play the open C-string, musically suggesting the very place where land is not visible, the open sea.

C bouts

The sound of a passing steamship's engine is deftly portrayed by a timpani roll on C with coins placed near the edge of the rim. Notice that coin begins with the letter c, and the secret friend of Variation XIII was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver or coins. The sea picture is intimately linked to Jesus as he compared his death to the plight of Jonah who spent three days in the belly of a whale. What happened when Jonah was cast into the raging sea and swallowed by the great fish? The storm subsided, and the waters became calm. In Variation XIII, Elgar makes this theological allusion by quoting the Mendelssohn fragments that symbolize a calm sea. Elgar was also fond of quoting scripture, particularly in his many sacred oratorios.

The accompaniment figure mimics the palindromic rhythm of the Enigma Theme, alluding to the presence of a cipher. Unlike a Music Box Cipher marked off by double bar lines, this one is identified by double apostrophes in the form of quotation marks. The solution to the Romanza Cipher in Variation XIII points to the famous burial cloth of Elgar's hidden friend, the Turin Shroud. The combination of the unique letters from “CAE” and “FAE” permits the spelling of “FACE”, a subtle reference to the Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. These devotions were first approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1895. It is not inconceivable the number thirteen and the capital letter “L” to identify Variation XIII may allude to this pope and these devotions. Elgar did not begin work on the Variations until 1898, five months after Secondo Pia took his famous photographic negative of the Turin Shroud. That picture became an international sensation in both the secular and Catholic press, so Elgar was aware of this incredible discovery in the months immediately preceding the Variations. The subtitle for Variation XIII, Romanza, is easily identified with Elgar's Roman Catholic faith.

The notes forming the marine accompaniment for the A-flat major Mendelssohn quotations are A-flat, C, and E-flat. Sound familiar? They should be, for they are the initials for Elgar’s wife: C.A.E. This observation should decisively extinguish any speculative claims regarding Elgar’s alleged longing for Helen Weaver or some other long-forgotten love interest. Among the Mendelssohn fragments, Elgar only quotes the A-flat major fragment twice. This is revealing on one level because C. A. E. is the second movement of the Enigma Variations. Why would Elgar allude to his wife in a Variation secretly dedicated to Jesus? One likely explanation involves his Christian concept of marriage which views the union between a husband and wife as ordained by God, symbolizing the union of Christ and the Church. On another level, Elgar’s use of the A-flat major key for the Mendelssohn fragments places extra emphasis on A-flat or A tone. Could this be a musical reference to the word atone, as in atonement, one of the few theological terms coined in the English language? It would certainly be a fitting gesture in a movement dedicated to Jesus. Remarkably the Christian symbol for marriage somewhat resembles a treble clef, the same used for the clarinet.

 
Christian Symbol for Marriage 

Treble Clef

Jesus began his ministry at the Wedding Feast at Cana by miraculously turning water into wine. The word Cana starts with the letter C, just like the terms Christian, Catholic, Christ, Church, crucified, Calvary, and cipher. In another miracle involving water, Jesus calmed a raging sea, prompting his disciples to exclaim, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” In yet another miracle involving water, Jesus walked on the sea of Galilee. Other notable connections to the letter C within the Enigma Variations are discussed in the following posts:

1. Elgar's Enigma Theme, Pi and C 
2. Elgar's Enigma Fish: Pi ~ C

Jesus calms the sea

 

To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my free eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Please support my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria