The “FAE-EFB” Cipher in Variation XIII (✡ ✡ ✡)

Joseph Joachim (circa 1890)

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Carl Sagan

The English composer Edward Elgar excelled at cryptography, the science of coding and decoding secret messages. His obsession with ciphers merits an entire chapter in Craig P. Bauer’s book Unsolved! Bauer devotes much of the third chapter to Elgar’s meticulous decryption of a purportedly insoluble Nihilist cipher released by John Holt Schooling in the April 1896 issue of The Pall Mall Magazine. A Nihilist cipher is built on a Polybius square key. Elgar was so gratified by his decryption of Schooling’s impenetrable code that he mentions it in his first biography released by Robert J. Buckley in 1905. Elgar painted his solution in black paint on a wooden box, an appropriate medium as another name for the Polybius square is a box cipher.

Elgar’s meticulous decryption of Schooling’s cryptogram is summarized on a set of nine index cards. On the sixth card, Elgar likens the process to “working (in the dark).” Note his use of the word dark as a synonym for cipher.

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

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

Elgar wields the words dark and secret interchangeably in a letter to August Jaeger penned on February 5, 1900. He wrote, “Well—I can’t help it but I hate continually saying ‘Keep it dark’—‘a dead secret’—& so forth.” One 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.

Mainstream scholars insist there are no valid solutions to the Enigma Variation 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, Jerrold Northrop Moore, and Julian Rushton. 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 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 sensible view accepts the challenge of a famous melody lurking behind the Variations’ contrapuntal and modal facade. In his sanctioned 1905 biograph, 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 compulsion for cryptography is a reigning facet of Elgar’s personality. Trawling the Enigma Variations for over a decade netted over one hundred cryptograms in diverse formats that encode a set of mutually consistent and complementary solutions. Although that figure may seem extraordinary, it is entirely consistent with Elgar’s fascination for ciphers. Solutions encoded by these cryptograms answer the riddles posed by the Enigma Variations. What is the secret melody to which the Enigma Theme is a counterpoint and serves as the melodic foundation for the ensuing movements? Answer: Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress) by the German reformer Martin Luther. What is Elgar’s “dark saying” concealed within the Enigma Theme? Answer: A musical Polybius cipher situated in the opening six bars. Who is the secret friend and inspiration behind Variation XIII? Answer: Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith.

Some “EFB” Ciphers

A distinct subset of ciphers sprinkled throughout the Enigma Variations encode the initials of Ein feste Burg. Some noteworthy examples are the Enigma Theme Keys Cipher, Nimrod Timpani Tuning Cipher, Variation XII through XIV Letters Cluster Cipher, Mendelssohn Fragments Scale Degrees Cipher, and the Original and Extended Ending Ciphers. The Enigma Theme is written in the parallel modes of G minor and G major. The accidentals for those two key signatures (B♭, E♭, and F♯) are an anagram of “EFB.” The keys of the Enigma Theme unlock the initials of the covert Theme. It is also significant that the first three letters of the Theme’s title (Enigma) are an anagram of the Ein, the first word from the covert Theme’s title.

Variation IX (Nimrod) begins in measure 308 at Rehearsal 33. Elgar specifies the tuning of the timpani for this elegiac movement as E♭, B♭, and F. Those three note letters are an anagram of “EFB”, the initials of Ein feste Burg. The first three letters in the timpani’s tuning directions (“in E♭ . . .”) is a thinly disguised anagram of Ein, the first word in the covert Theme’s title. This mirrors the same pattern observed with the first three letters of the Theme’s title “Enigma” which form an anagram of “Ein”. The E♭in the timpani’s tuning supplies Elgar’s initial and the three pitches are separated by two perfect fifths. Two intervals of a perfect fifth suggest a coded form of Elgar’s initials (EE) as E is the fifth letter of the alphabet. Consistent with that pattern, the Rehearsal number (33) is also the mirror image of two capital cursive Es.

Variation XIII (✡ ✡ ✡) has a cryptic title of three black hexagrammic asterisks enclosed by parentheses. The absent initials signified by those starry asterisks are conveniently supplied as an acrostic anagram by the titles of the adjoining movements, XII (B. G. N.) and XIV (E. D. U. & Finale). Elgar frames the mystery posed by the cryptic title with the correct solution as an acrostic anagram using the titles of the neighboring movements.

There are four incipits in Variation XIII sourced from a subordinate theme of Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage). Two quotations are performed in A♭ major, one paraphrase in F minor, and another quotation in E♭ major. These Mendelssohn fragments encode the initials for Ein feste Burg using the number of statements in a given key to designate the scale degree of that particular mode. Two Mendelssohn fragments in A♭ major specify the second scale degree of that key which is B♭. One Mendelssohn fragment in F minor identifies its first degree of F. A single Mendelssohn quotation in E♭ major designates its first scale degree of E♭. The notes selected by this encipherment system—B♭, F, and E♭—are an anagram of “EFB”. These are the same three notes chosen by Elgar to define the timpani’s tuning in Variation IX.

There is an “EFB” acrostic anagram on the final page of the manuscript score with the original ending of Variation XIV. On that closing page, Elgar penned Fine, an Italian paraphrase from Torquato Tasso’s La Gerusalemma Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered) beginning with the word Bramo, and his autograph. The first letters of these three entries (Fine, Bramo, Edward) generate the acrostic anagram “EFB”, the initials of the covert Theme.

The anomalous date on that page—“FEb 18 1898”—furnishes yet another anagram of “EFB” coinciding with the anniversary of Luther’s death in 1546. As documented on the cover of the autograph score, Elgar completed the Enigma Variations on February 19, 1899. The erroneous date on the last page is one year and one day earlier than the actual completion date, a whopping discrepancy of 366 days. Luther is interred in front of the pulpit of Schlosskirche (Castle Church) in the city of Wittenberg. A coded reference to Luther’s death points to his resting place where “EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT” is emblazoned around the church tower. Luther’s resting place supplies the title of the covert Theme.

The tower of Schlosskirche (Castle Church)

Like the original ending, Elgar inserted another acrostic anagram of “EFB” on a 96-bar addendum to the Finale composed in June and July 1899. His signature on the final page of this addition is accompanied by the word Fine and the location (Birchwood Lodge) where he completed the manuscript. The first letters of these three entries form an acrostic of “EFB”, the initials of Ein feste Burg. The L in “Lodge” even divulges the initial of its composer (Luther). That same initial is reinforced by the quotation at the upper right of the page from stanza XIV of the poem Elegiac Verse by Longfellow.

Three musical friends depicted in the Enigma Variations attended constituent colleges of Oxford University. The dedicatee of Variation II is the pianist Hew David Steuart-Powell who graduated from Exeter College. The dedicatee portrayed in Variation XII is the cellist Basil George Nevinson, another graduate of that same institution. The friend sketched in Variation V is the pianist Richard Penrose Arnold, a student of Balliol College. All three were active in the Oxford University Musical Society (OUMS) founded in 1872. Another Oxford graduate portrayed in Variation VII of the Enigma Variations is Troyte Griffith who attended Oriel College. Unlike his three Oxford peers, Troyte was unmusical and not actively engaged in the Oxford University Musical Society. The musical trio of Oxford students—Steuart-Powell, Arnold, and Nevison—were friends of Elgar’s wife and entered his social sphere following their marriage in May 1889.

Exeter College was founded in 1314 and adopted the Latin motto “Floreat Exon” (Let Exeter Flourish). Balliol College was founded in 1263 but does not advertise a collegiate motto. It is possible to obtain the initials “EFB” as an acrostic from the first letters of Exeter, its Latin motto “Floreat Exon”, and Balliol.

Exeter

Floreat Exon

Balliol

It is equally feasible to generate the acrostic anagram “EFB” using Exeter’s motto and the name Balliol.

Floreat Exon
Balliol

Elgar ingeniously encodes the initials of Ein feste Burg as an acrostic anagram using the college names and motto associated with three Oxford friends portrayed in Variations II, V, and XII.

This overview showed how Elgar encodes the initials “EFB” through a variety of different cryptograms. Most rely on the use of anagrams and acrostics to encode information. These ciphers represent a set of variations on the covert Theme’s initials. The “EFB” decryption is consistent with the majority of the titles from the Enigma Variations which are comprised of different sets of initials. This pattern of anagrams is consistent with the name “Craeg Lae” coined in March 1899 by Elgar for his new residence. The unusual moniker is an anagram of his forename spelled backward (Craeg Lea) mingled with the initials of Carice, Edward, and Alice (Craeg Lea).

Joachim’s Motto “EFB” Cipher

Another “EFB” cipher was recently discovered In Variation XIII (✡ ✡ ✡) of the Enigma Variations. Before presenting this discovery, it is necessary to revisit two related cryptograms. In Variation XIII, Edward Elgar openly cites a four-note melodic fragment from the concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage by Felix Mendelssohn. As shown earlier, the key letters of those Mendelssohn fragments encipher an anagram of “FAE”, the initials of Joseph Joachim’s romantic motto “Frei aber einsam” (Free but lonely). Elgar scholars should have easily spotted this simple musical cryptogram but were too preoccupied with denying the existence of ciphers in the Variations to mount even a cursory search. The “FAE” Cipher furnishes valuable clues about the covert Theme’s title and its composer. The discovery of the “FAE” Cipher embedded within the Mendelssohn fragments verifies that they harbor cryptograms.

There is a slightly more sophisticated cipher in the Mendelssohn fragments that encodes the initials of Ein feste Burg. This cryptogram relies on the number of times an incipit is stated in a given key to encode the scale degree of that particular mode. Two quotations in A♭ major pinpoint its second scale degree of B♭. One paraphrase in F minor points to its first scale degree of F. A third quotation in E♭ major identifies its first scale of E♭. These three note letters (B, F, E) are an anagram of “EFB”, the initials of Ein feste Burg. This set of initials supplies the absent letters in the cryptic title of three hexagrammic asterisks.

The latest “EFB” cipher found in Variation XIII bridges the “FAE” and Mendelssohn fragments “EFB” ciphers. Elgar devised a straightforward method to identify specific scale degrees from the three different keys of the Mendelssohn fragments to encode the covert Theme’s initials (EFB). What makes his formula even more extraordinary is that it also works with Joachim’s motto. The first scale degree of F minor is F, the same as the first letter in Frei. The second scale degree of A♭ major is B♭ which corresponds to the second letter in aber. The first scale degree of E♭ major is E, the same as the first letter of einsam. Applying the specific scale degrees associated with each key letter (one for F and E, and two for A) to letters from each corresponding word in “Frei aber einsam” highlights F, b, and e. These three letters are an anagram of “EFB”, the initials of Ein feste Burg. The methodology used to encode “EFB” in the Mendelssohn fragments also transfers seamlessly to Joachim’s German motto. This synchronous treatment of the FAE and Scale Degrees ciphers located in the Mendelssohn fragments yields identical decryptions that validate both cryptograms and illustrate Elgar’s mastery of cryptography.

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

Elgar's F-A-E Syllables Cipher

Syllables govern the world.

John Selden

Edward Elgar quotes a brief melodic fragment from the beginning of a theme featured in Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage in Variation XIII of the Enigma Variations. In the original full score, three Mendelssohn fragments are enclosed by quotation marks and played by the B-flat Clarinet. The first two are in A-flat major, and a third is in E-flat major. There is another Mendelssohn fragment in F minor performed by the trumpets and trombones devoid of quotation marks as it departs from the original major mode. In all, there are four Mendelssohn fragments with two in A-flat major, one in F minor, and the last in E-flat major.  

The first Mendelsson quotation in Variation XIII

The significance of the key letters from these Mendelssohn fragments — A, E, and F — is that they form an anagram of a well-known musical cryptogram derived from the initials of the violinist Joseph Joachim’s romantic motto “Frei aber einsam” (Free but lonely). The presence of such a conspicuous musical cipher in the Mendelssohn fragments is extraordinary for at least two reasons. The first is that respected scholars such as Julian Rushton failed to detect something so obviously concealed in plain sight. The second is that it forcefully intimates the existence of more cryptograms in Variation XIII, and by extension, the rest of the Enigma Variations. 

The Frei Acrostic Anagram Cipher 

It is significant that Elgar encoded Joachim’s maxim in more than one way in the Enigma Variations. With the key letters of the Mendelssohn fragments, he simply enciphered its initials. He escalates the sophistication of his cryptographic prowess by encoding the entire phrase within four subtitles found in the Enigma Variations. While the majority of the Enigma Variations are given titles with straightforward initials or nicknames, there are four movements with extra subtitles that invite being treated as a distinct subgroup. The first is the original Theme which Elgar evasively calls Enigma. This is followed later by Variation X entitled Dorabella with the added subtitle Intermezzo. Variation XIII has three asterisks ostensibly representing a set of missing initials with the subtitle Romanza. The last is Variation XIV with Elgar’s German initials (E. D. U.) and the subtitle Finale. 

The first major breakthrough in analyzing this discrete group of four subtitles for prospective ciphers was the realization that their first letters are an acrostic anagram of the German word frei. That is the initial word in Joachim’s German motto. This discovery triggered the search for the remaining two words. With the subtitles rearranged so that their first letters spell frei, the remaining two words were detected in Italian (ma) and phonetically in German (eanzam). This outcome may appear incredible, yet it is assuredly not due to superficial confirmation bias because there are far too many reciprocal intersecting data points. The Frei Acrostic Anagram Cipher is genuine because it is corroborated by the Mendelssohn Fragments FAE Cipher. 

The appearance of such a phonetic spelling in the decryption of the Frei Acrostic Anagram Cipher is not evidence for its contrivance, but rather further proof of Elgar’s complicity. As Eric Sams observed, “Elgar was notoriously obsessed with phonetic spellings.” His personal correspondence bristles with phonetic spellings, so a phonetic rendering in the decryption bears his cryptographic fingerprints. With four Mendelssohn fragments, Elgar encodes the three initials for Joachim’s romantic motto. In a similar vein, he embeds all three words from Joachim's motto in the proper order using four subtitles. The number four crops up repeatedly in this analysis of Elgar’s ciphers. There are four string parts in his Enigma Locks Ciphers. There are four Mendelssohn fragments consisting of four notes each. There are four subtitles in his Acrostic Anagram Cipher. Elgar’s selection of those four subtitles must have been carried out with exquisite care to enable the construction of such a sophisticated cryptogram.  

It is nothing short of revelatory that the phonetic spelling for einsam forms the outline of a cross over the subtitle Romanza. This betrays Elgar’s penchant for wordplay because the Romans crucified Jesus on a cross. The Enigma Variations harbor multiple overt and covert references to the cross. This widely recognized symbol of Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith serves as a clue that confirms the identity of the secret friend memorialized in Variation XIII. Just as the Mendelssohn fragments encode one set of initials, the Roman numerals for that movement encipher yet another set that divulges the secret friend’s actual identity. The application of a number-to-letter cipher to the Roman numerals XIII unveils the secret friend’s initials. X represents the number ten, and the tenth letter of the alphabet is J. III stands for three, and the third letter is C. These letters are the initials for Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of Elgar’s Roman Catholic faith. 

In addition to placing a coded emphasis on the number four, Elgar also draws unusual attention to the number six throughout the Enigma Variations. The opus number (36) is the product of six multiplied by six. There is an oddly placed double bar at the end of Enigma Theme’s sixth measure. There are precisely six titles given to various movements that are each six letters long. The first is Enigma, while two others appear in succession for Variations VI (Ysobel) and VII (Troyte). 

Less obvious but equally relevant is the presence of a six-by-six Polylbius box cipher embedded within the first six measures of the Enigma Theme. When decoded, it unveils Elgar’s “dark saying” that was first mentioned in the original 1899 program note. The full title of the covert Theme has six words — Ein feste Burg ist Unser Gott. There are 24 letters in that title, the sum of four sixes. The lyrics of Luther's most famous hymn originate from Psalm 46, a chapter ending in six. The names Martin and Luther both have six letters. Elgar's use of the German augmented sixth chord in the Enigma Theme further alludes to the missing melody's six-word title in German. Even Elgar's dedication hints at this number for it is comprised of six words: “Dedicated to My Friends Pictured Within.” Elgar’s subtle but noticeable emphasis on the numbers 4 and 6 throughout the Enigma Variations points to the chapter number of the Psalm that has the covert Theme’s title. 

Elgar added three asterisks next to the Roman numerals for Variation XIII ostensibly to represent those of a secret friend. A closer inspection of the particular asterisk printed on the original full score reveals it is a hexagram — the Star of David. This is a very symbolic gesture because one of the many titles for Jesus is the Son of David.

For those inclined to attribute these hexagram asterisks on the official score to someone other than Elgar (such as an editor or publisher), one need look no further than the Autograph Score for the final answer. It shows that Elgar added three hexagrams next to the Roman numerals XIII.  

Elgar’s use of acrostic anagrams is not unique to the Frei Acrostic Anagram Cipher in the Enigma Variations. In the Enigma Theme’s first measure, he uses the same technique with the performance directions to encode his initials and the word psalm. That decryption is hugely revealing because the title of the covert Theme originates from Psalm 46.

The three asterisks that serve as the cryptic title for Variation XIII hint at the hidden Theme’s title having three initials. Elgar cleverly provides those missing initials in the form of another acrostic anagram using the first letters of the titles from the contiguous Variations XII and XIV. In a classic display of misdirection, the secret friend’s initials are actually enciphered by the Roman numerals rather than the asterisks. 

There are four Mendelssohn fragments in three contrasting keys which together encode the initials of Joachim’s romantic three-word motto in German. This discovery provides some revealing parallels with the covert Theme’s title because it also consists of three words in German. There are five syllables in Joachim’s romantic motto. As there are four Mendelssohn fragments which encode the initials for Joachim’s aphorism, this invites a number-to-syllable cipher approach by counting forwards from the first to the fourth syllable. This deciphering method lands squarely on the letters ein, the first word in the covert Theme’s German title Ein feste Burg. When the same procedure is applied in reverse with the last syllable counted first, this arrives at the letter a, the first word in the English translation A Mighty Fortress. 

The twin procedures of counting forward and backward through a dataset were applied effectively with the Enigma Locks Cipher. These transposition methods produced meaningful plaintext results that indirectly revealed the initials for the covert Theme via the Enigma Keys Cipher, and directly identified the initials for the secret friend. With the FAE Syllables Cipher, this same approach unveiled the first word in both the German and literal English translation of the covert Theme’s title. Again, the mutually consistent results defy a plausible chance explanation. 

The conventional wisdom has stubbornly maintained that the Mendelssohn fragments are extraneous to the Enigma Variations. That opinion seems justified because these melodic extracts originate from an entirely different work. This is one instance in which the conventional wisdom proved to be monumentally wrong. Far from being unrelated, these fragments conceal a rich cache of cryptograms that confirm the identities of the covert melodic Theme and the secret friend memorialized in Variation XIII. This really should come as no surprise because Elgar was an expert cryptographer. To learn more about the secrets of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, read my free eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed.  Please help support and expand my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria

The Joachim Quartet

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

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Footnotes

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

[2] Mark 4:22 KJV

Elgar's Grand Allusion: Dante's "Enigma Forte"

Dante and The Divine Comedy

Without his musical surroundings, Edward Elgar might have been a poet, might have emulated Dante or Milton. He was born to high enterprise. His turn of thought inclined to the serious, the heroic, the epic.

Robert J. Buckley

 

I had the good fortune to be thrown among an unsorted collection of old books. There were books of all kinds, and all distinguished by the characteristic that they were for the most part incomplete. I busied myself for days and weeks arranging them. I picked out the theological books, of which there were a great many, and put them on one side. Then I made a place for the Elizabethan dramatists, the chronicles including Barker’s and Hollinshed’s, besides a tolerable collection of old poets and translations of Voltaire and all sorts of things up to the eighteenth century. Then I began to read. I used to get up at four or five o’clock in the summer and read – every available opportunity found me reading. I read till dark. I finished reading every one of those books – including the theology. The result of that reading has been that people tell me that I know more of the life up to the eighteenth century than I do of my own time, and it is probably true.

Edward Elgar from a 1904 interview for The Strand Magazine

In the original 1899 program note for the premiere of the Enigma Variations, Elgar’s couches the mystery of his first extended symphonic work using some very unusual terms:

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.[1]

Scholars struggle to account for Elgar’s use of such terms as enigma and dark saying in connection with the Enigma Variations. An intimate association exists between the words “dark”, “enigma” and “Christ” in The Golden Legend by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The heroine Elsie says to Prince Henry in Chapter IV, “Faith alone can interpret life, and the heart that aches and bleeds with the stigma / Of pain, alone bears the likeness of Christ, and can comprehend its dark enigma.” More tantalizingly, the words enigma and dark saying point to Longfellow’s popular translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, specifically Canto XXXIII of Purgatorio. There is an astonishing number of parallels between the Divine Comedy and Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Before exploring these in-depth, it is helpful to first review Longfellow’s influence on Elgar.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

Longfellow and Elgar

Elgar’s mother venerated the poetry of Longfellow, read it to her children often, and nurtured this devotion in her impressionable son, Edward. This is made abundantly clear by Elgar’s decision to set Longfellow’s verse in two extended choral works: The Black Knight Op. 25 (1889 – 92), and Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf Op. 30 (1895).  He used Longfellow’s translation of Froissart for his song Rondel Op. 16 No. 3 (1894).  In his oratorio The Apostles Op 49 (1902-3), Elgar based the third tableau of Part I “In the Tower of Magdala” on Longfellow’s description of Mary Magdalene in the epic poem The Divine Tragedy.[2] These compositions demonstrate Longfellow’s influence over Elgar both before and after the Enigma Variations were composed. Evidence for Longfellow’s centrality to Elgar’s artistic vision, particularly his allegiance to the German Romantic School, is shown by Elgar’s gift to the German conductor Hans Richter in 1899 of Longfellow’s Hyperion (1839).[3] In a letter accompanying the book, Elgar wrote, “I send you the little book about which we conversed & from which I, as a child, received my first idea of the great German nations.” [4] It is undeniable Longfellow and his poetry held a central place in Elgar’s artistic universe, bending the very light of his muse and music before and after the Enigma Variations sprang into existence.

Dante’s Divine Comedy

The parallels between the Enigma Variations and Dante’s Divine Comedy are multilayered, ranging from the poetical, numerological, symbolic, theological, and even musical. The Enigma Variations are assigned Roman numerals like every Canto of the Divine Comedy. Elgar first mentioned the Enigma Variations to Jaeger in a letter dated October 24, 1898. He wrote:

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.[5]

With the now obvious connection between the meaning of the variation’s name and the title of the missing Principal Theme, Elgar’s use of the name Nimrod confirms he contemplated the melodic enigma from its very genesis. Elgar began composing the Variations on October 21, 1898, just three days before his letter to Jaeger that mentions the name Nimrod. The Roman numeral assigned to this variation holds a potent literary link to Elgar’s favorite poet, Longfellow, and his famous translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. In Canto XXXI of the Inferno, Nimrod is described as a babbling giant trapped in the ninth circle of hell. Variation IX is appropriately named Nimrod. Dante links Nimrod to the construction of the Tower of Babel, and his eternal punishment for his rebellion is to be struck dumb with an inability to speak coherently.  In Dante’s hell, Nimrod babbles incoherently and desperately blows a horn to vent his inarticulate passions. In a symbolic tribute to this literary image, Elgar concludes Variation IX with a thundering blast from the brass section at Rehearsal 37 followed by Variation X in which the subject captures Dora Penny’s stutter, an obvious confusion of tongues.

On November 7, 1899, August Jaeger wrote to Edward Elgar:

How is the Gordon symphony getting on? You Sphinx!! 

Why Dontcher answer??? 

Are you lazying over your work?[6]

These words were written just over a year after Elgar began work on the Enigma Variations and five months after its premiere that propelled him to international acclaim. The Sphinx is a mythological creature who guards the entrance to the city of Thebes and challenges travelers with a difficult riddle before granting them entry. On one level, Jaeger’s nickname for Elgar points to the recent success of the Enigma Variations in which the composer poses a difficult riddle. On another level, Jaeger’s language points to Canto XXXIII of Purgatorio. Longfellow’s translation of lines 43-51 contains a cryptic prophecy about a future savior identified only with the number 515. In this passage, the terms Sphinx, enigma, and dark utterance are found:

Within which a Five-hundred, Ten and Five, 
    One sent from God, shall slay the thievish woman 
    And that same giant who is sinning with her 
And peradventure my dark utterance, 
    Like Themis and the Sphinx, may less persuade thee, 
    Since, in their mode, it clouds the intellect 
But soon the facts shall be the Naiades, 
    Who shall this difficult enigma solve, 
    Without destruction of the flocks and harvests.

In the 1899 program note for the premiere of the Enigma Variations, Elgar couches the mystery of his symphony using the terms Enigma, and ‘dark saying’ (the equivalent of dark utterance). Maeterlinck’s ‘Les sept Princesses” (literally “the seven princesses”) lends itself easily as an allusion to the seven ladies in Canto XXXIII of Purgatorio symbolizing the three theological (Faith, Hope, and Love) and four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance).[7] In measures three and four of the Enigma Theme, the unusual drop in the seventh in the melody occurs twice. This conveniently presents numerological parallels with the three theological and four cardinal virtues. The numbers three and four are used extensively as numerological symbols in the Divine Comedy. These seven ladies begin Canto XXXIII with “melodious psalmody” — the harmonious chanting of Psalm 78. This is remarkable because the lyrics for the unstated Principal Theme (Ein feste Burg) are based on a psalm, specifically Psalm 46.

Psalm 78 was written when Jerusalem was sacked and the Temple desecrated. In the King James Version, verse 2 states, “I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old.” This presents an intriguing link to the language in the original 1899 program note. Finally, Dante states Beatrice’s difficult enigma will be solved by the Naiades, a type of nymph that presides over bodies of water. Dante’s poetic connection between the enigma’s solution and water (a play on words Elgar certainly would have relished as water is a “solution”) presents a potent literary parallel with the marine atmosphere of Variation XIII. As previously explained, Elgar inserted in this puzzling variation four melodic fragments drawn from Mendelssohn’s overture Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage pointing to the identity of the unstated Principal Theme.

At the end of the original score, Elgar wrote “Bramo assai, poco spero, nulla chieggio” followed by “(sic, 1595)” and the name Tasso in brackets. The original source for this quote is Torquato Tasso’s epic Christian poem, La Gerusalemme Liberata­ (Jerusalem Delivered). A formative influence over Tasso’s work was none other than Dante and his Divine Comedy. It is hardly coincidental Elgar’s choice of language for his literary quotation is in the Italian vulgare, the same language used by Dante for writing his magnum opus. The enigmatic quote is slightly modified from the original with Elgar incorrectly translating it as “I essay much, I hope little, I ask nothing.” The correct translation is “I desire much, I hope little, I ask nothing.” Tasso’s original quote is in the third person, not the first as Elgar renders it.

Fortunately, research by Geoffrey Hodgkins and Professor Brian Trowell sheds light on this little enigma. They confirmed the modified quote originates from the title page of The Most Honorable Tragedie of Sir Richard Grenville, Knight by Gervase Markham published in 1595. Like General Gordon, Sir Richard Grenville was a war hero who died battling overwhelming odds. In the Variations, Elgar makes a number of allusions to famous knights who fell in battle. Prior to his death at the siege of Khartoum, General Gordon spent a year in Jerusalem investigating such theological questions as where Jesus was crucified and buried. Through his correspondence, he popularized a rocky outcropping as Golgotha and an adjacent site as the Garden Tomb. To this day it is known as Gordon's Calvary. The purpose of covering these seemingly unrelated subjects is to show how on a much deeper level, one palpable to Elgar’s acute sensibilities, many meaningful connections between these seemingly unrelated subjects may be drawn. The Enigma Variations. The Tasso paraphrase. Jerusalem Delivered. Sir Richard Grenville. General Gordon and the “Gordon” Symphony Gordon’s Calvary. Dante’s Divine Comedy. Enigma forte. Dark saying. Variation XIII. The Hidden Friend. The Shroud of Turin. Jesus.

The Five Hundred, Ten and Five

The prophecy concerning the Five Hundred, Ten and Five (515) in Canto XXXIII of Purgatorio furnishes some intriguing numerological parallels with the Enigma Variations. The Variations consist of fifteen (15) sections or movements. Variation XIII is 51 measures in length. The final variation is identified with the Roman numerals XIV, literally “Ten, One and Five.” In music, the most powerful tonal relationship exists between the tonic (the first note in a scale) and the dominant (the fifth note in a scale). The perfect cadence describes this central relationship as the resolution of the dominant (V) chord to the tonic (I). The number 515 is a palindrome, and Elgar’s use of a palindrome rhythmic pattern in the Enigma Theme forms in Morse code a phonetic anagram (IMMI) for the double “I AM.” This is one of the titles Jesus claims for himself.[9]

Apart from Elgar’s affinity for Longfellow’s poetry, older literature in general, and a profound interest in theology, there are other compelling reasons why he would be captivated by the enigma forte of Dante’s Divine Comedy. For one,  forte is a musical term. Another reason is that one prominent interpretation theorizes the number 515 symbolizes Jesus (Dominus Xristus Victor). The Roman numerals DXV form the slightly anagrammatized word in Latin for leader, dux.  Interestingly, this same spelling is present in the title of Variation XIV (E. D. U.)  Notice after removing the letters DUX, the remaining letters are EIV. It should be noted that E is the fifth letter of the alphabet, so EIV is the cryptographic equivalent of VIV, or 515. The number five is closely associated with Jesus as evidenced by popular devotional concepts focusing on the five points of the Cross, the five holy wounds, and the five letters in his name. The number fifteen holds special significance because it is associated with the stations of the cross with the last representing the resurrection. In Hebrew, the number fifteen is not written in the usual manner because it spells one of the names for God (י-ה, yodh and heh).  Passover, the day on which Jesus was crucified, begins on the fifteenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan. It was also shown the hidden friend of Variation XIII is Jesus, so Elgar’s numerological suggestion for his Lord and Savior is artistically poignant and relevant, especially since Variation XIII is 51 measures in length, a number forming the inversion of the stations of the cross. The Enigma Variations consist of fifteen sections with the Enigma Theme followed by fourteen Variations.

The number 515 is theologically significant for other reasons. For instance, according to the Genesis account, the length of Noah’s ark was 300 Egyptian cubits, a figure that converts to 515 feet. The ark is a symbol of redemption, one marking the destruction of humanity’s past and preservation of its future. In the New Testament, Jesus is portrayed as the past and future Savior who fulfills the Old Covenant and establishes a New Covenant. It is rather revealing that Elgar identified Variation XIII with the letters “LML.” This palindrome may be interpreted according to its Roman numeral values as follows:

• L  = 50
• M = 1000
• L  = 50

Discounting the zeros produces 515, the mysterious “Five Hundred, Ten and Five” of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Second Temple was dedicated in 515 B.C. It was renovated by Herod around 19 B.C., and it was in this same Temple that Jesus taught during his earthly ministry. The number 515 may be seen figuratively as representative of Christ, for Jesus referred to his body as a Temple. Just as the Temple of Christ’s body was killed on the cross in 33 A.D., the Second Temple was destroyed by Titus and his Roman legions in 70 A.D. There is a much less direct way to obtain the number 515 based on one of Jesus’ more famous miracles: The feeding of the five thousand.[10] This event served as the inspiration for one of Christianity’s earliest known symbols, the fish or Ichthus. Jesus miraculously fed five thousand men and their families with just five loaves of bread and two fishes, directing his 12 disciples to distribute the food among groups of 50 (Luke 9:14).

The sum of two fish and five loaves is seven. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, the seventh day on which God rested.[11] Seven is the biblical number of completeness. Fish symbolize the sea and bread the land. Both symbols, namely the sea and land, are implied through the musical imagery of Variation XIII. Jesus blessed and multiplied the fish and the loaves.

• 2 multiplied by 5 is 10. 
• Jesus directed his disciples to divide the food among the 5000. 
• 5000 divided by 10 is 500. 
• Jesus instructed the crowd to divide itself into groups of 50 so his disciples could distribute the food among these smaller groups (Luke 9:14). 
• 50 divided by 10 is 5.

Based on this analysis, it is feasible to obtain the mysterious number 515 from the biblical account of Jesus feeding the five thousand, for 515 is the sum of 500, 10 and 5. The composer’s rendering as “LML” on his sketch of Variation XIII is far less circuitous, and interpreting these initials based on their Roman numeral values is all but implied by Elgar’s assignment of Roman numerals to each of the Variations.

A Spirit of Humor and Seriousness

There is ample evidence to conclude Elgar drew inspiration from Dante’s Divine Comedy when he composed the Enigma Variations. Dante was one of Longfellow’s most revered and respected poetic heroes, and Longfellow was an artistic cornerstone for more than one of Elgar’s major works. The terms ‘“Enigma” and “dark saying” found in the 1899 program note are virtually identical to those found in Canto XXXIII of Purgatorio which describes Dante’s enigma forte. Dante’s pervasive using the numbers three are four to symbolize the theological and cardinal virtues is mirrored by Elgar’s unusual drop in the seventh found in measures 3, 4, 13 and 14 of the Enigma Theme. In the case of Canto XXXIII of Purgatorio, these virtues are represented by seven ladies. It is an intriguing coincidence that Elgar mentions the play Les sept princesses (The Seven Princesses) in the original program note. Like the Variations, each Canto is identified with a Roman numeral.

The Roman numeral and subtitle Nimrod for the ninth variation are a match with the giant Dante describes in the ninth circle of hell, and even the orchestration at rehearsal 37 bears a striking resemblance to the poet’s description of Nimrod making a loud blast on his brass horn. Numerological references to the number 515 may be found in the Enigma Variations, including the interesting fact the final movement may reasonably be performed in 5 minutes 15 seconds. The “Five Hundred, Ten and Five” is a number Dante gives for a future Savior prophesied in Canto XXXIII of Purgatorio. A discreet set of ciphers alludes to the mysterious number 515. It is noteworthy that the Roman numerals XXXIII represent the number 33, the reverse of Edward Elgar’s initials (E.E.). In light of my discovery of the hidden friend for Variation XIII, it appears Elgar chose to answer Dante’s poetic enigma forte with a musical Enigma of his own, one championing the theory that the hidden Savior is Jesus Christ. The three asterisks in the subtitle of Variation XIII (✡ ✡ ✡) are also highly suggestive of Dante’s magnum opus because its three books conclude with the word stars. Elgar collected old books and rare editions, and his literary tastes were inclined toward the old rather than the contemporary. Elgar remarked the Enigma Variations “commenced in a spirit of humour & continued in deep seriousness.” What could be more humorous and serious as a source of inspiration than the  Divine Comedy? In humor burns the flickering flame of truth. To learn more about the secrets of the Enigma Variations, read my eBook Elgar’s Enigmas Exposed. Please support my original research by becoming a sponsor on Patreon.

Soli Yah Gloria

Footnotes

[1] Original 1899 program note by C. A. Barry citing a letter by Elgar
[2] Adams, B. (Editor). Edward Elgar and His World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007, p. 64.
[3] Ibid, p. 64.
[4] Moore, Letters of a Lifetime, p. 81.
[5] Elgar, E. (1965). Letters to Nimrod: Edward Elgar to August Jaeger, 1897 - 1908. London: Dobson, p. 27.
[6] Moore, J. N. (1999). Edward Elgar: A Creative Life (Clarendon Paperbacks) (New Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, USA, p. 294.
[7] http://www.unc.edu/~cervgn/Syllabi%20and%20Docs/Purgatorio%2033.Final.pdf accessed on 12/25/2010
[8] Cook, Eleanor. (2009). Enigmas and Riddles in Literature. New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 93
[9] Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58
[10] Matthew 14:13-21
[11] Matthew 12:8