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| Ex. 1 Basil George Nevinson (1853–1908) |
The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice.
Variation XII from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar is dedicated to his friend Basil George Nevinson (1853–1908), who resided in London but found time to visit Malvern regularly and play cello in various musical ensembles. A man of scientific as well as artistic attainments, Nevinson was an accomplished amateur cellist who joined Elgar on violin and Hew David Steuart-Powell at the piano in a chamber trio that read through a sizable repertoire. Steuart-Powell is memorialized as the dedicatee of Variation II (H. D. S-P.), making these two movements companion portraits of Elgar’s most constant chamber music partners. When Elgar visited London, he would often stay at the Nevinson home.
In notes prepared for the Aeolian Company’s pianola rolls released in 1929, Elgar characterized Variation XII as a tribute to a treasured friend whose scientific and artistic gifts were placed wholeheartedly at the disposal of his companions. This poignant movement features two cello solos in tribute to Nevinson. The plaintive solo line that opens and closes the movement frames the Andante like bookends, and its elegiac character presages the autumnal cello writing that Elgar would bring to full flower two decades later in his Cello Concerto in E minor (1919). Like the Enigma Theme, Variation XII is set in G minor and common time with the tempo marking Andante, affinities that invite closer scrutiny of the bonds between this movement and the secret melody it varies.
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| From My Friends Pictured Within by Edward Elgar |
The performance directions for the solo cello at Rehearsal 52 harbor a cryptogram that identifies the scriptural wellspring of the secret melody. Four performance terms consisting of six words appear on the principal cello staff in bar 465: Solo., piano, ad lib., and molto espress. The first letters of these directions generate the acrostic anagram “Es Psalm.” Elgar’s wife routinely identifies him in her diary as “E,” and Elgar himself sometimes signed his letters using that solitary initial. This supporting evidence justifies reading “Es” as the possessive form “E’s” (Elgar's). The acrostic anagram “E’s Psalm” points unerringly to Psalm 46, the chapter that inspired Martin Luther to compose Ein feste Burg. That chapter number is doubly encoded at this juncture. The quantities of performance directions (four) and their constituent words (six) pair to form 46. The bar number 465 furnishes a second numeric signpost as it opens with the digits 46.
A virtually identical acrostic anagram spelling “EE’s Psalm” resides in the performance directions of the Enigma Theme’s opening measure, which contain precisely 46 characters. The recurrence of this cipher construction at the outset of Variation XII binds that movement to the Enigma Theme, a kinship reinforced by their shared tempo marking (Andante), time signature (common time), and key signature (G minor).
In his 1899 program note for the premiere of the Enigma Variations, Elgar disclosed that a larger principal theme “goes” through and over the whole set but is not played. Consistent with that disclosure, Martin Luther’s celebrated hymn Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress) plays through and over this elegiac Andante, sounding above Elgar’s expressive string writing as shown in the short score reduction below. An audiovisual demonstration of this contrapuntal mapping verifies the efficacy of this melodic solution, with Ein feste Burg played by trumpet as the movement is performed on piano.
The original phrase structure of Luther’s chorale is ABABCDEFB. The version observed in this contrapuntal mapping presents the expanded phrase structure AABABCDEFBA, an eleven-phrase iteration that bookends the canonical nine-phrase sequence with Phrase A at both its opening and close. The movement begins with Phrase A from Mendelssohn’s version in G minor, followed by Phrase A and the first statement of Phrase B from Bach’s rendering, also in G minor. The last note of Phrase B (G) overlaps with the opening note of the following Phrase A (B♭), a contrapuntal device known as stretto, in which phrases overlap rather than succeed one another in strict sequence. The mapping then modulates to B♭ major, the relative major of G minor, where Phrase A and the second statement of Phrase B continue in Bach’s realization, Phrase C draws on both Bach and Mendelssohn, and Phrase D incorporates all three versions — Luther, Bach, and Mendelssohn. Phrase E follows the melodic contours of Bach’s version of Phrase F transposed into the Phrase E register, remaining in B♭ major, while Phrase F returns to Bach in G minor. The sequence closes with Phrase B from Luther’s original in B♭ major and a final statement of Phrase A from Mendelssohn’s rendering in G minor, completed using the movement's optional ending bar. This freer treatment of the source melody’s phrase architecture is entirely consistent with Elgar’s methods observed in preceding movements. By subtly varying the hymn’s phrase structure from movement to movement, Elgar deftly camouflages the hidden melody, ensuring that no single template could betray its counterpoint.
The phrases of Ein feste Burg mapped over Variation XII originate from three contrasting versions of the hymn to form a tribrid melody, a pattern established elsewhere across the Enigma Theme and Variations I–XI. Except for the opening Phrase A, which follows Mendelssohn’s version in G minor, Phrases A, B, C, E, and F mirror Bach’s rendering in the final chorale (“Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn”) from his Cantata BWV 80 with the caveat that Phrase E follows the melodic contours of Bach’s Phrase F transposed into the Phrase E register. Phrase C also reflects Mendelssohn’s setting, and Phrase D incorporates all three versions — Luther’s original, Bach’s harmonization, and Mendelssohn’s setting from the Finale of the Reformation Symphony. Ecclesiastes 4:12 declares that a threefold cord is not easily broken; and so it is with this tribrid theme, woven from the distinct but harmonious contributions of Luther, Bach, and Mendelssohn. Consult the following exhibit to easily compare phrases from all three versions of Ein feste Burg.
The following short score reduction tracks the contrapuntal course of Ein feste Burg “through and over” Variation XII by cataloguing two categories of note matches between the hymn and the movement. A melodic conjunction is defined as any matching note between the hymn melody and the melody line of the variation. A harmonic conjunction is defined as a match between a melody note from the chorale and any non-melodic note sounding simultaneously in the score. Both melodic and harmonic conjunctions require matching notes to sound together. In the annotated short score, a melodic conjunction is represented by a diamond-shaped note head, and a harmonic conjunction by a triangle-shaped note head. Variation XII generates 25 melodic conjunctions and 81 harmonic conjunctions, for a combined total of 106. The totals of melodic and harmonic conjunctions serve as objective measures of the efficacy of this contrapuntal solution. A robust counterpoint will distribute these matches broadly across the movement rather than clustering them in isolated passages, and the mapping of Ein feste Burg through and over Variation XII achieves precisely that objective, sounding conjunctions in 28 of the movement’s 29 measures.
Various contrapuntal devices are evident in this mapping, including augmentation, diminution, parallel motion, oblique motion, similar motion, contrary motion, and stretto. The stretto effect at the boundary between the first Phrase B and the following Phrase A — where the last note of Phrase B (G) overlaps with the opening note of Phrase A (B♭) — is particularly distinctive, demonstrating the sophistication of the contrapuntal alignment. An effective counterpoint typically employs a fairly balanced mix of contrary and similar motion, something clearly evident throughout this mapping.
The following table identifies 25 melodic conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and Variation XII dispersed across 16 bars, covering 55% of the movement’s 29 measures and 57% of the 28 active measures during which the hymn is mapped. The 25 melodic conjunctions encompass seven note types with frequencies ranging between 1 and 11. Note G leads with 11 matches (44%), followed by B♭ with 5 (20%), F with 4 (16%), A with 2 (8%), and D, E♭, and F♯ each with 1 match (4% apiece). The three most frequent notes (G, B♭, and F) account for four-fifths (80%) of all melodic conjunctions, reflecting the tonic (G) of G minor, the tonic (B♭) of B♭ major, and F (the dominant of B♭ major and the subtonic of G minor), a pitch shared by both tonal centers through which the mapping alternates across Variation XII.
The next table identifies 81 harmonic conjunctions between Ein feste Burg and Variation XII dispersed across 28 bars, covering 97% of the movement’s 29 measures and 100% of the 28 active measures during which the hymn is mapped. The 81 harmonic conjunctions encompass eight note types with frequencies ranging between 3 and 20. Notes B♭ and G lead jointly with 20 matches each (25% apiece), followed by F with 12 (15%), D with 11 (14%), A with 7 (9%), E♭ with 4 (5%), F♯ with 4 (5%), and C with 3 (4%). The three most frequent notes (B♭, G, and F) account for nearly two-thirds (65%) of all harmonic conjunctions, reflecting the tonic (G) of G minor and the tonic (B♭) of B♭ major — the two keys through which the mapping alternates — together with the subtonic (F) shared by both tonal centers.
There is a combined total of 106 note conjunctions (25 melodic + 81 harmonic), covering 28 of the movement’s 29 measures for a 97% coverage rate — rising to 100% of the 28 active measures during which the hymn is mapped. Melodic conjunctions appear in 16 bars and harmonic conjunctions in 28, with the two categories coinciding in 16; where melodic conjunctions fall silent, harmonic conjunctions maintain the contrapuntal connection across the remaining 12 active bars. This demonstrates that Ein feste Burg engages the full harmonic texture of Variation XII rather than merely overlapping with its surface melody.
This comprehensive, note-by-note penetration — from the opening bar to the final cadence, interrupted only by the single dormant measure (486) — embodies the defining hallmark of a genuine contrapuntal mapping. Elgar's own description of the hidden theme proceeding “through and over” the set is thus borne out with striking quantitative precision. Far from merely visiting Variation XII in passing, Ein feste Burg permeates it at nearly every structural level: melodically with the movement's principal tune, harmonically with its inner voices, and formally with the eleven-phrase arc (AABABCDEFBA) from the first note to the last. Such a pervasive and structurally coherent alignment — encompassing 106 sequential note conjunctions across seven melodic and eight harmonic note types — provides compelling, quantifiable evidence that Ein feste Burg forms a clear and convincing counterpoint to Variation XII.
The test Elgar set is straightforward but demanding. The covert principal theme must play “through and over” the set of Enigma Variations as a counterpoint. More than a century of purported solutions have failed to meet that requirement, for none has ever been successfully mapped contrapuntally above any complete movement. Ein feste Burg satisfies that test from the Enigma Theme to the Finale, replicating sequential note content phrase by phrase while preserving the hymn’s phrase architecture. In consideration of that extraordinary feat, Ein feste Burg stands in a class all its own.
Variation XII (B.G.N.) rewards a careful analysis of both its biographical and musical levels, where Elgar embedded his characteristic puzzles within a moving portrait of a gifted amateur musician. The variation is dedicated to Basil George Nevinson, an accomplished cellist and close friend who regularly performed chamber music with Elgar and Hew David Steuart-Powell throughout the 1890s. Elgar described the movement as a tribute to his friend's “skill as an amateur,” and the variation's expressive string writing — with its lyrical melodic line and rich harmonic texture — pays quiet homage to the instrument Nevinson played. The surface program is an intimate portrait of a musician at ease in the ensemble, while beneath it flows the king of chorales, moving through two tonal centers of G minor and B♭major.
The musical evidence is exacting. The contrapuntal mapping of Ein feste Burg “through and over” Variation XII produces 25 melodic conjunctions and 81 harmonic conjunctions for a combined total of 106, spanning 28 of the movement's 29 measures for a coverage rate of 97%. These conjunctions form a nearly unbroken thread from the first bar to the final optional cadence, with harmonic conjunctions sustaining the contrapuntal connection across every active measure of the movement without exception. This is not a random overlap but a sustained architecture. The hymn’s canonical phrase structure (ABABCDEFB) unfolds across the movement in the elaborated sequence AABABCDEFBA, preserving the correct order of all nine canonical phrases while bookending the sequence with Phrase A at both its opening and close — a symmetrical design traversing G minor and B♭ major, the relative major, before returning to G minor for the final statement.
As with the Enigma Theme and Variations I through XI, the phrases mapped across Variation XII are tribrid in origin, drawn from three distinct historical settings of the hymn: Luther’s original, Bach’s rendering in Cantata BWV 80, and Mendelssohn’s treatment in the Reformation Symphony — woven together as a threefold cord not easily broken. That the mapping should alternate between G minor and B♭ major — the tonic and relative major of the movement’s home key — reflects the harmonic logic of a counterpoint designed to engage the variation's full tonal architecture rather than merely skimming its surface. The structural symmetry of the eleven-phrase mapping, the stretto effect at the phrase boundary, and the quantitative rigor of 106 note conjunctions distributed across 28 of 29 measures supply compelling evidence that Ein feste Burg is a convincing counterpoint to Variation XII. 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.
