Solving Elgar's Enigma

Abstract

On June 19, 1899, Elgar's opus 36, Variations on a Theme, was introduced to public for first time. It was accompanied by an unusual program note: It is true that I have sketched for their amusement and mine, idiosyncrasies of fourteen of my friends, not necessarily musicians; but this is a personal matter, and need not have been mentioned publicly. The Variations should stand simply as a of music. The I will not explain--its dark saying must be left unguessed, and I warn you that connexion between Variations and is often of slightest texture; further, through and over whole set [of variations] another and larger theme but is not played So principal never appears, even as in some late dramas--e.g., Maeterlinck's L'Intruse and Les sept Princesses--the chief character is never on stage. (Burley and Carruthers 1972:119) After this premier Elgar give hints about piece's Enigma, but he never gave solution outright and took secret to his grave. Since that time scholars, music lovers, and cryptologists have been trying to solve Enigma. Because solution has not been discovered in spite of over 108 years of searching, many people have assumed that it would never be found. In fact, some have speculated that there is no solution, and that promise of an was Elgar's rather shrewd way of garnering publicity for piece. Others have even argued that larger was a joke or a hoax; that Elgar never had any but instead tricked people to search in vain (Rushton 1999:64). Elgar refused to validate any solution offered during his lifetime, and therefore no solution can ever be proven beyond shadow of a doubt. However, composer offered a series of hints that provide a rubric for evaluating plausibility of various solutions. Julian Rushton (1999) establishes a set of five requirements based on Elgar's hints, arguing that any solution must satisfy each and every one of them. The composer's first two hints are given in program notes quoted above. First Elgar writes that there is a dark saying involved; and second, he notes that Theme goes throughout piece but is not heard. Later, Elgar gave a third hint when he said on several occasions that it was extraordinary that no one had guessed because it was so known. The composer's fourth hint was given to his close friend Dora Penny (who later wrote about Elgar under her married name, Mrs. Richard Powell). He said that she, of all people, should have guessed it. In 1929 Elgar offered a fifth hint in a note that accompanied Duo-Art pianola rolls of his Variations published by Aeolian Company. He drew attention to pairs of notes in first and second bars before adding that the drop of seventh in [bars 3 and 4] should be observed (Kennedy 1968:91). The first six measures of Enigma theme are given as example 1. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Two more hints will be explored by us here, and one of those hints provided impetus for this article. In October 1911, Elgar wrote additional program notes for a performance of Enigma Variations. He included qualifying phrase, work, commenced in a spirit of humour ... (Kennedy 2004:68), suggesting that solution might be lighter in character than many writers on Elgar's music have presumed until now. We argue that a seventh hint could be found in wording of his dedication, To My Friends Pictured Within, since it could be considered a variation of To My Circle of Friends. It is this hint that led us to a new solution. This article explores possibility that pi, ratio of circumference of a circle to its diameter, is solution to Elgar's Enigma. It will be shown in pages that follow how pi satisfies all of Elgar's hints: five hints that Rushton identifies as well as two other possible hints identified above. …