nimrod3142
Elgar is known to have enjoyed puns and jokes. The year before Elgar wrote the Enigma Variations, one of the great “japes” of all time occurred in the form of the Indiana Pi Bill of 1897. An amateur mathematician convinced the members of the Indiana House to vote for a bill to make “squaring the circle” the official way to calculate Pi. (This would result in a terrible approximation of anywhere from 2 to 4 depending on how the method was applied.) A real mathematician showed the Senate the folly of this bill and it was quickly tabled into obscurity.
1898, Edward Elgar completed his Variations on an Original Theme. His original “enigma” melody was based on Pi. Pi is a constant in all circles (his circle of friends?) Pi is equal to circumference divided by diameter. It is approximated by 3.142 as a decimal or as 22/7 as a fraction.
In the first six bars, Elgar incorporated Pi as a decimal, Pi as a fraction, and Pi as a pun. Elgar’s first four notes were scale degree 3-1-4-2, decimal Pi. To get fractional Pi, Elgar added “two drops of a seventh” after his first eleven notes, leading to 11 x 2/7 = 22/7, fractional Pi. Elgar also include the pun contained in “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie (Pi),” in his Pi melody. The first six bars of Elgar’s enigma melody are made up of exactly “Four and twenty blackbirds” (black notes with wings- slurs or ties.) baked in his Pi. This line from Sing a Song of Sixpence was humorously referred to as a “dark saying.” Blackbirds are “dark” and the pun about Pi is unmistakable.
In 1929, when Elgar was 72 years old and in ill health, no one had solved his enigma for 30 years and he was resolved not to reveal the secret. Instead he found a way to confirm the Pi solution for posterity. He wrote three sentences about the enigma variations which appear to be simple descriptions of the music. However, hidden in each sentence is a hint at fractional Pi, 22/7. The second sentence states that “the drop of a seventh in the 3rd and 4th bar should be observed.” That leads to finding the 11 x 2/7 = 22/7 as already discussed. The first sentence points out his use of two quavers and two crotchets. This is a hint at 22 of 22/7. His third sentence refers to “bar 7” which hints at /7 of 22/7.
Pi satisfies all of the clues given in the 1899 program notes. When Elgar wrote that the Theme “goes over the whole set but is not played,” he was not referring to “theme” in a musical sense, as a melody. He was using the literary meaning of “theme” which refers to the idea or concept behind a work. That is why “the chief character (Pi) is never on the stage.”
In 1912 Elgar wrote, “the work was begun in a spirit of humour.” He also often said that the solution was “well known.” Pi is taught to all school children as part of a basic education. No other “solution” has any relevance to Elgar’s 1929 hints including his “drop of a seventh in the 3rd and 4th bar.”
What do you think of this solution???????????
1898, Edward Elgar completed his Variations on an Original Theme. His original “enigma” melody was based on Pi. Pi is a constant in all circles (his circle of friends?) Pi is equal to circumference divided by diameter. It is approximated by 3.142 as a decimal or as 22/7 as a fraction.
In the first six bars, Elgar incorporated Pi as a decimal, Pi as a fraction, and Pi as a pun. Elgar’s first four notes were scale degree 3-1-4-2, decimal Pi. To get fractional Pi, Elgar added “two drops of a seventh” after his first eleven notes, leading to 11 x 2/7 = 22/7, fractional Pi. Elgar also include the pun contained in “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie (Pi),” in his Pi melody. The first six bars of Elgar’s enigma melody are made up of exactly “Four and twenty blackbirds” (black notes with wings- slurs or ties.) baked in his Pi. This line from Sing a Song of Sixpence was humorously referred to as a “dark saying.” Blackbirds are “dark” and the pun about Pi is unmistakable.
In 1929, when Elgar was 72 years old and in ill health, no one had solved his enigma for 30 years and he was resolved not to reveal the secret. Instead he found a way to confirm the Pi solution for posterity. He wrote three sentences about the enigma variations which appear to be simple descriptions of the music. However, hidden in each sentence is a hint at fractional Pi, 22/7. The second sentence states that “the drop of a seventh in the 3rd and 4th bar should be observed.” That leads to finding the 11 x 2/7 = 22/7 as already discussed. The first sentence points out his use of two quavers and two crotchets. This is a hint at 22 of 22/7. His third sentence refers to “bar 7” which hints at /7 of 22/7.
Pi satisfies all of the clues given in the 1899 program notes. When Elgar wrote that the Theme “goes over the whole set but is not played,” he was not referring to “theme” in a musical sense, as a melody. He was using the literary meaning of “theme” which refers to the idea or concept behind a work. That is why “the chief character (Pi) is never on the stage.”
In 1912 Elgar wrote, “the work was begun in a spirit of humour.” He also often said that the solution was “well known.” Pi is taught to all school children as part of a basic education. No other “solution” has any relevance to Elgar’s 1929 hints including his “drop of a seventh in the 3rd and 4th bar.”
What do you think of this solution???????????