Editing Enigma Variations (section)

===Other musical themes===
If Robert John Buckley's statement about the theme being "a counterpoint to some well-known melody" (which is endorsed by what Elgar himself disclosed to F. G. Edwards in 1900) is disregarded or discounted the field opens up to admit other kinds of connection with well-known themes.

*Entries in this category submitted to the ''Saturday Review'' competition included the suggestions: ''[[When I am laid in earth]]'' from Purcell's ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'', the [[Mass in B minor structure#Agnus Dei|Agnus Dei]] from Bach's [[Mass in B minor]], the song ''None shall part us'' from ''[[Iolanthe]]'' and the theme from the slow movement of Beethoven's ''[[Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)|Pathétique]]'' sonata.<ref>"What is the Enigma?", ''Saturday Review'', 30 May 1953. The arguments which J. F. Wohlwill gave to sustain his Pathétique-solution are very vague and seem to be inspired just by what Elgar had written in the programme notes for the pianola rolls (1929); see {{harvnb|Westgeest|2007|pp=48–49}}.</ref> Elgar himself affirmed that this Beethoven theme is alluded to in variation IX.{{sfn|Powell|1947|p=111}}
*In 1985 Marshall Portnoy suggested that the key to the Enigma is Bach's ''[[The Art of Fugue]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Portnoy|first=Marshall A.|jstor=948136|title=The Answer to Elgar's 'Enigma'|journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]]|volume=71|number=2|year=1985|pages=205–210|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/mq/LXXI.2.205}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Contrapunctus XIV of that work contains the [[BACH motif]] (in English notation, B{{music|b}}–A–C–B{{music|natural}}) which, in Portnoy's view, can also be found in the ''Variations''. Moreover, the Art of Fugue consists of 14 individual fugues on the same subject (just as the Enigma variations are 14 variations on the same subject), and Bach signed his name "B-A-C-H" within the 14th fugue (just as Elgar signed his name "EDU" on the 14th variation), as well as other clues.
*Theodore van Houten proposed in 1975 ''[[Rule, Britannia!]]'' as the hidden melody on the strength of a resemblance between one of its phrases and the opening of the Enigma theme. The word which is sung to this phrase – a thrice-repeated "never" – appears twice in Elgar's programme note, and the figure of Britannia on the [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|penny coin]] provides a link with Dora Penny.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hierck|first=Hans|newspaper=de Volkskrant|title=Geheim van Edward Elgar ontraadseld|date=30 December 1975|page=9}}<br>{{cite journal|last=Reichenfeld|first=J.|journal=Cultureel Supplement JRC Handelsblad|title=The Theme Never Appears|date=16 January 1976}}<br>{{cite journal|title=The Enigma – A Solution from Holland|journal=Elgar Society Newsletter|date=January 1976|pages=28–32}}<br>{{cite journal|last=van Houten|first=Theo|title=Het Enigma van Edward Elgar|journal=Mens&Melodie 31|date= 1976|pages=68–78}}<br>{{cite journal|last=van Houten|first=Theodore|title="You of all people": Elgar's Enigma|journal=The Music Review|date=May 1976|volume=37|issue=2|pages=132–142}}<br>{{cite journal|title="Correspondence"|journal=The Music Review|date=November 1976|pages=317–319}}<br>{{cite journal|last=van Houten|first=Theodore|title=The enigma I will not explain|journal=Mens & Melodie|year=2008|volume=63|issue=4|pages=14–17}}</ref> The credibility of the hypothesis has received a boost from a report that it was endorsed by Elgar himself.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Walters|first1=Frank|first2=Christine |last2=Walters|title=Some Memories of Elgar: and a note on the Variations|journal=Elgar Society Journal |date=March 2010|volume=16|issue=4|pages=23–27 | ref=none|url=https://www.elgarsociety.org/project/vol-16-no-4-march-2010/ }}</ref>
*Other tunes which have been suggested on the basis of a postulated melodic or harmonic connection to Elgar's theme include [[Chopin]]'s Nocturne in G minor,<ref>[[Eric Blom]]'s suggestion. See {{harvnb|Reed|1939|p=52}}: "For a few bars it fits in counterpoint with Chopin's G minor Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 1. – E. B."</ref> [[John Dunstable]]'s ''Ave Maris Stella'',<ref>{{cite journal|last=Laversuch|first=Robert|journal=Elgar Society Newsletter |year=1976|pages=22}}</ref> the Benedictus from [[Charles Villiers Stanford|Stanford]]'s Requiem,<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |location=London |title=Enigma of Elgar's debt to a fellow composer: Comparisons show that much-admired theme may not be original |last=Berlins |first=Marcel |pages=1–2 |date=20 August 1977 |issue=((60,087))}}</ref> ''[[Pop Goes the Weasel]]'',<ref>"Pop Goes the Enigma", letter in ''Music and Musicians'', XXVI (1977), pp. 4–5.</ref> Brahms's "[[Vier ernste Gesänge|Four Serious Songs]]",<ref>{{cite journal |last=Skouenberg |first=Ulrik |journal=Music Review|year=1984|volume=43|pages=161–168}}</ref> William Boyce's ''[[Heart of Oak]]'' (transposed to the minor),<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ross |first=Charles |title=A Key to the Enigma|journal=Elgar Society Journal|date=September 1994|volume=8|issue=6}}</ref> the [[Dies irae#Musical settings|Dies irae]] plainchant<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kingdon |first=Ben|title=The 'Enigma' – A Hidden 'Dark Saying'|journal=Elgar Society Journal|date=May 1979|volume=1|issue=2}}</ref> and [[Gounod]]'s ''March to Calvary''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Edgecombe |first=Rodney|title= A Source for Elgar's Enigma|journal=Elgar Society Journal|date=November 1997|volume=10|issue=3}}</ref>