Classical Music Composer Edward Elgar - Classical Music Pomp and Circumstance Marches

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Classical Music Composer: Edward Elgar

 Pomp and Circumstance Marches

Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer. He is known for such works as the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, The Dream of Gerontius, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed oratorios, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924.

Biography of classical music composer

Early years in classical music

Edward Elgar was born in the small village of Lower Broadheath outside Worcester, England to William Elgar, a music dealer, and his wife Anne (née Greening). Elgar was the fourth of their seven children: Henry John (known as Harry) - 15 October 1848 – 5 May 1864, Lucy Ann (Loo), born 29 May 1852), Susannah Mary (Pollie, 28 December 1854), Edward William (Ted 2 June 1857), Frederick Joseph (Jo, 28 August 1859 – 1866), Francis Thomas (Frank, 1 October 1861), and Helen Agnes (Dott or Dot, 1 January 1864). His mother, Anne, had converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before Edward's birth, so Edward was baptised and brought up as a Roman Catholic.

Elgar was an early riser, and would often turn to reading Voltaire, Drayton historical classics, Longfellow and other works encouraged by his mother. By the age of eight, he was taking piano and violin lessons, and would often listen to his father playing the organ at St. George's church, and soon also took it up. His prime interest, however, was the violin, and his first written music was for that instrument.

Surrounded by sheet music, instruments, and music textbooks in his father's shop in Worcester's High Street, the young Elgar became self-taught in music theory. On warm summer days, he would take scores into the countryside to study them (he was a passionate and adventurous early cyclist from the age of 5). Thus there began for him a strong association between music and nature. As he was later to say, "There is music in the air, music all around us, the world is full of it and you simply take as much as you require."

At the age of 15, Elgar had hoped to go to Leipzig, Germany to study music, but lacking the funds he instead left school and began working for a local solicitor. Around this time he made his first public appearances as a violinist and organist. After a few months, he left the solicitor and embarked on a musical career, giving piano and violin lessons, and working occasionally in his father's shop. Elgar was an active member of the Worcester Glee Club, along with his father, and he accompanied singers, played violin, composed and arranged works, and even conducted for the first time. At 22 he took up the post of bandmaster at the Worcester and County Lunatic Asylum in Powick, three miles south-west of Worcester, a progressive institution which believed in the recuperative powers of music. He composed here too; some of the pieces for the asylum orchestra (music in dance forms) were rediscovered and performed locally in 1996.

In many ways, his years as a young Worcestershire violinist were his happiest. He played in the first violins at the Worcester and Birmingham Festivals, and one great experience was to play Dvořák's Symphony No. 6 and Stabat Mater under the composer's baton. As part of a wind quintet and for his musical friends, he arranged dozens of pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and other masters, honing his arranging and compositional skills, and applying them to his earliest pieces. Although somewhat solitary and introspective by nature, Elgar thrived in Worcester's musical circles.

In his first trips abroad in 1880–82, Elgar visited Paris and Leipzig, attended concerts by first rate orchestras, and was exposed to the music of Richard Wagner, an immensely popular musician of the time. Returning to his more provincial milieu increased his desire for a wider fame. He often went to London in an attempt to get his works published, but this period in his life found him frequently despondent and low on money. He wrote to a friend in April 1884, "My prospects are about as hopeless as ever ... I am not wanting in energy I think, so sometimes I conclude that 'tis want of ability...I have no money--not a cent."

At 29, through his teaching, he met Caroline Alice Roberts, daughter of the late Major-General Sir Henry Roberts and a published author of verse and prose fiction. Eight years older than Elgar, Alice became his wife three years later, against the wishes of her family. They were married on 8 May 1889, at Brompton Oratory. Alice's faith in him and her courage in marrying 'beneath her class' were strongly supportive to his career. She dealt with his mood swings and was a generous musical critic. She was also his business manager and social secretary. She did her best to gain him the attention of influential society, though with limited success. In time he would learn to accept the honours given him, realizing that they mattered more to her and her social class. She also gave up some of her personal aspirations to further his career. In her diary she later admitted, "The care of a genius is enough of a life work for any woman." As an engagement present, Elgar presented her with the short violin and piano piece Salut d'Amour. With Alice's encouragement, the Elgars moved to London to be closer to the centre of British musical life, and Edward started composing in earnest. The stay was unsuccessful, however, and they were obliged to return to Great Malvern, where Edward could earn a living teaching and conducting local musical ensembles. Though disappointed at the London episode, the return to the country proved better for Elgar's health and as a base of musical inspiration, bringing him closer to nature and to his friends.

Their only child, Carice Irene, was born at their Avonmore Road home in Fulham on 14 August 1890. She was called by the name revealed in Elgar's dedication of Salut d'Amour: a contraction of her mother's names Caroline and Alice.

Growing reputation

During the 1890s Elgar gradually built up a reputation as a composer, chiefly of works for the great choral festivals of the English Midlands. The Black Knight and King Olaf (1896), both inspired by Longfellow, The Light of Life and Caractacus were all modestly successful and he obtained a long-standing publisher in Novello and Company. He also generously recommended the young composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to the Three Choirs Festival for a concert piece, which helped establish the younger man's career. Elgar was catching the eyes of the prominent critics, although their reviews were still lukewarm, and he was in demand as a festival composer, but he was just getting by financially and not feeling appreciated the way he wanted to be. In 1898, he continued to be "very sick at heart over music" and hoped to find a way to succeed with a larger work. His friend August Jaeger tried to lift his spirits, "A day's attack of the blues...will not drive away your desire, your necessity, which is to exercise those creative faculties which a kind providence has given you. Your time of universal recognition will come."

In 1899, that prediction suddenly came true. At the age of 42, Elgar's produced his first major orchestral work, the Enigma Variations, which was premiered in London under the baton of the eminent German conductor Hans Richter. In Elgar's own words, "I have sketched a set of Variations on an original theme. The Variations have amused me because I've labelled them with the nicknames of my particular friends ... that is to say I've written the variations each one to represent the mood of the 'party' (the person) ... and have written what I think they would have written--if they were asses enough to compose"^. Elgar dedicated the work "To my friends pictured within".

The large-scale work was received with general acclaim, heralded for its originality, charm, and fine craftsmanship, and it established Elgar as the pre-eminent British composer of his generation. It is formally titled Variations on an Original Theme; the word "Enigma" appears over the first six measures of music, which led to the familiar version of the title. The enigma is that, although there are fourteen variations on the "original theme", the 'enigma' theme, which Elgar said 'runs through and over the whole set' is never heard. Many later commentators have observed that although Elgar is today regarded as a characteristically English composer, his orchestral music and this work in particular share much with the Central European tradition typified at the time by the work of Richard Strauss. Indeed, the Enigma Variations were well-received in Germany, and persist to this day as a worldwide concert favourite.

The following year saw the production at the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival of his choral setting of Cardinal Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius. Despite a disastrous first performance due to poorly prepared performers, the German premiere was much better received and the work was established within a few years as one of Elgar's greatest. It is now regarded as one of the finest examples of English choral music from any era.

Elgar is probably best known for the five Pomp and Circumstance Marches, composed between 1901 and 1930. Shortly after he composed the first march, Elgar set the trio melody to words by A. C. Benson in his Coronation Ode to mark the coronation of King Edward VII. The suggestion had already been made (allegedly by the future King himself) that words should be fitted to the broad tune which formed the trio section of this march. Against the advice of his friends, Elgar suggested that Benson furnish further words to allow him to include it in the new work. The result was Land of Hope and Glory, which formed the finale of the Ode and was also issued (with slightly different words) as a separate song. The work was immensely popular and is now considered an unofficial national anthem. At last, he had made the leap from accomplished back-country musician to England's foremost composer. It also gained Elgar the highest recognition he could have dreamed of—honorary degrees, a knighthood, special royal audiences, and a triumphal three-day festival of his music at Covent Garden attended by the King and Queen.

In 1904 Elgar and his family moved to Plas Gwyn, a large house on the outskirts of Hereford, overlooking the River Wye, and they lived there until 1911.

Between 1902 and 1914 Elgar enjoyed phenomenal success, made four visits to the USA including one conducting tour, and earned considerable fees from the performance of his music. Between 1905 and 1908 Elgar held the post of Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham (he was succeeded by his friend Granville Bantock). His lectures there caused controversy owing to remarks he made about other English composers and English music in general; he was quoted as saying "English music is white - it evades everything". The University of Birmingham's Special Collections contain an archive of letters written by Elgar. His new life as a celebrity was a mixed blessing as it often provoked ill-health from his high-strung nature and interrupted his privacy. He complained to Alfred Jaeger in 1903, "My life is one continual giving up of little things which I love."

Elgar's Symphony No. 1 (1908) was given one hundred performances in its first year. The Violin Concerto in B minor (1910) was commissioned by the world-renowned violinist Fritz Kreisler and was a resounding success, premiered by Kreisler with the Philharmonic Society of London, the composer conducting. That year, he formed a long-lasting friendship with the violinist W. H. "Billy" Reed, the leader of the London Symphony Orchestra. Reed assisted Elgar in the writing of the Violin Concerto, and also helped him play through the sketches for the Third Symphony in the year before the composer's death. Reed's biography Elgar As I Knew Him was published in 1936, and records many intimate details of Elgar's methods of composition.

In 1911, the year of the completion of his Symphony No. 2, he had the Order of Merit bestowed upon him. In 1912 he moved back to London, again to be closer to musical society but to the detriment of his love of the countryside and to his general mood.

Elgar's musical legacy is primarily orchestral and choral, but he did write for soloists and smaller instrumental groups. His one work for brass band, the Severn Suite (later arranged by the composer for orchestra), remains an important part of the brass band repertoire. This work was dedicated to his friend George Bernard Shaw. It is occasionally performed in its arrangement by Sir Ivor Atkins for organ as the composer's second Organ Sonata; Elgar's first, much earlier (1895) Organ Sonata was written specifically for the instrument in a highly orchestral style, and remains a cornerstone of the English Romantic organ repertoire.

Later years in classical music

During World War I his music began to fall out of fashion. The war was overturning his world and his time. He himself grew to hate his 'Pomp and Circumstance' March No.1 with its popular tune (identified as 'Land of Hope and Glory' when the words were later added), which he felt had been made into a jingoistic song, not in keeping with the tragic loss of life in the war. This was captured in the film Elgar by Ken Russell. After the death of his wife in 1920, loneliness and declining interest in his art fostered little in the way of new works of importance. Shortly before her death he composed the elegiac Cello Concerto, often described as his last masterpiece. This was one of a late cluster of works composed while he lived between 1917 and 1921 at 'Brinkwells', a house near Fittleworth in Sussex which he had rented from the painter Rex Vicat Cole.

In 1923, Elgar engaged in an expedition to South America, in order to journey up the Amazon River. Virtually nothing is recorded about the events that Elgar encountered during the trip, which gave historical novelist James Hamilton-Paterson considerable latitude when writing Gerontius, a fictional account of the journey.

Elgar lived in the village of Kempsey, Worcestershire from 1923 to 1927. It was during this time, a few weeks before the performance of his Empire March and eight songs Pageant of Empire for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, that he was made Master of the King's Musick.

He was the first composer to make extensive recordings of his own compositions. The Gramophone Company recorded much of his music acoustically from 1914 onwards and then began a series of electrical recordings in 1926 that continued until 1933, including his Enigma Variations, Falstaff, the first and second symphonies, his cello and violin concertos, all of the Pomp and Circumstance marches, and other orchestral works. Part of a 1927 rehearsal of the second symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra was also recorded and later issued.

In November 1931, Elgar was filmed by Pathé for a newsreel depicting a recording session of Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 at the opening of the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. It is believed to be the only surviving sound film of Elgar, who makes a brief remark before conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, asking the musicians to "play this tune as though you've never heard it before." Silent films of the composer have also survived.

In the 1932 recording of the Violin Concerto, the aging composer worked with the American violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who was then only 16 years old; they worked well together and Menuhin warmly recalled his association with the composer years later, when he performed the concerto with the San Francisco Symphony. Menuhin later conducted an award-winning recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto with the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and much of the major orchestral music.

Elgar's recordings usually featured such orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (which reverted in 1928 to its earlier name, New Symphony Orchestra) and, in 1933, the newly founded London Philharmonic Orchestra. Elgar's recordings were released on 78-rpm discs by both HMV and RCA Victor. In later years, EMI reissued the recordings on LP and CD.

In his later years, Elgar befriended young conductors such as Adrian Boult and Malcolm Sargent who championed his music when it was out of fashion.

At the end of his life Elgar began work on an opera, The Spanish Lady, and accepted a commission from the BBC to compose a Third Symphony. His final illness prevented their completion. Some time later, in cooperation with the BBC and Elgar's daughter, Percy Young produced a version of the Spanish Lady  which was issued on CD.

He died from inoperable cancer (discovered during an operation in September 1933) on 23 February 1934 and was buried, at St. Wulstan's Church in Little Malvern, next to his wife Alice. Within four months, two more great English composers — Gustav Holst and Frederick Delius — were also dead.

Classical Music Composer: Edward Elgar

 Pomp and Circumstance Marches

The "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" (full title "Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches"), Op. 39 are a series of marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar.

About the music commonly known as "Pomp and Circumstance" in the United States, see March No. 1 below.

The title

The title is taken from Act III, Scene iii of Shakespeare's Othello:

Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, th'ear-piercing fife, The royal banner, and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!"

But also, on the score of the first march, Elgar set as a motto for the whole set of marches a verse from Lord de Tabley's poem The March of Glory which begins

Like a proud music that draws men on to die Madly upon the spears in martial ecstasy, A measure that sets heaven in all their veins    And iron in their hands. I hear the Nation march Beneath her ensign as an eagle's wing; O'er shield and sheeted targe The banners of my faith most gaily swing; Moving to victory with solemn noise, With worship and with conquest, and the voice of myriads

proclaiming the "shows of things": the naïve assumption that the splendid show of military pageantry –"Pomp"– has no connection with the drabness and terror —"Circumstance"— of actual warfare. The first four marches were all written before the events of World War I shattered that belief, and the styles wars were written about spurned the false romance of the battle-song. Elgar understood this.

The marches

The Pomp and Circumstance marches are

• March No. 1 in D (1901)
• March No. 2 in A minor (1901)
• March No. 3 in C minor (1904)
• March No. 4 in G (1907)
• March No. 5 in C (1930)
• March No. 6 in G minor (written as sketches, elaborated by Anthony Payne in 2005–06)

The first five were all published by Boosey & Co. as Elgar's Op. 39, and each of the marches is dedicated to a particular musical friend of Elgar's.

March No. 1 in D

Dedication

March No. 1 was composed in 1901 and dedicated "To my friend Alfred E. Rodewald and the members of the Liverpool Orchestral Society".

Instrumentation

The instrumentation is: 2 piccolos (2nd ad lib.), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, bass clarinet in A, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in F, 2 cornets in A, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (3), percussion (bass drum & cymbals, triangle, side drum, jingles), 2 harps, organ, and strings.

History

The best known of the set, it had its premiere, along with the more reserved second March, played by the Liverpool Orchestral Society conducted by Alfred Rodewald, in Liverpool on 19 October 1901. Both marches were played two days later at a London Promenade Concert in the Queen's Hall London, conducted by Henry Wood, with March No. 1 played second, and the audience "... rose and yelled .. the one and only time in the history of the Promenade concerts that an orchestral item was accorded a double encore."



The Trio contains the tune known as "Land of Hope and Glory". In 1902 the tune was re-used, in modified form, for the Land of hope and glory section of his Coronation Ode for King Edward VII. The words were further modified to fit the original tune, and the result has since become a fixture at the Last Night of the Proms, and an English sporting anthem.

In the United States, the Trio section "Land of Hope and Glory" of March No. 1 is sometimes known simply as "Pomp and Circumstance" or as "The Graduation March", and is played as the processional tune at virtually all high school and college graduation ceremonies. It was first played at such a ceremony on 28 June 1905, at Yale University, where the Professor of Music Samuel Sanford had invited his friend Elgar to attend commencement and receive an honorary Doctorate of Music. Elgar accepted, and Sanford made certain he was the star of the proceedings, engaging the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the College Choir, the Glee Club, the music faculty members, and New York musicians to perform two parts from Elgar's oratorio The Light of Life and, as the graduates and officials marched out, "Pomp and Circumstance" March No. 1. Elgar repaid the compliment by dedicating the Introduction and Allegro to Sanford later that year. The tune soon became de rigueur at American graduations, but then as a processional at the opening of the ceremony, instead of the original recessional by Yale.

Description

March No. 1 opens with an introduction marked Allegro, con molto fuoco which is astonishingly innovative,  The introduction leads to a new theme: strong pairs of beats alternating with short notes, and a bass which persistently clashes with the tune. The bass tuba and full brass is held back until the section is repeated by the full orchestra. A little rhythmic pattern is played by the strings, then repeated high and low in the orchestra before the section is concluded by a chromatic upward scale from the woodwind. The whole of this lively march section is repeated. The bridging section between this and the well-known Trio has rhythmic chords from the brass punctuating high held notes from the wind and strings, before a fanfare from trumpets and trombones leads into the theme with which the march started. There are a few single notes that quieten, ending with a single quiet tap from side drum and cymbal accompanied by all the bassoons. The famous lyrical Land of Hope and Glory Trio follows (in the subdominant key of G), played softly (by violins, four horns and two clarinets) before its strong repetition by the full orchestra including two harps. What follows is a repetition of what has been heard before, including a fuller statement of the Trio (in the 'home' key of D) where the orchestra is joined by organ as well as the two harps. The march ends, not with the big tune, but with a short section which has another brief reminder of the brisk opening march, sweeping the piece to a resounding end.

March No. 2 in A minor

Dedication

March No. 2 was composed in 1901 and dedicated "To my friend Granville Bantock". It was first performed at the same concert as March No. 1.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, bass clarinet in A, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in F, 2 cornets in A, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (3), percussion (2 side drums, triangle, glockenspiel & jingles, bass drum & cymbals), and strings.

Description

The second is the shortest and most simply constructed of the marches. The composer Charles Villiers Stanford is said to have preferred this march to the first, and thought this the finest of all the marches. After a loud call to attention from the brass, a simple staccato theme, tense and repetitive, is played staccato by the strings, which is gradually joined by other instruments and builds up to a decisive climax. This section is repeated. The second theme, confidently played by horns and clarinets, is one which was sketched by Elgar a few years before: this is developed and ends with flourishes from the strings and brass joined by the glockenspiel. The opening staccato theme returns, concluded by a quiet swirling bass passage, which leads into the Trio section (in the tonic major key of A) which consists of a delightfully simple tune in thirds played by the woodwind (flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons), answered conclusively by the strings and brass. This Trio section is repeated, and the march concluded with a brilliant little coda, which includes a drum roll on the snare drum, a shattering chord in A Minor, briefly played by horns, and followed by a final cadence.

March No. 3 in C minor

Dedication

March No. 3 was completed in November 1904 and published in 1905. It was dedicated "To my friend Ivor Atkins". It was first performed on 8 March 1905, in the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by the composer.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet in B♭, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in B♭, 2 cornets in B♭, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (3), percussion (tenor drum, side drum, bass drum & cymbals), and strings.

Description

March No. 3 differs from the others in its opening mood, which is deliberately solemn. It begins with a dark subdued quick march led by low clarinets, three bassoons and the horns (with drum-beats inserted between the notes of the tune), before a vigorous theme (with brass alone at the first beats), erupts from the full orchestra. The dark theme re-appears, is then re-started boldly, then ended abruptly. The central section commences with perky tune played by a solo clarinet with simple string accompaniment, which is followed by another of Elgar's noble tunes played by the strings of the orchestra. All the themes re-appear and there is the final section which ends abruptly.

March No. 4 in G

March No. 4 is as upbeat and ceremonial as No. 1, containing another big tune in the central Trio section.

Dedication

March No. 4 was completed on 7 June 1907, and dedicated "To my friend Dr. G. Robertson Sinclair, Hereford". It was first performed on 24 August 1907, in the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by the composer.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation is: piccolo (with 3rd flute), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet in B♭, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in A, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (3), percussion (side drum, bass drum & cymbals), 2 harps, and strings.

History

The Trio was used by Elgar in a song called "The King's Way" which he wrote, to his wife's words, in celebration of the opening of an important new London street called Kingsway.

In World War II, No. 4 also acquired words: a patriotic poem by A. P. Herbert with the refrain beginning "All men must be free" was used as "Song of Liberty".

Description

The march has an opening section consisting mainly of two-bar rhythmic phrases which are repeated in various forms, and a lyrical Trio constructed like the famous "Land of Hope and Glory" trio of March No. 1.
The first eight bars of the march is played by the full orchestra with the melody played by the violas and upper woodwind. Both harps play from the beginning, while the cellos, double basses and timpani contribute a simple bass figure. The bass clarinet, contrabassoon, trombones and tuba are held "in reserve" for the repeat, when the first violins join the violas with the tune. There are subdued fanfares from the brass interrupted by little flourishes from the strings before the opening march is repeated. There is pause, then a little section which starts forcefully but quietens, leading into the Trio. The Trio follows the pattern of March No. 1, with the melody (in the subdominant key of C) played by clarinet, horn and violins. The violins start the Trio tune on the lowest note they can play, an "open" G-string, which gives a recognisable "twang" to this one note, and they are directed to play the passage "sul G" on the same string, for the sake of the tone-colour, and the accompaniment is from the harps, low strings and bassoons. The grand tune is repeated, as we expect, by the full orchestra; the opening march section returns; the grand tune is repeated again in the "home" key of G major; and the last word is had by a re-statement of the opening rhythmic patterns. The march prepares the audience for its end as surely as a train pulling into a station, with the violins, violas and cellos ending on their resonant "open" G.

 March No. 5 in C

Dedication

March No. 5 was composed in 1930, much later than the others, and dedicated "To my friend Dr. Percy C. Hull, Hereford". Its first public performance was on 20 September 1930 in a Queens Hall concert conducted by Sir Henry Wood, though it had been recorded two days earlier in the Kingsway Hall, London, conducted by Elgar himself in spite of his poor health.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet in B♭, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in B♭, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (3), percussion (side drum, bass drum & cymbals), and strings.

Description

March No. 5 is brilliantly orchestrated and extrovert in mood. Without introduction, its opening episode is extended with enormous confidence and proceeds directly into the Trio section, which if it had words set to it, could have been one of Elgar's most memorable tunes. The Trio starts quietly in a similar way to the introduction of his First Symphony: just a moving bass line and a tune, also in the same key (A♭). The tune is re-stated strongly, as we expect, then developed. The re-statement of the opening employs the same instruments of the orchestra, but is this time started as soft as possible for just four bars before a quick crescendo restores its spirit to as it was in the beginning. There is more development before a big return of the Trio theme, in the home key of C, and a triumphant ending which might bring to mind the conclusion of Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King.

March No. 6 in G minor

History

Elgar left sketches for a sixth Pomp and Circumstance march, to be the final work in the set. In 2005, these were sent by the lawyer for the Elgar Will Trust in a bundle to English composer Anthony Payne. Also included was an article titled "Circumstantial Evidence" by Elgar authority Christopher Kent from the August 1997 in the Musical Times explaining the sketches. One idea in the sketches was helpfully marked by the composer "jolly good". Kent believed that Elgar’s compositional thoughts and time were by then engaged with the Third Symphony and The Spanish Lady, and that the main theme for the march was "unpromising".

Payne determined there was not enough in the sketches to complete the march, but fortunately three pages of score in Elgar’s handwriting were discovered at the Royal School of Church Music Colles Library marked "P&C 6". In 2006, the score and sketches were turned into a performing version. Payne noted in the program notes that "Nowhere else in the Pomp and Circumstance marches does Elgar combine compound and duple metres in this way". Payne concluded the piece with a brief allusion to the first Pomp and Circumstance March.

The world premiere was on August 2, 2006 with Andrew Davis conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra at The Proms at Royal Albert Hall. The first recording was by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Richard Hickox.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B♭, bass clarinet in B♭, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in B♭, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (4), percussion (side drum, cymbals, bass drum, jingles, glockenspiel), and strings.