Pomp and Circumstance March No.1

An instantly recognisable classic, March No. 1 was composed by Elgar in 1901 and was so well received that the very next year Elgar was encouraged to include it in his coronation ode for King Edward VII. It was then that poet AC Benson set the middle part to a patriotic text, and the hymn “Land of Hope and Glory” was born. The title “Pomp and Circumstance” was taken from Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello.