"Fight for Right" is a song written by the English composer
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
, with words taken from the epic poem ''
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung'' by
William Morris.
The song had been suggested to Elgar by the English tenor
Gervase Elwes and was dedicated to Members of the
Fight for Right Movement
The Fight for Right Movement was founded in August 1915 by Francis Younghusband. Its aim was to increase support for the First World War in Great Britain and to boost morale in the armed forces.
History
Membership cost five shillings and members w ...
. Its premiere performance was as one of the musical items at a mass meeting of Fight for Right on 21 March 1916 at Queens Hall, London, when the soloist was Gervase Elwes. It was published by Elkin in 1916.
There are nine introductory bars of music, followed by the first four lines of the poem sung ''Quasi recit. ad lib.'' The next two lines are accompanied ''a tempo'', then repeated as a chorus.
Lyrics
FIGHT FOR RIGHT
''Quasi recit. ad lib.''
:When thou hearest the fool rejoicing, and he saith, 'It is over and past,
:And the wrong was better than right, and hate turns into love at the last,
:And we strove for nothing at all, and the Gods are fallen asleep;
:For so good is the world a-growing that the evil good shall reap:'
''a tempo''
:Then loosen thy sword in the scabbard and settle the helm on thine head,
:For men betrayèd are mighty, and great are the wrongfully dead.
''Chorus''
:Then loosen thy sword in the scabbard and settle the helm on thine head,
:For men betrayèd are mighty, and great are the wrongfully dead.
Recordings
"The Unknown Elgar"includes "Fight for Right" performed by Stephen Holloway (bass), with Barry Collett (piano)
References
*
Michael Kennedy, ''Portrait of Elgar'' (Oxford University Press, 1968)
External links
*
{{authority control
Songs by Edward Elgar
1916 songs