''Pageant of Empire'' is the title given to a set of songs, to words by

Alfred Noyes Alfred Noyes CBE (16 September 188025 June 1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright. Early years Noyes was born in Wolverhampton, England the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes. When he was four, the family moved to Ab ...

, written by the English composer

Sir 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 ...

and given important positions in the Pageant of Empire at the

British Empire Exhibition The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. Background In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibi ...

Wembley Park Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross. The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broade ...

Details

The songs were first performed at the Pageant on 21 July 1924, when they were conducted by the composer. The songs were published by Enoch & Sons. They are: *''1. " Shakespeare's Kingdom"'' *''2. "

The Islands The Islands was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared on the hustings in the 1890 British Columbia general election, 1890 provincial election and lasted until it was integrated into the new ...

(A Song of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

)"'' *''3. " The Blue Mountains (A Song of Australia)"'' *''4. " The Heart of Canada"'' *''5. " Sailing Westward"'' *''6. " Merchant Adventurers"'' *''7. " The Immortal Legions"'' *''8. " A Song of Union"'' Nos. 1 - 7 are for solo singer with accompaniment. No. 2 ''"The Islands"'', No. 5 ''"Sailing Westward"'', and three other poems by Noyes: ''"Indian Dawn"'', ''"The Cape of Good Hope"'' (for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

) and ''"Gloriana"'' (

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

) were also arranged for chorus

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

and have the same musical accompaniment. No. 7 ''"The Immortal Legions"'' was also arranged for chorus

. No. 8 ''"A Song of Union"'' is a part-song for chorus

written for but not actually performed in the Pageant. Three movements from Elgar's "

The Crown of India ''The Crown of India'', was a masque, an elaborate theatrical presentation, staged in 1912 to celebrate the visit the preceding December of King George V and Queen Mary to Delhi for their coronation as Emperor and Empress of India. For this ma ...

" were included in the Pageant, representing "The Early Days of India": the ''Introduction'', the ''March of the Mogul Emperors'' and the ''Crown of India March''. Elgar composed his ''

Empire March An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' for the same occasion, and it was at that time considered part of the ''Pageant of Empire''. However the Empire March was not performed then and Elgar's '' Imperial March'' took its place. The orchestral scores and parts for all the songs with the exception of "Immortal Legions" and the "March" have been lost, but they have been orchestrated by conductor

Martin Yates Martin Yates (born 1 July 1958, London) is a British conductor. After attending Kimbolton School (1969–1974), he studied at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, London, where his teachers included Bernard Keeffe (conduct ...

and recorded complete on Dutton Epoch by Baritone Roderick Williams with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates.

Recordings

* The CD with the book ''Oh, My Horses! Elgar and the Great War''Foreman, Lewis (ed.),''Oh, My Horses! Elgar and the Great War'', Elgar Editions, Rickmansworth, 2001 has many historical recordings including **''The Immortal Legions'', a 1975 recording with Anthony Ransome (baritone), Kensington Choir and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leslie Head **''A Song of Union'', a 1975 recording by the Kensington Choir and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leslie Head * The CD "The Unknown Elgar" has ''Sailing Westward'' and ''The Immortal Legions'', Tudor Choir directed by Barry Collett, with Ken Burley (piano) PEARL SHE CD 9635 * ''Elgar Pageant of Empire & Sea Pictures'' Roderick Williams (Baritone) BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by

on Dutton Epoch

Notes

References

*Foreman, Lewis "Oh, My Horses!: Elgar and the Great War" (Elgar Editions, Rickmansworth, 2001) pp 280–284 *Richards, Jeffrey "Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876-1953" (Manchester University Press, 2002)

External links

* {{Authority control Songs by Edward Elgar Compositions by Edward Elgar 1924 compositions World's fair music British Empire Exhibition