"The King’s Way" is a poem set to music 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 ...

in 1909. The words were written by his wife,

Caroline Alice Elgar Caroline Alice, Lady Elgar (9 October 18487 April 1920) was an English author of verse and prose fiction, who married the composer Edward Elgar. Family Caroline Alice Roberts, known as Alice, was born in Bhuj, Gujarat, India, in 1848. She was ...

Music

Elgar includes tunes from the ''Trio'' (central section) of the

Pomp and Circumstance The Pomp and Circumstance Marches are a series of five marches for orchestra composed by Edward Elgar, together with a sixth march created from sketches. The marches were dedicated to his friends including composer Granville Bantock and o ...

March No. 4, which he had composed two years earlier. The principal theme of the Trio introduces the song, and is first sung at bar 8 to the words ''"The newest street in London town,/ Who'll pace it up and pace it down?"''

Lyrics

The words, by the composer's wife Alice, employ the title with different meanings: as the name of the new street, "Kingsway"; as a royal processional avenue, the "King's Way"; and to show the sympathy of king and queen to the poor, "our King's way,- and our Queen's way."

Kingsway

The song was written on 27 December 1909 to celebrate the opening of London's Kingsway,Kennedy, p. 350Moore, p. 535 a wide street in central London connecting

High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and ...

to the centre of the crescent south of it called

Aldwych Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the List of areas of London, area immediately surrounding it, in the City of Westminster, part of Greater London, and is part of the West End of London, West End West End Theatre, Theatreland. T ...

. Kingsway had been opened in 1905, so it was then as in the words of the song "the newest street in London town", and it was certainly one of the broadest. It was built as part of a major plan to clear slum districts in the

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

area, and hence the pertinent reference to "sick and poor" people. The song was immediately published by Boosey's and first performed at an

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

concert on 15 January 1910, sung by

Clara Butt Dame Clara Ellen Butt (1 February 1872 – 23 January 1936) was an English dramatic contralto and one of the most popular singers from the 1890s through to the 1920s. She had an exceptionally fine contralto voice and an agile singing technique, ...

Arrangements

The song was published by Boosey's in 1910 as an arrangement for military band.Boosey's Military Journal 128th series, 1910 The song was arranged for voice and full orchestra by John Morrison in 2022.

Recordings

"The Unknown Elgar"
includes "The King's Way" performed by

Teresa Cahill Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or reap", or from θέ ...

(soprano), with Barry Collett (piano). A recording is also available on an SACD:

Channel Classics Records Channel Classics Records is a record label from the Netherlands, specializing in classical music. The managing director and producer is C. Jared Sacks, who grew up in Boston. Sacks was schooled as a professional horn player at the Oberlin Conserva ...

CCS SA 28610 which is Volume 2 of the complete Elgar songs for voice and piano. It is sung by

Amanda Roocroft Amanda Jane Roocroft (born 9 February 1966) is an English operatic soprano, who in the course of her career has sung leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America. She is also a voice professor at London's Royal College of Music ...

with Reinhild Mees at the piano.

References

* Kennedy, Michael, ''Portrait of Elgar'' (Oxford University Press, Third ed., 1987) * Moore, Jerrold N. ''Edward Elgar: A Creative Life'' (Oxford University Press, 1984)

External links

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:King's Way, The Songs by Edward Elgar 1909 songs