Saturday, August 15, 2009

Stirring Anthems...Land of Hope & Glory

Photo: Edward Elgar...the composer of Land of Hope and Glory ( Source: Wikipedia )

This very rare historical footage showed the actual composer of the tune Edward Elgar conducting the orchestra as they played the original piece. They were then playing at the opening of EMI's recording studio in Abbey Road, London...on 12 November 1931. ( Some of you may remember that this was the very same studio that made the BEATLES famous...with their many great hits recorded there. )

In 1902, King Edward v11 had listened to the melody of Edgar's composition Pomp and Circumstnce March No: 1 and liked it very much. The king then requested Elgar to prepare and arrange it for his coronation. Elgar approached his friend, the poet and essayist A.C.Benson, to write the lyrics for the anthem.

Land of Hope and Glory
Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free, How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee ? Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set ; God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet, God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.

Currently England has no agreed upon National Anthem. 'God Save The Queen' is the National Anthem for the United Kingdom. However, 'Land of Hope and Glory' has been often used as the unofficial anthem of England and sung ever so well in international rugby, soccer, Commonwealth Games etc. In a 2006 UK poll, 55 % of those polled wanted this as the National Anthem for England.

In my previous post, I mentioned how this stirring tune was used in the National Day Observance ceremony as a march in melody. The beat and tempo was just perfect for the purpose of the occasion.

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