Pomp and Circumstance March
March No. 1 was composed in 1901 and dedicated « To my friend Alfred E. Rodewald and the members of the Liverpool Orchestral Society ».
The instrumentation is: 2 Piccolos (2nd ad. lib.), 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in A, Bass Clarinet in A, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in F, 2 Cornets in A, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani (3), percussion (Bass Drum & cymbals, Triangle, Side Drum, Jingles), 2 Harps, Organ, and Strings.
The best known of the set, it had its premiere, along with the more reserved second March, played by the Liverpool Orchestral Society conducted by Alfred Rodewald, in Liverpool on 19 October 1901. Both marches were played two days later at a London Promenade Concert in the Queen’s Hall London, conducted by Henry Wood, with March No. 1 played second, and the audience « … rose and yelled .. the one and only time in the history of the Promenade concerts that an orchestral item was accorded a double encore. »
The Trio contains the tune known as Land of Hope and Glory. In 1902 the tune was re-used, in modified form, for the Land of hope and glory section of his Coronation Ode for King Edward VII. The words were further modified to fit the original tune, and the result has since become a fixture at the Last Night of the Proms, and an English sporting anthem.
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