CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2023! Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance, Opus #39, March #1
Here's my gift to all of the graduates that are getting to walk across a stage somewhere.
Congratulations on all of your accomplishments to date, and best wishes on your future endeavors.
Sir Edward Elgar
Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1 In D
(aka The Trio)
In Canada, the Philippines and the United States, the Trio section "Land of Hope and Glory" of March No. 1 is often known simply as "Pomp and Circumstance" or as "The Graduation March" and is played as the processional tune at virtually all high school and most college graduation ceremonies.
It was first played at such a ceremony on 28 June 1905, at Yale University, where the Professor of Music Samuel Sanford had invited his friend Edward Elgar to attend commencement and receive an honorary doctorate of music. Elgar accepted, and Sanford made certain he was the star of the proceedings, engaging the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the College Choir, the Glee Club, the music faculty members, and New York musicians to perform two parts from Elgar's oratorio The Light of Life and, as the graduates and officials marched out, "Pomp and Circumstance" March No. 1. Elgar repaid the compliment by dedicating his Introduction and Allegro to Sanford later that year.
~Tom