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

Alfred Noyes Alfred Noyes Commander of the Order of the British Empire, 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 No ...

, 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 Pageant(s) or The Pageant(s) may refer to: Events * Procession or ceremony in elaborate costume * Beauty pageant, or beauty contest * List of pageants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints * Medieval pageant, a narrative medieval proc ...

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 Government of the United Kingdom, British Government decide ...

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 broad ...

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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

)"'' *''3. " The Blue Mountains (A Song of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

)"'' *''4. " The Heart of Canada"'' *''5. " Sailing Westward"'' *''6. " Merchant Adventurers"'' *''7. " The Immortal Legions"'' *''8. "

A Song of Union "A Song of Union" is a poem written by Alfred Noyes, and set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar. It was one of the songs (also known as the ''"Pageant of Empire"'') written to be performed in the ''Pageant of Empire'' at the British Emp ...

"'' 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 The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

"'' (for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) 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. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

) were also arranged for chorus

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

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, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred t ...

'' 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 in London) is a British conductor. After attending Kimbolton School, he studied at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, London, where his teachers included Bernard Keeffe (conducting), Richard Arnell (co ...

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