Whilst originally romanticised as a battle song pre-World War I and juxtaposed to military pageantry in 
comparison with the dismally terrorising nature of fighting with the anthem “Land of Hope and Glory,” the orchestral marches of the future Master of the King’s Musick Sir Edward Elgar, premiering on this day in Liverpool in 1901 (shown at the Proms two days later), the trio of movements is a nearly universal graduation processional in the United States (after the occasion of his honorary degree awarded by Yale in 1905 with other institutions of higher learning following the example), Canada and the Philippines. Although subsequent experience turned public opinion against celebrating the sanitised side of conflict, the march—with various arrangements and title taken from Othello “Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump / The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife / The royal banner, and all quality / Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war.”—is employed for weddings, sporting events and coronations.
synchronoptica
one year ago: St Frithuswith, Take on Me plus assorted links worth revisiting
two years ago: more links to enjoy
three years ago: font founder Ed Benguiat plus the Hochrhรถnstrasse
four years ago: a coffee substitute, Europe’s long distance walking trails, lizard people, the maps of Alexander von Humboldt, an unusual session of Parliament plus a corner office
five years ago: more grammatical non-errors
