About this edition
Few marches in the entire orchestral repertoire carry the sheer physical charge of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1. Composed in 1901, its trio melody proved so overwhelming at its London premiere that Henry Wood was compelled to repeat it — an almost unheard-of demand for an encore at the Proms. Within a year that same tune, fitted with A. C. Benson's words as "Land of Hope and Glory," had become the ceremonial centerpiece of Edward VII's coronation, and it has remained one of the most instantly recognizable orchestral melodies ever written by a British composer.
This edition reproduces the first edition full score published in London by Boosey & Co. in 1902 (plate B. & H. 20362), issued in the immediate wake of the march's sensational premiere and its adoption into the coronation festivities. As the earliest engraved full score of the work, it captures Elgar's orchestration exactly as it appeared at the moment the piece entered the standard repertoire, before the many arrangements and later reprintings that followed. For conductors and scholars interested in performance practice or textual history, an early Boosey print of this stature is a valuable primary reference.
About this edition:
- Full orchestral score, complete and unabridged
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Reproduced from a public domain historical source
- Clean, readable typesetting faithful to the original engraving
- Published by Purple 4R Publishing
Because this score has entered the public domain, we're delighted to make this historic edition freely available again in print — a small way of keeping a landmark of orchestral music within easy reach of musicians, students, and scholars alike.
