As the graduation season approaches, we begin to hear one of the most famous and sentimental marches, Pomp and Circumstance. It was composed by Sir Edward Elgar in 1901 and consists of six marches. The English heritage of this piece shines through in the title, which was taken from the text of Shakespeare’s Othello, “Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!” However, Elgar also includes a verse from Lord de Tabley’s poem “The March of Glory” in the score of the first march. The marches also represent the disconnect between the “pomp” or military pageantry and the “circumstance” of actual war, allowing the marches to make a statement in protest of the glorification of war. When Pomp and Circumstance premiered, the audience asked for it to be played twice paving the way for its popularity in England. Elgar was later knighted in 1904 for his composition. 

Later, the piece debuted in America at Yale’s 1905 graduation. Elgar was invited by his friend Professor Samuel Sanford, to receive an honorary degree at Yale. In honor of his presence, Yale played several of Elgar’s pieces with Pomp and Circumstance as the recessional along and Mendelssohn’s Ruy Blas overture as the processional. The piece quickly spread to other Ivy League colleges and March No. 1 became one of the most common processionals in America, conveying the bittersweetness of graduation as well as the resolve to continue onward.