Edward Elgar (1857-1934) 1901 G major 2/4 Easy 0:24 Both hands
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The broad tune in the middle of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 is the graduation march: in the United States it accompanies students across the stage at countless ceremonies, and in Britain it is sung as Land of Hope and Glory. This easy version gives you the first sixteen bars of that tune, read from Elgar's 1902 full score, in its original key, G major, an octave above the violins. The left hand plays the bass line of the cellos and basses, one long note per bar, climbing step by step under the melody. It is a good piece for a full, singing sound: hold every long note for its whole length. Listen once, then learn it in Practice mode.
The melody moves slowly between the A above middle C and the A an octave higher. It opens on a long G, steps F sharp-G-A, then falls E, D, C and rises B-C-D to a long A in bars 7 and 8. The second half starts on B, climbs C sharp-D-E to the high A, and comes down through D, G and G-F sharp-E to a long D.
One bass note per bar, as the cellos and basses play it: G, A, B, B, C, D, E, D in the first eight bars - almost a scale climbing under the tune - then G, G, F sharp, B, E, A, D, D. Hold each note for the whole bar.
Counting the long notes. Most bars hold a single half note: give it both beats. Bars 2 and 6 have two eighths and a quarter, bars 10 and 14 an eighth, a quarter and an eighth. The A in bars 7 and 8 and the D in bars 15 and 16 are tied over the bar line: hold them for three and a half beats, then rest.
Thumb on D: G with 4, F sharp G A with 3-4-5, E with 2, D with 1. Then thumb on A: C with 3, B C D with 2-3-4, A with 1. In the second half, B C sharp D E is 1-2-3-4; stretch up to the high A with 5, then put the thumb on D for D, G and G F sharp E (1, 4, 4-3-2) and the final D with 1.
The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.
Melody: G F# G A E D C B C D A B C# D E A D G G F# E D
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | G | Sol |
| 2 | F# G A | Fa# Sol La |
| 3 | E | Mi |
| 4 | D | Ré |
| 5 | C | Do |
| 6 | B C D | Si Do Ré |
| 7 | A | La |
| 8 | rest | rest |
| 9 | B | Si |
| 10 | C# D E | Do# Ré Mi |
| 11 | A | La |
| 12 | D | Ré |
| 13 | G | Sol |
| 14 | G F# E | Sol Fa# Mi |
| 15 | D | Ré |
| 16 | rest | rest |
Edward Elgar wrote the first of his Pomp and Circumstance marches in 1901. The title comes from Shakespeare's Othello, where Othello bids farewell to the 'pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war'. The march opens fast and brilliant; the famous tune is its trio, the calmer middle section, which comes back at the end, grander still.
The tune was an immediate success, and for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902 Elgar reused it in his Coronation Ode, with words by A. C. Benson beginning 'Land of hope and glory'. In the United States its use at graduations is usually traced to 1905, when Yale University played it as Elgar received an honorary doctorate there.
This transcription: Elgar, Pomp and Circumstance, Military March No. 1 in D, Op. 39 (1901): the trio tune of the first violins, bars 1-16, as printed in the full score (London: Boosey & Co., 1902), archive.org RAM10263-2001, pages n13-n14; up an octave, bass line from the cellos and basses, arranged by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
Easy Version · C major
Main Theme · C major
Easy Version · B minor
Theme A · A minorThe full piano studio opens this score with your MIDI keyboard and sustain pedal, records what you play and exports it as a MIDI file. It comes with the GOONS Studio subscription - start with the 7-day free trial, no card required.
In G major, as on this page: G, F sharp G A, E, D, C, B C D, A - in Do Ré Mi, Sol, Fa dièse Sol La, Mi, Ré, Do, Si Do Ré, La. The second half is in the Notes section.
In the United States the custom is usually traced to Yale University's ceremony of 1905, where the march was played as Elgar received an honorary degree. Other universities and then high schools followed.
Yes. Elgar reused the trio of his March No. 1 in his Coronation Ode of 1902, with words by A. C. Benson that begin 'Land of hope and glory'. In Britain it is sung every year at the Last Night of the Proms.
Elgar completed five, starting with No. 1 in 1901. A sixth was put together from his sketches long after his death. No. 1 is the one with the famous tune.