Queen Alexandra's Memorial Ode is an ode "So many true Princesses who have gone" written by John Masefield and set to music for choir and orchestra by Sir Edward Elgar for the occasion of the unveiling of Sir Alfred Gilbert's memorial to Queen Alexandra on 8 June 1932 [1] outside Marlborough House in London. [2]
It was Masefield's first commission as Poet Laureate, and Elgar, as Master of the King's Musick, was requested to set the verses in mid-May 1932, shortly before his seventy-fifth birthday. [3] Elgar originally set the poem to an orchestral accompaniment but, due to a change of plan, the accompaniment was hurriedly re-arranged by Captain Andrew Harris of the Welsh Guards so it could be played by a military band. [4]
The day chosen for the unveiling of the memorial by the King was Alexandra Rose Day. At the beginning of the ceremony outside Marlborough House, Elgar, wearing magnificent robes, conducted the chorister children of the Chapels Royal, the choir of Westminster Abbey, [5] and the band of the Guards in a performance of the Ode. [6] [7]
The orchestra and band parts have since been lost. The only manuscript of the work is in the Library of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle: a vocal score handwritten by the composer, which includes indications of the orchestral instrumentation.
The work starts with a short fanfare-like figure, followed by a lengthy prelude [8] by the orchestra (or band) before the choir enters, unaccompanied, with the words "So many true princesses who have gone". It is notable that though the work is in the key of E-flat it ends in the subdominant key of B-flat, giving a feeling of incompleteness: it is not known if the composer had intended to extend the work or if the effect was intentional. However the effect of the whole is of appropriate simplicity and wistfulness, and seems to ask for delicacy of instrumentation.
There are four verses of four lines, and the performing time is about six minutes.
The lyrics to the song were written by John Masefield.
So many true princesses who have gone
Over the sea, as love or duty bade,
To share abroad, till Death a foreign throne,
Have given all things, and been ill repaid.
Hatred has followed them and bitter days.
But this most lovely woman and loved Queen
Filled all the English nation with her praise;
We gather now to keep her memory green.
Here, at this place, she often sat to mark
The tide of London life go roaring by,
The day-long multitude, the lighted dark,
The night-long wheels, the glaring in the sky.
Now here we set memorial of her stay,
That passers-by remember with a thrill:
"This lovely princess came from far away
And won our hearts, and lives within them still". [9]
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King's Musick in 1924.
John Edward Masefield was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and the poems "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever".
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Crown Imperial is an orchestral march by William Walton, commissioned for the coronation of King George VI in Westminster Abbey in 1937. It is in the Pomp and Circumstance tradition, with a brisk opening contrasting with a broad middle section, leading to a resounding conclusion. The work has been heard at subsequent state occasions in the Abbey: the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the wedding of Prince William in 2011 and the coronation of King Charles III in 2023. It has been recorded in its original orchestral form and in arrangements for organ, military band and brass band.
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