The Pomp and Circumstance Marches, op. 39 are a series of five marches for orchestra composed by Edward Elgar.
The title of the series was taken from Act III of 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!". The best known is the first in the series, Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, and in most contexts the phrase Pomp and Circumstance usually refers to this one alone. It had its premiere in London in October 1901, along with the more reserved No. 2, and the audience demanded two encores. In 1902 the tune was recycled, in modified form, for the "Land of Hope and Glory" section of his Coronation Ode for King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The words were further modified to fit the original tune, and the result has since become an English sporting anthem and a fixture at the Last Night of the Proms.
The formula having proved successful, Elgar composed three more, performed in 1905, 1907, and near the end of his life in 1930. He left fragments of a sixth. No. 4 is as upbeat and ceremonial as No. 1, while the other three are more wistful. In World War II, No. 4 also gained words: a patriotic verse by A. P. Herbert beginning "All men shall be free" (the scansion is poor).
In the United States, however, No. 1 is irretrievably associated with graduation ceremonies. It was first played at a such a ceremony on June 28, 1905, at Yale University. Yale Professor of Music Samuel Sanford invited his friend Elgar to attend commencement and receive an honorary Doctor of Music degree. Elgar accepted, and Sanford made certain he was the star of the proceedings. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra , the College Choir, the Glee Club, the music faculty members, and New York musicians performed two parts from Elgar's oratorio The Light of Life and, as graduates and officials marched out, Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1.
The tune became de rigueur at American graduations, but not at Yale, where it has not been heard since 1950 when a band director was told not to play "that song", which had become "high school déclassé".