Elgar’s Pageant of Empire, 1924

Edward Elgar's imperial works including The Pageant of Empire and The Crown of India were among the most regularly broadcast pieces of his through the 1920s and early 1930s. A particularly illuminating perspective on Elgar's contributions to the Pageant is gained from considering the musical context in which they were heard. The grand scale of the Wembley Pageant, portraying the expansion of the British Empire and showcasing thousands of actors and animals, was unprecedented. Kurt Koenigsberger argues that, with this vast spectacle at its core, the British Empire Exhibition 'marks the belated culmination of nineteenth-century exhibitionary practices'. Removed from their original context, the Pageant of Empire songs and the Empire March have been largely disregarded by commentators since the 1920s

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Empire · Exhibition · Political science · Spectacle · Diverse Musicological Studies · History · Law · Theater, Performance, and Music History