A Song of Union

"A Song of Union" is a poem written by Alfred Noyes, and set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar. It was one of the eight songs Elgar wrote for the "Pageant of Empire" which opened the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley on 23 April 1924. This was the only one of the eight that the composer wrote as a part-song, though two others "Sailing Westward" and "The Immortal Legions" were later arranged as part-songs.

The song is in the form of a confident march, and celebrates "...the love that linked our realms in one".

The music also appears in the central section of Elgar's "Empire March", written for the same occasion.

References

*Kennedy, Michael "Portrait of Elgar" (Oxford University Press, 1968) ISBN 0193154145
*Moore, Jerrold N. "Edward Elgar: a creative life" (Oxford University Press, 1984) ISBN 0193154471
*Richards, Jeffrey "Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876-1953" (Manchester University Press, 2002) ISBN 0719045061

External links