Land of Hope and Glory,
Mother of the free,
How shall we extol thee,
Who are born of thee,
Wider still and wider,
Shall thy bounds be set,
God who made thee mighty,
Make thee mightier yet!!,
God who made thee mighty,
Make thee mightier yet!


-------------------------

England
"Land of Hope and Glory"

Words by:Arthur C. Benson
Music by:Edward Elgar
First performed:1901

The official anthem of England, being a country within the United Kingdom, is
that of the United Kingdom, namely "God_Save_the_Queen". All the countries of
the United Kingdom, however, have unofficial local anthems of variying degrees
of popularity and official-ness; England's anthem in this regard is harder to
determine.

The way national anthems of the countries of the United Kingdom are often
determined is by what is played at sporting events, especially those where play
against other British countries are concerned. In some, "God_Save_the_Queen" is
used for England, even in play against other areas of the United Kingdom where
their respective local anthems are used, in a few others another patriotic somg
might be used (the most popular of which is "Jerusalem"), but the one most
often used for England, such as important events like the Commonwealth Games,
as well as in national anthems publications and musical compilations (as an
area separate from the United Kingdom, of course), is "Land of Hope and Glory".

Taken from Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D", this patriotic
song may be familiar to N. American audiences as being played at convocation
ceremonies. The song was first performed in 1901 and, at the request of the new
king of the United Kingdom, King Edward VII, words were written for the
occassion of his coronation the following year.

One must keep in mind that no anthem has been decreed by law as the official
national anthem of England (even "God Save the Queen" is used traditionally as
the national anthem of the United Kingdom, having not beed officially declared
as such.); and "God Save the Queen" seems to remain the most popular anthem
within England.

See also: United_Kingdom, Cornwall.

MUSIC
