Pomp and Circumstance, March No. 2

The Pomp and Circumstance Marches (full title Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches), Op. 39, are a series of six marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar. The first four were published between 1901 and 1907, when Elgar was in his forties; the fifth was published in 1930, a few years before his death; and the sixth,compiled posthumously from sketches,was published in 2005–2006. They include some of Elgar's best-known compositions. March No. 2 has some interesting variations with the dal segno. The arranger has placed the D.S. as shown in the original score (at bar 3), and the accompanying audio file reflects that position. However, several recordings of orchestral performances have offered three differing ways of performance: 1) as shown, which repeats the full march from the beginning to the ending coda; 2) moving the D.S. to bar 60, thus shortening the repeat by 57 bars; 3) eliminating the D.S. altogether. These options give credence to the notion of flexibility in how the march should be performed. With any choice, it is a delightful display of joy, with the added drama of aggressive percussion effects.