Pomp and Circumstance March No. 2

March No. 2 was composed in 1901 and dedicated "To my friend Granville Bantock". It was first performed at the same concert as March No. 1.

The instrumentation is: Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in A, Bass Clarinet in A, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in F, 2 Cornets in A, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani (3), Percussion (2 Side Drums, Triangle, Glockenspiel & Jingles, Bass Drum & Cymbals), and Strings.

The second is the shortest and most simply constructed of the marches. The composer Charles Villiers Stanford is said to have preferred this march to the first, and thought this the finest of all the marches. After a loud call to attention from the brass, a simple staccato theme, tense and repetitive, is played staccato by the strings, which is gradually joined by other instruments and builds up to a decisive climax. This section is repeated. The second theme, confidently played by horns and clarinets, is one which was sketched by Elgar a few years before: this is developed and ends with flourishes from the strings and brass joined by the glockenspiel. The opening staccato theme returns, concluded by a quiet swirling bass passage, which leads into the Trio section (in the tonic major key of C) which consists of a delightfully simple tune in thirds played by the woodwind (flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons), answered conclusively by the strings and brass. This Trio section is repeated, and the march concluded with a brilliant little coda.

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