Editing Pomp and Circumstance Marches (section)

===March No. 2 in A minor===
====Dedication====
March No. 2 was composed in 1901 and dedicated "To my friend [[Granville Bantock]]".

====Instrumentation====
The instrumentation is: piccolo, 2 [[western concert flute|flute]]s, 2 [[oboe]]s, 2 [[clarinet]]s in A, [[bass clarinet]] in A, 2 [[bassoon]]s, [[contrabassoon]], 4 [[French horn|horn]]s in F, 2 [[trumpet]]s in F, 2 [[cornet]]s in A, 3 [[trombone]]s, [[tuba]], [[timpani]] (3), percussion (2 [[snare drum|side drum]]s,<ref>The second side drum is ''[[Ad libitum|ad. lib.]]''</ref> [[triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]], [[glockenspiel]] & [[jingle bell|jingles]], [[bass drum]] & [[cymbal]]s), and [[string section|strings]].

====History====
It was first performed, as was March No. 1, by the Liverpool Orchestral Society conducted by Alfred Rodewald, in [[Liverpool]] on 19 October 1901.<ref>There is doubt over whether it was Rodewald or Elgar who conducted the premiere: see remarks in the History of No. 1 above regarding this performance.</ref> Both marches were played two days later at a London Promenade Concert.

====Description====
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 quietly by the strings, being gradually joined by other instruments before building up to an abrupt climax. This section is repeated. The second theme, confidently played by [[French horn|horns]] and [[clarinet]]s, with contrasting triple and duple rhythms, 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 (music)|tonic]] major [[A major|key of A]]) which consists of a delightfully simple tune in thirds played by the woodwind ([[Western concert flute|flute]]s, [[oboe]]s, [[clarinet]]s and [[bassoon]]s), answered conclusively by the strings and brass. This ''Trio'' section is repeated, and the march concluded with a brilliant little [[Coda (music)|coda]], which includes a drum roll on the snare drum, a shattering chord in A Minor, briefly played by horns, and followed by a final cadence.