The Spirit of England the tone of "The Spirit of England" and that of other imperialist Elgar works: "The conception is grandiose, but not as the "Pomp and Circumstance" Marches are. It moves along with no less splendour, but with a more austere deliberation." The Spirit of England The Spirit of England, Op. 80, is a work for chorus, orchestra, and soprano/tenor soloist in three movements composed by Edward Elgar between 1915 and 1917, setting text from Laurence Binyon's 1914 anthology of poems "The Winnowing Fan". The work acts as a requiem for the dead of World War I and is dedicated "to the
Pomp and Circumstance Marches which he wrote, to his wife's words, in celebration of the opening of an important new London street called Kingsway in 1909. In World War II, No. 4 also acquired words: a patriotic poem by A. P. Herbert with the refrain beginning "All men must be free" was used as "Song of Liberty". In the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, "Pomp and Circumstance" No. 4 served as the recessional. As Diana's veil was lifted and the couple bowed and curtsied to Queen Elizabeth II, the opening notes sounded and continued as they walked down the