Orb and Sceptre Orb and Sceptre Orb and Sceptre is a march for orchestra written by Sir William Walton for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Influenced largely by Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" 1 and 4, it begins in the key of E major with bright trumpet fanfares before leaping into the famous march section, heavily syncopated and brightly orchestrated. This section moves briefly through C major before returning to E. As with "Crown Imperial", written by Walton in 1936 for the coronation of Elizabeth II's father, King George VI, the middle section is a quieter trio in
Symphony No. 4 (Nielsen) Symphony No. 4 (Nielsen) Symphony No. 4, Op. 29, FS 76, also known as "The Inextinguishable" (), was completed by Danish composer Carl Nielsen in 1916. Composed against the backdrop of the First World War, this symphony is among the most dramatic that Nielsen wrote, featuring a "battle" between two sets of timpani. Nielsen was thinking about a new symphony in 1914, and in May he wrote to his wife (who was in Celle): I have an idea for a new composition, which has no programme but will express what we understand by the spirit of life or manifestations of