Pomp and Circumstance Marches 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 horns and clarinets, 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
Pomp and Circumstance Marches trumpets in B, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani (4), percussion (side drum, cymbals, bass drum, jingles, glockenspiel), and strings. For piano solo: The first four marches were arranged by Adolf Schmid and March No. 5 by Victor Hely-Hutchinson. For piano duo: March No. 1 was arranged by Adolf Schmid. For organ: March No. 1 was arranged by Edwin H. Lemare and March No. 4 was arranged by G. R. Sinclair. Marches 1–5 have been arranged in simplified and abbreviated form by William McVicker; concert transcriptions of Marches 2, 3, and 5, matching the Lemare and Sinclair arrangements, have been made by