Pomp and Circumstance Marches Tabley's poem "The March of Glory", which (as quoted by Elgar's biographer Basil Maine) begins <poem>Like a proud music that draws men on to die Madly upon the spears in martial ecstasy, A measure that sets heaven in all their veins And iron in their hands. I hear the Nation march Beneath her ensign as an eagle's wing; O'er shield and sheeted targe The banners of my faith most gaily swing; Moving to victory with solemn noise, With worship and with conquest, and the voice of myriads.</poem> proclaiming the "shows of things" (Maine's quotation marks): the naïve assumption that the
Symphony No. 4 (MacMillan) Symphony No. 4 (MacMillan) The Symphony No. 4 is the fourth symphony by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. The work was composed in celebration of the conductor Donald Runnicles's 60th birthday. It was premiered at The Proms on August 3, 2015 by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Donald Runnicles. The symphony has a duration of roughly 37 minutes and is composed in one continuous movement. Though MacMillan had conceived the symphony years earlier, he did not begin work on the piece until late 2014. The work quotes passages from "Missa Dum Sacrum Mysterium" by the Renaissance composer Robert Carver.