CLARA BUTT SINGS "LAND OF HOPE & GLORY"

You've heard this music before under the title "Pomp & Circumstance." In America it's the standard music played at school graduations. What you might not have heard is the core of that music performed as a song with some of the most stirring British patriotic lyrics ever written.

The version linked to here is my all-time favorite by Clara Butt ( yes, that's her name), who recorded it in 1911. Clara sounds the way Margeret Dumont from the Marx Bros films might have sounded, if Dumont could have sung. The voice sounds funny for a moment but when you get used to it, it's immensely moving and sincere.

Here's Clara's autograph on a picture of Britannia. It's a big, sentimental, and dignified signature, full of character. It's said that when you acquire character, you acquire a destiny. Clara's destiny was to be a major support for English morale during WWI.

I actually have an original autograph of hers, given to me by Steve Worth, who's also a Butt fan.....um, maybe I should have rephrased that. Anyway, thanks, Steve!

Here's (below) the lyrics for "Land of Hope and Glory. " Just to establish a mood I thought I'd combine them with a picture that would call to mind the glory days of the British Empire. Sad to say, I didn't find any first-rate pictures on that subject, so here's (above) a picture on a related subject, that of British sea power. This is from the Battle of the Nile, fought during the war with Napoleon.

LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY

Dear Land of Hope, thy hope is crowned.
God make thee mightier yet!
On Sov'ran brows, beloved, renowned,
Once more thy crown is set.
Thine equal laws, by Freedom gained,
Have ruled thee well and long;
By Freedom gained, by Truth maintained,
Thine Empire shall be strong.

Land of Hope and Glory,
Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee,
Who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider
Shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty,
Make thee mightier yet.

Thy fame is ancient as the days,
As Ocean large and wide:
A pride that dares, and heeds not praise,
A stern and silent pride:
Not that false joy that dreams content
With what our sires have won;
The blood a hero sire hath spent
Still nerves a hero son.


Here's (below) where the song can be found on an mp3 format. If you intend to listen to it more than once, will you download it to your own computer so we don't tax the bandwidth of the parent site?

http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/landofhopeandglory.htm

If the link doesn't work (it looks like the final "l" is missing), just google the title of the song.