The Islands (Elgar)
"The Islands" is a poem written by Alfred Noyes, and set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar. It was one of the songs (also known as the "Pageant of Empire") written to be performed in the Pageant of Empire at the British Empire Exhibition on 21 July 1924.
The song is subtitled "A Song of New Zealand". It describes in two verses the atmosphere of the islands and the ties with the motherland.
Elgar used exactly the same music for another song in the set, called "Sailing Westward".
References
- Foreman, Lewis (ed.),"Oh, My Horses! Elgar and the Great War", Elgar Editions, Rickmansworth, 2001 ISBN 0-9537082-3-3
- Kennedy, Michael "Portrait of Elgar" (Oxford University Press, 1968) ISBN 0-19-315414-5
- Moore, Jerrold N. "Edward Elgar: a creative life" (Oxford University Press, 1984) ISBN 0-19-315447-1
- Richards, Jeffrey "Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876-1953" (Manchester University Press, 2002) ISBN 0-7190-4506-1