Graduation season is in full swing, with several college commencements last weekend and more this weekend. Have you ever wondered why Pomp and Circumstance is played at every graduation ceremony? The song was written by an English composer named Sir Edward Elgar. He wrote a series of five marches called The Pomp and Circumstance Marches, and the one we know is a section of his Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D. In 1901, Prince Edward VII requested that it be played at his coronation that year, so Elgar worked with a poet to put words to it, which became a song called “Land of Hope and Glory”. Here in the States, the lyrics are never used, but the song has the status of a second National Anthem in England. The song was first played at Yale’s graduation ceremony in 1905, when Elgar received an honorary doctorate of music. That ceremony featured a lot of different music, but Pomp and Circumstance was the only one that caught on. Princeton University used the song in 1907, followed by the University of Chicago in 1908, and Columbia University in 1913. Other schools took note and it continued to spread from there. Learn more here.