The Crown of India was a masque, an elaborate theatrical presentation, staged in 1912 to celebrate the visit the preceding December of King George V and Queen Mary to Delhi for their coronation as Emperor and Empress of India. For this masque, the English composer Sir Edward Elgar wrote the music as his Op. 66, with a libretto by Henry Hamilton. The masque consisted of two tableaux: "The Cities of Ind" and "Ave Imperator!".

Music

The masque was first performed at the Coliseum Theatre in London on 11 March 1912. Elgar composed twelve pieces for contralto, bass, chorus and orchestra:

Tableau I: The Cities of Ind 1a Introduction 1b Sacred Measure 2 – Dance of Nautch Girls 2a India greets her Cities 3 – Song (Agra): 'Hail, Immemorial Ind!' (The homage of Ind) 3a Entrance of Calcutta. India: 'Welcome Calcutta!' 3b Entrance of Delhi. Delhi: 'Stop! That place is mine' 4a Introduction 4b March of the Mogul Emperors. India: 'Illustrious Emperors!' 5 – Entrance of John Company.'John Company' was the common personification of the British East India Company Calcutta: 'Good John Company, reply' 5a Entrance of St. George. India: 'Calcutta, Delhi, give your quarrel pause' 6 – Song (St. George): 'The Rule of England' 7 – Interlude

Tableau II: Ave Imperator! 8a Introduction 8b Warriors' Dance 9 – The Cities of Ind.The cities represented were Agra, Delhi, Calcutta, Benares, Lucknow, Bombay, Madras, Haiderabad, Mysore, Gwalior, Allahabad and Lahore India: 'Hail Festal Hour from out the Ages drawn' 10 – March: 'The Crown of India'. India: 'Incessu patuit Imperator' 10a The Homage of Ind 11 – The Crowning of Delhi 12 – Ave Imperator!

First performance The London Coliseum programme for the first week of the performanceThe London Coliseum programme, week commencing Monday, 11 March 1912 shows that The Crown of India masque was the most important of the eleven acts in the show. There were two Tableaux: "The Cities of Ind" and "Ave Imperator!".Ave Imperator! (Latin): Hail the Emperor! The programme listed the cast, who personified 'India' herself, England represented by 'St. George', and various Indian cities. There were also attendant performers, in elaborate costumes, personifying other roles. Elgar attended the daily rehearsals for two weeks, then conducted the hour-long show two performances a day for a further two weeks.

The cast included:

India – Nancy Price St. George – Harry Dearth Agra – Marion Beeley Delhi – May Leslie Stuart Calcutta – Evelyn Kerry Benares – Sybil Etherington Cities, Mogul Emperors, Princes, Guards, Executioners, Courtiers, Fan Bearers, Ladies Attendant Syce,Syce (Hindi/Urdu): Indian stableman or groom Litter Bearers, Heralds, Trumpeters, etc.

Extracts Elgar later extracted five of the pieces – 1(a), 2, 5, 8 and 4 – and added an intermezzo for solo violin to create The Crown of India Suite. The first performance was at the Hereford Festival on 11 September 1912, by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. The Suite gained immediate popularity: during Elgar's lifetime, there were 102 live performances of it on the BBC.Jeffrey Richards: Imperialism and Music, Manchester University Press, 2001

The Crown of India March from the incidental music for the masque is also performed separately.

Complete score

The complete score for the Crown of India incidental music was only published in a piano-vocal version by Elgar's friend Hugh Blair. The remaining orchestral parts were destroyed in the 1960s. In 2007 the Elgar Society commissioned the composer Anthony Payne to complete the orchestration of the music for The Crown of India. Payne is to "complete the scoring of the piano-vocal version, combining this, where appropriate, with the orchestral suite and march."Elgar Society: Composer Anthony Payne agrees to complete the orchestration of the music for Elgar’s Crown of India

Recordings The CD with the book Oh, My Horses! Elgar and the Great WarForeman, Lewis (ed.),Oh, My Horses! Elgar and the Great War, Elgar Editions, Rickmansworth, 2001 has many historical recordings including "Hail, Immemorial Ind", a 1975 recording with Carol Leatherby (soprano) and the Kensington Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leslie Head The Anthony Payne orchestration of the complete pageant was recorded by the BBC Philharmonic and Sir Andrew Davis in 2007 (Chandos). A fine recording exists as part of The Great British Collection. Douglas Bostock conducts The Munich Symphony Orchestra.

Notes

References

External links and sources

The Crown of India, Op. 66 on the site of the Elgar Society Jeffrey Richards: Imperialism and Music, Manchester University Press, 2001,