The Crown of India

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!'.

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

Tableau II: Ave Imperator!

The London Coliseum programme for the first week of the performance 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!". 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.

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.

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