Jerusalem

Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918) set a poem from the preface to William Blake's collection of poems Milton to music. Since the orchestral arrangement by Sir Edward Elgar, it has become a popular national anthem, which today traditionally closes the Last Night of the Proms at London' s Royal Albert Hall. The text alludes to the tradition that says that Jesus came to Britain with Joseph from Arimathea in his youth. Philip Sparke has now made this traditional, dignified music accessible to wind orchestras.