Some more research from the BBC
[speech recognition; my punctuation]

,,, the idea of 'land of hope and glory mother of the free' - this is very much part of the times but also part of Elgar's own ideology. In fact within days of the outbreak of the first world war Elgar had written to Benson asking for new words - "My dear Benson could you write another stanza or perhaps two for Land Of Hope And Glory befitting the times we are in? The people have adopted our effort as the second national anthem and it does good but the words are not quite apropos of the moment."

This has often been taken to understand that Elgar was retreating from a kind of aggressive imperialism but in fact it turns out that Elgar was actually asking for something that had to do with revenge and vengeance towards Germany. Benson pushed back and said "I'm not really interested in revenge especially at this stage. Bullying should not be met with bullying."
But even though Elgar wanted to change the words and Benson did write new words they never caught on and that's partly because of Clara Butt again. Because she was giving patriotic concerts all the way through the first world war and of course she was singing the original words.

Home of Hope and Glory
Sunday Feature   - BBC Radio 3 - September 2024

BBC Proms presenter Katie Derham delves into the fascinating history and legacy of 'Land of Hope and Glory', a piece of music that feels particularly close to home.

The lyrics to 'Land of Hope and Glory' - arguably the most quintessentially English piece of music ever - were perhaps written under Radio 3 presenter Katie Derham’s roof. For 15 years the Derhams have been making a home in the Sussex residence previously occupied by the Bensons, that famous Victorian family of writers, philosophers, and an Archbishop of Canterbury. One of the sons - Arthur Christopher Benson - was the poet responsible for penning rousing words to Edward Elgar’s stately music.

The song has endured, of course - becoming a symbol of patriotism and pride that's still sung at the Last Night of the Proms. But couplets that appear to celebrate Britain's empire ("God who made thee mighty / Make thee mightier yet") have their critics. In this documentary, Derham opens up her home to delve into the fascinating, infamous history of this iconic composition.

With contributions from:
- Jessica Duchen, novelist, librettist & classical music critic
- Eamon Duffy, Benson historian & Emeritus Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge
- Sir Mark Elder, British conductor who first conducted the Last Night of the Proms in 1987
- Daniel Kidane, British composer whose piece "Woke" opened the Last Night Of The Proms in 2019
- Nalini Ghuman, Elgar expert & musicologist whose research focuses on nationalism and identity
- Daniel Grimley, Professor of Music at the University of Oxford
- Andrew Neill, former Chairman of the Elgar Society

Presenter: Katie Derham
Producer: Fiona Clampin
Exec Producer: Jack Howson
Mix Engineer: Olga Reed
Additional Instrumental Music by: Thomas Scott

44 minutes

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0022jyr