Power of Rome and the Christian Heart

Percy Aldridge Grainger's tone poem "The Power of Rome and the Christian Heart" was commissioned in 1947 to both commemorate the 25th anniversary of the League of Composers and to celebrate the 70th birthday of Edwin Granko Goldman. Grainger first started working on the piece in 1918, completing the work for full orchestra and organ in 1943. Receiving the commission in 1947, and having nothing yet written, Grainger decided to rescore the orchestra version for the occasion. Opely admitting what he had done, he explained, “As it takes me about 20 years to finish a tone-work, the best thing I could do was to fix up my Power of Rome so it could be played without strings.” This work is Grainger's last original work for band.