British Graduation Songs

[writersaurusrex]

What song (if any) is traditionally played at graduations? (For example, in the US, it's Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D", aka "Land of Hope and Glory".) Or do they play the school song, or does it vary wildly from school to school.

If it matters, it's for the equivalent of secondary school (specifically, Hogwarts

Comments

[mandragora1]

There are no traditional songs because students who leave school don't graduate, they simply leave. There are therefore no graduation ceremonies in UK schools, although I believe there is talk of introducing them and a few schools may have done so. If so, it's still very unusual.

You could introduce some sort of leaving ceremony at Hogwarts, if you wanted, but suggest you avoid US style graduation ceremonies as they're not used in the UK.

Oh, and there isn't necessarily a school song, either. No school I attended had one, for example but there may be British schools that do, I suppose.

Incidentally, there are graduation ceremonies from UK universities but we didn't play music at mine, at least, and mine is one of the Russell Group, and therefore more traditional, universities.

[tweedisgood]

Echoing this, only my school (state Grammar school, 1970s) did have a "school hymn" ('Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven', which I still know off by heart). We sung it on special occasions at our daily morning assembly, including the beginning and end of the school year.

I went to Cambridge and we had a graduation ceremony at the Senate House where we had to kneel and swear fealty to the Vice Chancellor as representative of the university after being "presented" to him in Latin in groups by individual college, but no music whatsoever.

[versipellis]

My school (private, 1990s) also took a well-known hymn as its "school hymn" but as for you, we only sung it in assemblies with some specifically school-related theme, and I don't think any of us identified it much with our school.

I can't remember if my university graduation ceremony had any music at all - if it did, it would have been some kind of classical music, but it wasn't specific to the university or something every university did. My university came into being in the 1960s so it's not even half as traditional/full of rituals as Cambridge!

[tweedisgood]

I still remember the brief prep lesson we were given beforehand (and this is 32 years ago, gosh) - "put your hands together, place them between his - horizontally, you're not praying to him" !

[versipellis]

At least they did give you a prep! That sounds like it could have been awkward otherwise...

[thekumquat]

I remember mine - only 18 years ago - made to put on too-small tights sourced by my tutor as apparently mine weren't black enough despite saying Black on the packet, the Praelector explaining that he will be telling the biggest bunch of porkies since last year, vouching for 'the state of your morals and learning" when actually "all I know about most of you is you passed some exams and aren't in debt to the College - that's modern morals for you", and that if he felt us fondling our ankles while kneeling for the Master, standing in for the VC, "this isn't because I'm a great big pervert, that's purely incidental, it's because I'm making sure your gown isn't caught on your foot so you don't trip up when you get up

[sollersuk]

We had a school hymn inherited from the boy's school that later turned into our girls' school - in Latin. I particularly recall the last two lines:

Sit Benedictus Dominus
Qui docet nos pugnare

May the Lord be blessed
Who teaches us to fight

And no, it wasn't the original of St Trinians

[littlered2]

I went to Oxford, and remember no music at our graduation ceremony.