The Classical Music Book

218

THE ART OF MUSIC

ABOVE ALL THE OTHER

ARTS IS EXPRESSION

OF THE SOUL

THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS ( 1900 ), EDWARD ELGAR

I

n 1898, Edward Elgar was

commissioned to write a new

large-scale choral piece for the

1900 Birmingham Festival. Elgar,

a Catholic, chose to set the poem

The Dream of Gerontius by Cardinal

John Henry Newman. In the poem,

Gerontius, a devout old man,

dreams of his death and the journey

of his soul immediately after he

dies. Elgar poured his own heart

and soul into the work, inscribing it

with a quote from the social thinker

John Ruskin that began, “This is

the best of me.”

England had a strong tradition

of amateur choral singing in the

late 19th century, and many English

composers wrote oratorios—large-

scale choral works on sacred themes.

Few of these pieces stood the test

of time, and Elgar decided to

produce something different.

Oratorios, like the operas of

Mozart, were usually made up of

separate musical “numbers,” such

as arias and choruses. But with the

work of late Romantic composers

such as Richard Wagner, opera had

evolved; Wagner’s operas consist

of music that flows continuously,

without a break, enabling the

composer to build huge climaxes

and express deep emotions. Elgar

used this technique for The Dream

of Gerontius, rejecting the term

“oratorio” due to this lack of breaks

between pieces. Like Wagner, he

employed a large orchestra with

a substantial brass section and

percussionists to reinforce the

climaxes and underpin the most

dramatic moments.

The soul’s journey

The Dream of Gerontius is in two

parts. Part One portrays the death

of Gerontius. It includes the gentle

prayers of his friends by his

bedside, his passionate credo,

“Sanctus fortis”—which expresses

both his steadfast faith and his

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

English choral tradition

BEFORE

1846 Mendelssohn’s oratorio

Elijah has its first performance

in Birmingham, England.

1857 At the Handel Festival in

London, England, choirs of up

to 2,000 sing Handel’s Messiah

and other oratorios.

1882 Wagner’s Parsifal, based

on a 13th-century German epic

poem, is his last and, for some,

his greatest opera.

AFTER

1903 Elgar continues to

develop large-scale choral

works with The Apostles.

1939–1941 Michael Tippett

composes his secular oratorio

A Child of Our Time, which

extends the oratorio still

further with the inclusion

of American spirituals in

the score.

There is music in the air,

music all around us, the world

is full of it and you simply take

as much as you require.

Edward Elgar

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