Warner Classics: 5735792. How still it is! The Dream of Gerontius {323} § 1. Elgar was Catholic and though much of his music is associated with the Anglican church, The Dream of Gerontius is really quite Catholic – Gerontius prays to the Virgin and the piece ends up with his soul being sent to Purgatory. In Sweden, The Dream of Gerontius was likely first performed in 1904 at the Royal Swedish Opera, led by none other than Wilhelm Stenhammar. 16 by John Henry Newman. 177. FIRST PHASE . Soul of Gerontius . Paul Groves (Gerontius), Alice Coote (Angel), Bryn Terfel (Priest/Angel of the Agony), Halle, Hallé Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Sir Mark Elder. Cardinal Newman's poem tells of the journey of a man's soul after death - Gerontius may be translated roughly as old man.Elgar was given a copy of the poem in 1889 as a wedding present. I went to sleep; and now I am refreshed. In 1912, it was performed again, at the Hedvig Eleonora Church in Stockholm, with Hugo Alfvén conducting. A strange refreshment for I feel in me An inexpressive lightness, and a sense Of freedom, as I were at length myself, And ne’er had been before. Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. The Dream of Gerontius . Henry Wood made acoustic recordings of four extracts from The Dream of Gerontius as early as 1916, with Clara Butt as the Angel. How still it is! Such is the popularity today of Elgar's oratorio that it is easy to overlook the fact that Newman's poem, which Elgar took as the basis of his libretto, had experienced remarkable The Dream of Gerontius by John Henry Newman. Download. Cardinal John Henry Newman . WHERE TO START… Well. The Dream of Gerontius. Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. Gerontius: JESU, MARIA—I am near to death,: And Thou art calling me; I know it now. II. The Libretto. brow,— (Jesu, have mercy! What’s controversial about a sacred piece of choral music, you might ask? Richard Lewis (tenor), Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-Soprano) & Kim Borg (bass), Hallé Choir, Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, Ambrosian Singers & Hallé Orchestra, John Barbirolli. Gentle exultation is the basic tone of Part II, lasting roughly an hour, in which the Soul is accompanied by the Angel on its final journey. Part I, just over half an hour in length and introduced by a thematically concentrated orchestral prelude in D major/minor, is taken up with Gerontius’s prayers, dreams and death, culminating in the Priest sending his Soul on its way to Heaven. Buy 2 CDs or download online. Book Cover. In Elgar's day it was deemed so Catholic, in … Buy 2 CDs or download online. Edward Elgar set Newman’s dramatic poem to music as an oratorio in This oratorio, in fact, became … But, while he undoubtedly toyed with the idea of setting it to music intermittently over the intervening period, the decision to do so for the 1900 Birmingham festival appears to have … Not by the token of this faltering breath, This chill at heart,, this dampness on my. 38. Mary, pray for me!) Full text of "The dream of Gerontius" See other formats j/ c./ 8,-iC PR 5101 1 5 t LIBRARY, THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS JOHN HENRY NEWMAN From a drawing by G. Richmond in the possession of H. E. Wilberforce, Esq. The Dream of Gerontius. Soul of Gerontius I went to sleep; and now I am refresh'd, A strange refreshment: for I feel in me An inexpressive lightness, and a sense Of freedom, as I were at length myself, And ne'er had been before. GERONTIUS: JESU, MARIA - I am near to death, And Thou art calling me; I know it now.